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What is Science?

What is Science?. What is the Purpose of Science?. Science is about questioning. Asking questions Searching for answers Discovering new questions Science is ONE of many ways of understanding the world we live in. But it is limited in what it can help us understand.

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What is Science?

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  1. What is Science?

  2. What is the Purpose of Science? • Science is about questioning. • Asking questions • Searching for answers • Discovering new questions • Science is ONE of many ways of understanding the world we live in. • But it is limited in what it can help us understand.

  3. What are the Limits of Science? • Science Cannot: • Answer questions about the supernatural world. • Understand matters of faith, artisitc expression, feeling. • Science Can: • Ask/Answer questions about the NATURAL world. • Only understand observable/testable topics.

  4. What are the Limits of Science? • Science Cannot: • “Prove” an idea. • Offer a concrete, 100%, no-doubt-about-it answer. • Science Can: • Disprove an idea. • Offer evidence that supports or fails to support an idea. • Offer answers under specific criteria/limitations.

  5. What are the Limits of Science? • Science Cannot: • Assume outcomes without testing. • Disregard evidence that does not support a claim. • Science Can: • Predict likely outcomes. • Offer explanations to make sense of collected evidence.

  6. How does Science Behave • Scientific knowledge “evolves” (changes)! • SCIENCE IS NOT a rigid set of definitions to be memorized. • SCIENCE IS an ever-changing search for explanations about the natural world. • Scientific knowledge results from ceaseless study, debate, and testing of ideas. • As a result, scientific knowledge is always changing!

  7. What does Science Look Like? How it Starts: • A natural phenomenon is observed. • Someone asks a question about the observed phenomenon. • Scientists offer many possible natural explanations for the phenomenon. • Each explanation (hypothesis) is tested.

  8. What does Science Look Like? How it’s Tested: • A scientist assumes a hypothesis is true and uses logical reasoning to predict the expected outcome of a test. • The test is run, and results are observed. • If results match the expected outcome, then the test offers support of the hypothesis. If results do not match the expected outcome, then the hypothesis is either discarded or altered to account for the observed outcome.

  9. What does Science Look Like? How it’s Debated: • After each hypothesis is tested many times, the scientific community scrutinizes each test. • Results are compared and ideas are debated. • Often, the majority of the scientific community agrees on one idea as the most likely explanation. However, sometimes several ideas survive testing and debate, and there is disagreement within the science community.

  10. What does Science Look Like? How it’s Used: • After a hypothesis is supported by much evidence and survives through many years of testing and debate without being disproven, it can combine with many other hypotheses which have gone through the same process to be thought of as a SCIENTIFIC THEORY. • The theory is used to explain the original phenomenon, and fits as one piece of the puzzle to understanding our natural world.

  11. So…What IS Science? • Science is a limited discipline that studies only naturally occurring events, while offering natural explanations for the phenomenon under study. • The criteria of science: - Consistent - Predictable - Observable - Testable - Natural - Tentative

  12. What’s “Outside of Science”? • Emerging Science : Emerging science (or "protoscience") may be defined as a "near science". A protoscience tends to conform to most of the criteria of a science but typically falls short in one or more areas. A protoscience differs from a science in that consistent observations and predictions may be limited by knowledge and/or technology.

  13. What’s “Outside of Science”? • Non-Science: Non-science may be defined as an area of knowledge which does not meet the criteria of science. Non-science topic areas may be very logical and based on good reasoning, but simply do not fall within the realm of science. • They would include any belief system, e.g., religious beliefs, philosophy, personal opinions or attitudes, a sense of aesthetics, or ethics.

  14. What’s “Outside of Science”? • Pseudoscience: Pseudoscience may be defined as a non-science which is portrayed and advertised as a science by its supporters. • A good example of a pseudoscience would be "astrology“. Astrology is the study of celestial bodies (Sun, moon, planets, stars) interpreted as affecting personality, human affairs, and natural events.

  15. Theory and Law • When does a scientific theory become a law? • IT DOESN’T! They are two different things! • A LAW DESCRIBES WHAT happens. • A THEORY EXPLAINS WHY something happens. • A theory is used to explain a law! • It is a HUGE misconception to think that a theory is an unproven idea that becomes a law when someone proves it! Science cannot “prove”!

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