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Chapter 1. The Nature of Science. I. What is Science?. Science comes from the Latin word scientia , which means “knowledge” 1. Science - process that uses observation and investigation to gain knowledge about events in nature. Three branches of Science 1. Life Science
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Chapter 1 The Nature of Science
I. What is Science? • Science comes from the Latin word scientia, which means “knowledge” 1. Science- process that uses observation and investigation to gain knowledge about events in nature. • Three branches of Science 1. Life Science • Deals with living things
2. Earth Science • Investigates earth and space 3. Physical Science • Deals with matter and energy • How do scientists learn about the natural world? • Performing investigations • Observation • Experiments • models
II. Scientific Method- Organized set of investigation procedures • Six step method • State the problem • Gather information • Form a hypothesis • Test the hypothesis • Analyze data • Draw conclusions • Support/Doesn’t support Hypothesis • If hypothesis is supported, repeat steps 4-6 several times • If hypothesis is not supported, go back to step 3 and form a new hypothesis
1. Stating the problem • The problem is a question of “WHY?” or “WHAT?” • Example- What materials can be used to create a space shuttle that will with stand the harsh conditions of space?
2. Researching and Gathering Information • Gather information that will help solve the problem • Example- melting points of different materials that could be used to build a space shuttle
3. Form A Hypothesis • Hypothesis- A possible explanation for a problem using what you know and what you observe • In the form of an IF/THEN statement • Example- If a ceramic material is used then the space shuttle will be able to withstand the high temperatures.
4. Test a Hypothesis • Can be done by performing an experiment, making observations or building a model • An experiment uses two variables, a dependant and an independent variable • Variable- quantity that can have more than a single value • Dependant variable- value changes according to changes in other variables • Independent Variable- Is independent of other variables
Example 1- what factors might cause a plant to grow? • Independent variable- growth • Dependent variable- water, sunlight, soil • Example 2- The higher the temperature of water, the faster an egg will boil • Independent variable- water temp • Dependent variable- speed/ time
Example 3- An investigation was done with an electromagnetic system made from a battery and wired wrapped around a nail. Different sizes of nails were used. The number of paperclips the electromagnet could pick up was measured. • Independent variable- nail size • Dependent variable- how many paperclips were picked up
Experiments also have CONSTANTS and CONTROLS • Constant- A factor that does not change when other variables do • Controls- Standard by which the test results can be compared. • Example- Have 4 plants with the same soil and amount of fertilizer. Three of the plants get different types of fertilizer and the fourth gets none. • Constant- soil and sunlight • Control- plant that does not receive fertilizer
5. Analyzing Data • This is done by recording observations making charts and graphs
6. Drawing Conclusions • Based on data analysis, is your hypothesis supported or not? • You must be objective • Bias- When the scientists expectations changes how the results are viewed
Scientific Theories and Laws • Theory- explanation of things or events based on knowledge gained from many observations and investigations • Scientific Law- A statements about what happens in nature and seems to be true all the time.
Standards of Measurement Chapter 1 Section 2
Units and Standards • Standard- an exact quantity that people agree to use for comparison • Examples- ??? • International System of Units • SI standard- universally excepted units of measurement used by scientists • Measured in the Power of 10
Different Measurements • Mass- amount of matter in an object • Measured in grams • Volume- The amount of space occupied by an object • Measured in liters or grams • Volume = length X width X height • Length- distance between two points • Measured in meters
SI prefixes L R
Communicating with Graphs Chapter 1 Section 3
Graphs • Graph- visual display of information or data • X-axis- horizontal axis • Independent variable • Y-axis- vertical axis • Dependant variable • Three types of graphs • Line • Bar • pie Y-axis dep. variable X-axis ind. variable
Line Graphs • Often used to show change over time
Bar Graphs • Used for comparing information collected by counting
Pie Charts • Used to show how a fixed quantity is broken down into parts • Usually represented in percents