Great Resources

1. The Golem: What You Should Know About Science, Collins and Pinch (1998). (Available as paperback or as e-book)

2. Great Resources • http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/physics/electricity-magnets-and-circuits

3. Science and its Methods

4. Think, Pair, Share • What are the goals of science? • What process do scientists use to answer questions of interest? • What are the steps of the scientific method?

5. Scientific Method • Ask a question • Do background research • Develop a hypothesis • Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment • Analyze your data • Draw a conclusion • Communicate your results

6. Activity • Make careful observations the object. • What do you think this object is? Is this an observation or an inference? • Observation: • Using your 5 senses to gather information about your surroundings • Inference: • A conclusion based on evidence; an “educated guess”

7. FossilFragments • Accurately record your fossils on the paper. • Use only one color when drawing your fossil fragment. • Place the drawing near the middle of the sheet. • You may enlarge your drawing of the fossil to show more detail. • Be sure to include a scale (1x for life size, 2x for twice life size) • You’ll be adding to the drawing – make sure it is small enough that you can add to it later.

8. FossilFragments • Using a different color, draw the rest of the organism represented by the fossil fragment. • Draw the organism in its habitat/niche/environment: Consider: • How does the organism fit into its environment? • What does it eat? What eats it?

9. FossilFragments Now, share your results! • What part of the drawing represents an observation? • What part represents an inference?

10. FossilFragments: Final Questions • How were you able to infer the complete organism & its environment from a piece of fossil? • Why did some of you with similar fossil fragments draw different organisms? • How is the process you used similar to that of paleontologists? • Would a paleontologist have reached the same conclusions about your organism and the environment as you did? Why or why not?

12. FossilFragments: Final Questions • Did we follow the scientific method? • Do scientists always follow the scientific method? • What are some issues in referring to THE scientific method with your students?

13. Scientific Method The steps of the scientific method are to: • Ask a question • Do background research • Develop a hypothesis • Test your hypothesis by doing an Experiment • Analyze your data • Draw a conclusion • Communicate Your Results

14. FossilFragments: Final Questions Is this science? • Did we follow the scientific method? • Do scientists always follow THE scientific method? • What are other methods/ways scientific knowledge is developed? • What are some science disciplines that rely heavily on these other methods? • What are some issues in referring to THE scientific method with middle/high school students?

15. What does this activity teach us about the nature of science? Scientific knowledge can be the product of observation and inference. Developing scientific knowledge involves imagination and creative thinking. Scientists’ background knowledge can influence their interpretation of data. Scientists use many creative approaches to answer questions of interest. There is no single scientific method.

16. Unicorn constructed from fossil fragment

17. The Hazards of Inferences