Understanding Scientific Investigations: Methods and Careers in Science

1. science 5, unit 1: How Scientists Work unit 1 term list #1 (pp. 4 - 9) • investigation • scientist • experiment • science • knowledge • evidence • opinion • inference • scientific conclusion • Francisco Redi unit 1 term list #2 • astronomer • botanist • taxonomist • paleontologist • meteorologist • compare • classify • order • communicate • observe • SCIENCE: THE STUDY OF THE NATURAL WORLD • FROM THE LATIN WORD “SCIRE” MEANING “TO KNOW” • USES INVESTIGATIONS USED TO TEST AN IDEA • USES OBSERVATIONS OF THE TEST RESULTS • CONCLUSIONS BASED ON COMPARISON OF OBSERVATIONS • SCIENTISTS: TRY TO EXPLAIN HOW AND WHY NATURE FUNCTIONS 1

2. SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS ARE USED TO LEARN ABOUT NATURE • 1. INVESTIGATIONS ALWAYS BEGIN WITH A QUESTION 2. RESEARCH INCREASES UNDERSTANDING OF QUESTION3. PROCEDURE DESIGNED TO ANSWER QUESTION BASED ON RESEARCH 4. PROCEDURE (EXPERIMENT) PERFORMED TO TEST THE QUESTION5. RESULTS OF THE PROCEDURE ARE OBSERVED & COLLECTED OBSERVATIONS (EVIDENCE) COMPARED : ALIKE? DIFFERENT? INFERENCES: CONCLUSIONS FROM OBSERVATIONS (EVIDENCE) 6. A CONCLUSION ANSWERS THE QUESTION BASED ON INFERENCES 2

3. OPINION VERSUS EVIDENCE • CONCLUSIONS RELY ON 2 FACTORS: • HOW MUCH EVIDENCE THERE IS TO MAKE AN INFERENCE • HOW WELL EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THE CONCLUSION • PERSONAL OPINIONS MUST NOT AFFECT THE ANALYSIS OF EVIDENCE • INFERENCE: AN IDEA OR CONCLUSION DRAWN FROM SPECIFIC EVIDENCE • EVIDENCE: FACTUAL OBSERVATIONS MADE BY THE SENSES • KNOWLEDGE: COLLECTION OF ACCEPTED FACTS AND INFORMATION • OPINION: A PERSON BELIEF THAT DOES NOT NEED TO BE PROVED

4. FRANCISCO REDI’S EXPERIMENT • IN THE 1600’S, REDI DEVELOPED THE FIRST EXPERIMENTEVERDOCUMENTED • WANTED TO PROVE THAT NON-LIVING MATTER COULD NOT GIVE RISE TO LIFE • USED MULTIPLE SETUPS OF MEAT IN JARS, SOME COVERED AND SOME NOT COVERED • COMPARING THE RESULTS, HE FOUND THAT MAGGOTS ONLY GREW IN THE OPEN JARS • HE REPEATED THE EXPERIMENT MANY TIMES WITH THE SAME RESULT

5. COMMUNICATION ALLOWS THE SPREAD OF KNOWLEDGE • COMMUNICATION ALLOWS SHARING OF INVESTIGATIONS’ RESULTS • REPEATED INVESTIGATIONS ESTABLISH , EXPAND, OR PROVE NEW IDEAS • CLASSIFICATION: ORGANIZING IDEAS & OBJECTS BY LIKENESSES, DIFFERENCES • ALLOWS INFORMATION TO BE LOCATED EASIER • ALLOWS MORE ACCURATE COMPARISON OF IDEAS AND OBJECTS • ORDER: TO SEQUENCE THE STEPS OF A PROCESS FROM FIRST TO LAST • REQUIRED TO SAFELY AND EFFICIENTLY PERFORM EXPERIMENTS • ALLOWS A PROCEDURE TO BE ACCURATELY REPEATED

6. careers in science AN EXAMPLE OF HOW SCIENTISTS USE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS • METEOROLOGIST: SCIENTIST WHO STUDIES WEATHER • MEASUREMENT TOOLS USED TO OBSERVE WEATHER • COLLECTS, ORGANIZES, AND INTERPRETS OBSERVATIONS • IDENTIFIES WEATHER PATTERNS FROM ORGANIZED DATA • WEATHER FORECASTS MADE FROM INFERENCES • OTHER EXAMPLES OF SCIENTISTS • PALEONTOLOGIST: STUDIES ANCIENT LIFE AND FOSSILS • BOTANIST: SCIENTIST WHO STUDIES PLANT LIFE • ASTRONOMER: SCIENTIST WHO STUDIES OBJECTS IN SPACE • TAXONOMIST: SCIENTIST WHO CLASSIFIES LIVING THINGS