Transcript Chapter 1: Introduction to Earth Science

Chapter 1:
Introduction to Earth
Science
Section 1 – What is Science?
Thinking like a scientist
• Science
– way of learning about the natural world
AND the knowledge gained through that
process
• Observing
– using one or more of your senses to
gather info (sight, hearing, touch, taste,
smell)
Thinking like a scientist
• Inferring
– explaining or interpreting the things you
observe
– not wildly guessing
– based on reasoning
– not always correct
• Predicting
– making a forecast of what will happen in the
future based on past experience or evidence
Scientific Attitudes
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Curiosity – ask questions
Honesty – report findings truthfully
Open-mindedness – accept new/different ideas
Skepticism – doubt an untested idea
Creativity – new ways of solving problems
Scientific Inquiry
the many ways in which scientists study the
natural world and propose explanations based
on the evidence they gather
1. posing questions
• based on an observation, inference or curiosity
2. developing a hypothesis
• possible explanation for a set of observations or answer
to a scientific question
• must be testable
Scientific Inquiry Continued…
3. designing an experiment
• Controlled experiment – a test of a hypothesis under
conditions established by a scientist
• Variable – one of the factors that can change in an
experiment
• Manipulated variable – the variable a scientist
changes
• Responding variable – the variable that changes
because of the manipulated variable
4. Collecting and Interpreting Data
Data
• facts, figures & other evidence gathered
through observations
– data table to collect/record observations
– graphs to interpret data
• can reveal patterns/trends in data
5. Drawing conclusions
• Conclusion – a decision about how to
interpret what you have learned from
an experiment
– Data may
• support hypothesis
• prove it incorrect
• show no conclusion can be reached
• results lead to new questions, new hypotheses
& new experiments
6. Communicating
• Sharing of ideas & experimental
findings with others through writing
and speaking
Scientific Theories & Laws
Scientific Theory
• a well-tested scientific concept that explains
a wide range of observations
– withstood repeated tests
– can be changed or abandoned
Scientific Theories & Laws
Scientific Law
• a statement that describes what scientists
expect to happen every time under a
particular set of conditions
– describes an observed pattern in nature but
does not explain it
• same result is repeatedly observed.