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Science: The Best Way to Answer Questions and Find Solutions

Explore the world of science and the scientific method to discover how it helps us find answers, solve problems, and make advancements in various fields. Understand the importance of scientific exploration in areas such as geology and the conservation of national parks. Delve into the geological background and learn about the formation and layers of the Earth.

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Science: The Best Way to Answer Questions and Find Solutions

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  1. Unit 1: Science! • Presented by Dr. Richard Alley • The Pennsylvania State University

  2. Unit 1: SCIENCE ! • Is a human activity--it isn’t Truth, but it works. • Is the best way we have to answer many questions (How does something work? How can we use that information to cure disease or find clean water or otherwise help us?) • Science cannot answer many questions (What should we do? Why are we here?)

  3. Scientific Method • Get a new idea (hypothesis; genius); • See if it beats old idea in predicting what will happen (experiment); • If yes (after many tests), use the new idea; if no, still use old one; • Repeat--there’s always more to learn.

  4. Scientific Method (cont.) • Ideas that work better may be True, Close, or Lucky, so science never sure. • Science can prove ideas wrong, but cannot prove them correct; • But, if we act as if science finds truth, we succeed in doing many things; • IF we follow scientific method.

  5. Why National Parks? • US idea, Yellowstone first (1870); • Take a quick visit to Yellowstone, and imagine it as a power plant or cola ad; • Problem: parks for “conservation unimpaired for future generations” but “enjoyment” for this generation; • Doing both is not easy.

  6. Why Geology? • Find valuable things (oil, water; gems); • Avoid hazards (earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides); • Learn how Earth works to keep it and us happy and healthy; • Have fun (Why are the parks so pretty? What were dinosaurs like?).

  7. Some Geological Background… • We WILL cover evidence during this course, but we have to start somewhere); • Earth 4.6 billion years old, pieces from space fell together under gravity; • Heated as it formed (natural radioactivity, and the heat from stopping those falling pieces--think of hot-brake smell after stopping a truck on a steep hill);

  8. More Geological Background • Heating melted Earth and allowed it to separate into layers; • Think of car-bottom clump on a snowy day--ice and rocks and dead-squirrel parts all lumped together, but separate when they melt in garage; • Layers are: iron-rich core, iron-silica mantle, more-silica/less-iron crust (refer to Chemistry Sidebar in text if this seems unfamiliar)

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