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Science and Scientific Illiteracy

Science and Scientific Illiteracy. What is science?. Carl Sagan stated: Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge 1934 - 1996.

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Science and Scientific Illiteracy

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  1. Science and Scientific Illiteracy

  2. What is science? Carl Sagan stated: Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge 1934 - 1996

  3. Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by examining his wives’ mouths Bertrand, Lord Russel 1952

  4. Science is the study of nature in an attempt to understand it and to form an organized body of knowledge that has predictive power and application in society (Chiappetta and Koballa Jr. 2006)

  5. Definition • Science is a particular way of knowing the world • So is philosophy or a talk show, or a fortune cookie • However: • In Science, explanations are limited to those based on observations and experiments that can be verified by other scientists • Explanations that cannot be based on empirical evidence are not part of science

  6. What is Empirical Evidence? • Evidence or data that is produced by experiment or observation

  7. Example • Evolution vs. Intelligent Design

  8. Evolution vs. Intelligent Design • Evolution – all the changes that have formed life on Earth from its earliest beginnings to the diversity that characterizes • Intelligent Design – The theory that holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection. • Why not teach both in a biology classroom? • Because Intelligent Design is not based on science! • Evolution is based on science • Intelligent Design is based on faith • Notice I did not say Intelligent Design was wrong!

  9. No matter what eyewitness testimony is in the court of law, it is the lowest form of evidence in the court of science.

  10. Science Is Not Based On Opinion! • Scientific information is based on objective reasoning through careful analysis of data • Data must be gathered without experimenter bias • Candle Activity • Conclusions based on data need to made public and scrutinized by the scientific community • http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/Bostrom_Ritchison_AMKE.pdf • Scientific statements/information are not made lightly

  11. What are so special about these dates? December 21, 2012 April 13, 2029

  12. December 21, 2012 • Mayan Prophecy • Galactic alignment • End of the World http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/watch/2009/11/12/will-2012-be-the-end

  13. April 9, 2029 • Asteroid Apophis • http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/watch/2007/02/09/commonwealth-club-asteroid-apophis

  14. How Do We Get Scientific Information? • Scientific Methods or Inquiry • Observing • Collecting Data • Developing a Hypothesis • Experimenting • Concluding • Observation • Hypothesis • Experiment • Data • Conclusion

  15. What Students Love to Hear! • Science is Math and Math is Science • Data collecting and how it is done is based on the statistics you choose to use for your study

  16. Four Themes of Science • Science as a Way of Thinking • Science as a Way of Investigating • Science as a Body of Knowledge • Science and Its Interaction with Technology and Society

  17. Science as a Body of Knowledge • Facts • Foundations for principles, concepts, and theories • Raw material with little meaning • Concepts • An abstraction of events, objects, or phenomena that seem to have certain properties or attributes in common

  18. Science as a Body of Knowledge • Theories • Used to explain underlying patterns and forces • A logical, time-tested explanation for events that occur in the natural world • Can be disproved

  19. Example: • Kinetic Theory or Kinetic Theory of Gases

  20. Science as a Body of Knowledge • Laws and Principles • Higher order ideas used to describe phenomena and patterns in nature under certain conditions • Key point to remember is a law describes and predicts but does not explain the phenomena

  21. Example • Newton’s Laws of Motion

  22. Why Should I Care About Science?

  23. Science and Society • “ The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.” Einstein, 1954, p. 283 • The knowledge gained from science is meant to help better society • Science is not meant to try and tell society how to act or live • Need to be cautious with different cultures and beliefs

  24. Science and Society • Benefits • Advances in medicine • Cleaner fuels • Advances in technology • Negative Impacts Society has on Science • Misunderstanding • Funding – Most major grants are federal • What happens when there is a war? • What happens when the administration has a different philosophy with funding agencies?

  25. What is at the center of our solar system? Sun

  26. Has this always been true? No > 300 years you could have been stripped, tied to a stake and burned to death for saying the Earth was not at the center of the universe

  27. Giordano Bruno Stated the sun was one of an infinite number of independently moving heavenly bodies in the universe

  28. What do you think happened to Giodarno? The church burned him alive!!!

  29. It is astonishing to realize that until Galileo performed his experiments on the acceleration of gravity in the early seventeenth century, nobody questioned Aristotle's falling balls. Nobody said, Show Me! Neil Degrasse Tyson, Universe Down To Earth, p. 17

  30. DHMO • Dihydrogen Monoxide • http://www.dhmo.org/

  31. Yes, DHMO is dangerous in quantity! • It is called drowning!!!!!!!!!!!! • DHMO = H2O = Water

  32. Examples

  33. Can You Believe This? • A court case a couple of decades ago, where the person being indicted stated the moon was in a particular phase. The prosecution brought in an astronomer to counter argue that the moon was in a different phase than the one suggested. The judge asked how the astronomer knew this and the astronomer showed the judge the Astronomical Almanac which gives the dates and phases of the moon. The judge threw out the astronomers testimony saying that we can’t predict the phases of the moon any better than the weather.

  34. What are they thinking? • Italian scientists face manslaughter charges for failure to predict earthquake http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/03/italy -scientists-risk-earthquake-death-charges

  35. What is Science? • Science is the study of nature in an attempt to understand it and to form an organized body of knowledge that has predictive power and application in society (Chiappetta and Koballa Jr. 2006)

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