1. The Nature of Science and
Technology
Chapter 1: What is Science?

2. Section 1: Thinking Like a
Scientist
• Key concepts
– What skills do
scientist use to
learn about the
world?
– What attitudes are
important in
science?

3. Skills that Scientists Use
• Scientists use skills such as
observing, inferring, predicting,
classifying, and making models to
learn more about the world.

4. Skill: Observing
• Using one or more
of your senses to
gather information
• Senses
–
–
–
–
–
Sight
Hearing
Touch
Taste
Smell

5. Types of Observations
• Quantitative
– Deal with a number,
or amount
– Examples of
Quantitative
Observations are…
• Qualitative
– Deal with
descriptions that
cannot be
expressed in
number.
– Examples of
Qualitative
Observations are …

6. Skill: Inferring
• When you explain
or interpret things
you observe
• Based on things you
already have
knowledge about
• What can you infer
about the frog?

7. Skill: Predicting
• Guessing what can
happen in the
future
• Based on past
experience or
evidence
• Examples of
prediction are…

8. Skill: Classifying
• Grouping items
that are alike in
some way
• Examples of
classifying are…

9. Skill: Making Models
• Creating
representations of
complex objects or
processes
• Help with
understanding
things that are
complex
• Examples of models
are…

10. Scientific Attitudes
• Successful scientists possess certain
important attitudes, or habits of
mind, including curiosity, honesty,
open-mindedness, skepticism, and
creativity.

11. Key Concepts
• What skills do scientist use to learn
about the world?
• What attitudes are important in
science?

12. Section 2: Scientific Inquiry
• Key Concepts:
– What is scientific
inquiry?
– What makes a
hypothesis
testable?
– How do scientific
theories differ
from science laws?

13. What is Scientific Inquiry?
• Refers to the diverse ways in which
scientists study the natural worlds
and propose explanations based on
the evidence they gather
• Process of Discovery

14. Posing Questions
• Begins with a problem or question
about an observation
• Questions come from experiences
(from observations and inferences)
• Curiosity
• 1st step in inquiry

15. Developing a Hypothesis
• A possible
explanation for a
set of observations
or answer to a
scientific question
• Not a fact
• One possible way to
explain a group of
observations
• MUST be testable
• Researchers can
carry out
investigations and
gather evidence
• Evidence will
support or disprove
the hypothesis
• Trials

16. Designing an Experiment
• After you make a hypothesis
• An experiment is designed to test it
• Experiment elements
– Variables (factors that can change in an
experiment, must be exactly the same)
• Independent
• Dependent
– Controlled

17. Independent Variable
• Purposely changed to test a
hypothesis

18. Dependent Variable
• Changes in response to independent
variable

19. Controlled Experiment
• An experiment which only one
variable is manipulated at a time

20. Importance of Controlling
Variables
• Accuracy
• Consistency in results

21. Collecting and Interpreting
Data
• Tables
• Data are the facts,
figures, and other
evidence gathered
through
observations
• Graphing Data
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
East
West
North
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr

22. Drawing Conclusions
• Gather and interpret
data
• Make conclusions
about hypothesis
• Summary of what you
learned from an
experiment
• Support or disprove
your hypothesis

23. Communicating
• The sharing of
ideas and
experimental
findings with
others through
writing and
speaking

24. Scientific Theories and Laws
• Theories
– Well-tested
explanation for a
wide range of
observations or
experimental
results
• Laws
– Statement that
describes what
scientists expect to
happen every time
under a particular
set of conditions