Nature of Science

1. Nature of Science Science 1101

2. Nature of Science Environmental Science Outline: • Science As a Way of Knowing • Scientific Design • Reasoning • Scientific Theory

3. Nature of Science Environmental Science Outline: • Approaches to Thinking • History of Environmentalism • Human Dimensions • Rich and Poor

4. Nature of Science Environmental Science • Science of the Environment Circumstances and conditions that surround an organism or group of organisms. • Social and cultural conditions that affect an individual or community man

5. Nature of Science Environmental Science

6. Nature of Science Environmental Science Environmental Science: is the systematic study of our environment and our place in it. • Highly Interdisciplinary • Inclusive • Holistic • Mission-Oriented

7. Nature of Science Environmental Science SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING: Science rests on the assumptions the world is knowable through empirical study and logical analysis. • Reduces tendency to rely on emotional reactions and unexamined assumptions. • Searches for testable evidence. • Explanations are considered provisional. • Additional evidence may disprove current theories.

8. Nature of Science Environmental Science SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING: Scientists collaborate in a cumulative, self-correcting process. • Many people often work on many different aspects of a problem. • Creativity, insight, aesthetics and even luck play important roles in scientific research

9. Nature of Science Environmental Science.SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING: Scientific Design: Reproducibility • Experiments must be designed and recorded such that other researchers can exactly reproduce them. Controlled Studies • Comparisons are made between experimental and control populations. • Every factor except the one being studied is held constant

10. Nature of Science Environmental Science.SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING: Hypotheses and Theories: Hypothesis • Conditional explanations that can be tested by further observation or experiment. • Logically, a hypothesis based on inductive reasoning can be shown to be wrong, but can almost never be shown to be unquestionably true. • Evidence is always provisional

11. Nature of Science Environmental Science.SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING: Scientific Theory:

12. Nature of Science Environmental Science.SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING: Scientific Theory:

13. Nature of Science Environmental Science.SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING: Scientific Theory:

14. Nature of Science Environmental Science.SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING: Scientific Theory:

15. Nature of Science Environmental Science.SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING: Scientific Theory:

16. Nature of Science Environmental Science.SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING: Scientific Theory:

17. Nature of Science Environmental Science.SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING: Statistics and Probability: Probability • An attempt to measure and predict the likelihood of an event. Sample Size • A critical experimental variable is the number of observations necessary in order to have a reliable representation of a population.

18. Nature of Science Environmental Science Approaches to Knowledge and Thinking: • Analytical Thinking • How can I break this problem into parts? • Creative Thinking • How can I approach this differently? • • Logical Thinking • How can deductive reasoning help?

19. Nature of Science Environmental Science Approaches to Knowledge and Thinking: • Critical Thinking • What am I trying to do? • Reflective Thinking • What does it all mean?

20. Nature of Science Environmental Science Approaches to Knowledge and Thinking:

21. Nature of Science Environmental Science Approaches to Knowledge and Thinking: • Identify and evaluate premises and conclusions in an argument. • Acknowledge and clarify uncertainties, vagueness, equivocation, and contradictions. • Distinguish between facts and values. • Recognize and assess assumptions. • Distinguish source reliability or unreliability. • Recognize and understand conceptual frameworks.

22. Nature of Science Environmental Science

23. Nature of Science Environmental Science

24. Nature of Science Environmental Science Global Concerns: • An increased travel and communication enables person to know about daily events in places unknown in previous generations. • Common environment shared on a global scale.

25. Nature of Science Environmental Science. CURRENT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS: Causes of Environmental Degradation • More than 6 billion people now occupy the earth, and we add about 85 million more each year. • Most growth will be in poorer countries where present populations already strain resources and services

26. Nature of Science Environmental Science. Rich and Poor Countries: Causes of Environmental Degradation • About 20% of the world's population live in the twenty richest countries. • Average per capita income above $25,000

27. Nature of Science Environmental Science. Rich and Poor Countries: Causes of Environmental Degradation • Other 80% live in middle or low-income countries. • Ten poorest countries each have average per capita income of less than $200.00 • Richest 200 people in the world have a combined wealth of $1 trillion. • More than total owned by poorest half of the world population (3 billion)