U1 L1 - What is Science?

Unit 1 Lesson 1 What Is Science?
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Indiana Standards
• NOS 8.3 Collect quantitative data with
appropriate tools or technologies and use
appropriate units to label numerical data.
• NOS 8.10 Compare the results of an experiment
with the prediction.

Character Witness
What characterizes science?
• Science is the systematic study of natural events
and conditions.
• There are three main types of science: biology,
geology, and physical science.

• Life science, or biology, is the study of living
things.
• Earth science, or geology, is the study of the
surface and interior of Earth.
• Physical science is the study of energy and
nonliving matter. Physical science includes physics
and chemistry.

• All branches of science have some characteristics
in common.
• All kinds of scientists must share and discuss their
results with others.
• All scientific ideas must be testable and
reproducible.

• Scientific evidence must be observable by all
scientists. It must not be based on opinions or
feelings.
• Empirical evidence is observations,
measurements, and data that scientists gather to
support an explanation.
• Scientists commonly use tools to collect data.

“Give me an explanation … ”
What is a scientific explanation?
• A scientific explanation provides reasons for how a
phenomenon occurs.
• Scientific explanations are based on empirical
evidence. Therefore, they can be tested.
• Science cannot test explanations involving
unsupported beliefs or opinions.

• Scientists often start developing an explanation by
examining all of the data and empirical evidence
they have.
• Then they think logically about the evidence and
develop a reasonable explanation.
• Other scientists test the explanation for
themselves.

• Scientific explanations must explain all available
evidence.
• If new evidence is discovered, it is compared to
the explanation.
• If the explanation cannot explain the new
evidence, the explanation may be modified.

How is a scientific explanation
evaluated?
• First, study the empirical evidence. Decide if it
supports the explanation.
• Second, decide if the explanation is logical and
agrees with your other observations.
• Third, identify tests you can do to support the
idea.
• Finally, evaluate the explanation.

Common Habits
What is involved in scientific work?
• Science and the people who study it are diverse.
However, they have some characteristics in
common.
• When you show these characteristics, you are
thinking like a scientist.

• Scientists make careful observations. They may
use their senses or scientific tools to make
observations.
• Scientists are curious about the world and how it
works.
• Scientists are creative. They use their
imaginations to come up with explanations,
experiments, and solutions.

• Scientists are logical. They use evidence and
careful reasoning to develop explanations.
• Scientists are skeptical. They do not immediately
accept claims. Instead, they ask questions and
evaluate the claims.
• Scientists are objective. They set aside their
feelings and opinions when they evaluate ideas.

“Space Aliens Built the Pyramids”
How is pseudoscience similar to and
different from science?
• Pseudoscience is beliefs or practices that are
mistakenly believed to be based on scientific
principles.
• Pseudoscience can look like science, but it is not
science.

• Both science and pseudoscience can address
topics from the natural world.
• Pseudoscientific claims can sound logical. They
may use technical language or scientific-sounding
terms.
• Both science and pseudoscience claim to be
supported by empirical evidence.

• Unlike science, pseudoscience does not use
accepted scientific methods.
• The evidence supporting pseudoscientific claims
may be vague, biased, or inaccurate.
• Pseudoscientific claims are often not testable.

• Pseudoscientists may say that any claim that has
not been proven false must be true. This is faulty
logic.
• Scientists offer evidence for their explanations. In
contrast, pseudoscientists often ask skeptics to
prove their claims false.

U1 L1 - What is Science?

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