Requirements of Science - Tentative (The last one!)

Today, we learned that science is tentative.  Tentative means that ideas and theories can change when we gain new knowledge.  One example of the tentative nature of science is the classification of Pluto.  Several years ago, Pluto was known as the ninth planet in our solar system.  We read an article in class today (Pluto Article) that explains how scientists recently determined that Pluto would no longer be considered an actual planet.  There are many more examples of scientific theories being revised or even completely thrown out;

       Copernicus - discovered that the earth was not the center of the universe.
       Germ Theory - believe it or not, there was once a time when surgeons didn't wash their hands between patients.

Now that we are familiar with the six requirements of science, we are almost ready to start actually doing science!  But first, a quiz!  If you need help reviewing (or lost the study sheet I gave you) click here!

Have a great 3-day weekend!
Go Bulldogs!!

Requirements of Science - Testable

Our second to last requirement of science is 'testable'.  In science, controlled experiments can be designed to test the natural world.  We emphasized this idea in class today by designing some controlled experiments using the same scenarios we made predictions for yesterday (click here!).  We set up these experiments by making t-charts to show what factors we would change in the experiment (variables - there should be only one!) and what we would need to keep the same (constants).  After doing these scenarios together, we watched part of a Mythbusters episode, "Waterslide Wipeout."  While the episode played, we filled out another t-chart of all of the variables they were testing and the things they were keeping constant.

Waterslide Wipeout Part I
Waterslide Wipeout Part II - this part is just them building the slide; I didn't show it in class
Waterslide Wipeout Part III
Waterslide Wipeout Part IV

So if you are keeping track we are at...

  Consistent
  Observable
  Natural
  Predictable
  Testable
  T--------
... or CONPTT!

We will finish up with our last requirement of science tomorrow - any guesses what it might be?

Requirements of Science - Natural and Predictable

We continued our discussion of the requirements of science today by adding two more concepts.

First, everything we talk about in science has to be part of the natural world.  All naturally occurring events must have a natural cause to explain them.  For example, hundreds of years ago, people looked at a rainstorm and couldn't come up with a natural explanation for it.  So, they made up 'supernatural' explanations, which usually had something to do with a superior being or force.  We now know the true, natural, scientific causes of rain, thunder and lightning and we are fairly certain that it has nothing to do with doing a rain dance!  Other things that wouldn't be considered part of the natural world are religions, myths (like vampires and mermaids), and pseudo-sciences like astrology and fortune telling.  We practiced categorizing events into natural and non-natural.

Second, scientific events are predictable.  This should make a lot of sense; we learned on Monday that science is consistent, so we should be able to recognize patterns and make educated guesses about what might happen in the future.  In this class, we will be using a very specific format for writing predictions.  We practiced making predictions using this format in class.

Coming up:
Friday, Aug. 20 - Notebook checks
Tuesday, Sept. 3 - Quiz over Requirements of Science (CONPTT)

Requirements of Science - Observable

Today, we continued our discussion of what we need to be able to accept a scientific idea.  Anything we study in science has to be observable using our 5 senses.  The observation may or may not be direct (ex. seeing a video or picture of something still counts as observing it with your sight).  I challenged you to try to think of something that cannot be observed using at least one of your senses; some of you came up with some great ideas!  We will talk about these more tomorrow.

To get a better understanding of what it means to be observable, we did a fun activity exploring the 5 senses.  We had 10 unknown objects/substances and we had to guess what each one was using only one of our senses at a time.  Most of you did a great job of following the lab procedures and wrote some wonderful observations.

Make sure you're writing down everything we do in your notebooks and keeping it neat and organized.  I will most likely be doing our first notebook check on Friday.

Stay cool, and watch for bats!

Requirements of Science - Consistency

Today we started a discussion on what can be considered 'science'.  In order for something to be accepted as a scientific fact, it has to be consistent.  Consistency means getting the same experimental results time and time again.  We demonstrated this concept by doing an activity with tennis balls.  We measured how high the balls bounced when dropped from various heights.  We then compared the bounce heights among the groups and found that our numbers were very similar.  Our results weren't exactly the same because of numerous variables; every group was using a different tennis ball, the table surfaces could have been different, and human error could affect how the ball was dropped or how the measurements were read.

Consistency is the first of 6 requirements of science we will be discussing this week.  Prepare for a quiz over all of them next week!