N.2.1 What is Science?
SC.912.N.2.1 Identify what is science, what clearly is not science, and what superficially resembles science (Pseudoscience/Fake science) but fails to meet the criteria for science
SC.912.N.2.2: Identify which questions can be answered through science and which questions are outside the boundaries of scientific investigation, such as questions addressed by other ways of knowing, such as art, philosophy, and religion.
TUTORIALS
What is science?
Science is the process of investigating concepts that are testable through observation or experimentation.
Science is a way of knowing, a way of explaining the natural world through observations, questions, and experiments. Science is an organized way of gathering and analyzing information about the natural world.
Science is a process of investigation, not a collection of facts. Scientific theories are open to change, when new evidence is found.
Science can only investigate testable ideas or concepts. Scientific explanations can only be evaluated using empirical evidence, which is information acquired from observations and experimentation. An explanation must be rejected or changed if it is not supported by evidence.
Examples of science: Biology, Physics, Astronomy, Geology, Ecology etc.
The main ways of testing a scientific explanation are observation and experimentation.
Scientific knowledge is:
Based on empirical evidence.
Durable and robust.
Open to change.
Can be verified or tested by further investigation (Testable)
What is not science?
Many of these activities do involve investigation, but not of testable concepts.
Art: Painting, music, sculpture, or dance - is evaluated by aesthetics, or what appeals to senses and emotions. Your opinion of an art piece cannot be disproved using a scientific test.
Philosophy: In philosophy, investigation is by reasoned argument, not by observations of the natural world.
Religion: Involves investigation, but through meditation or reflection instead of repeatable testing.
Pseudoscience (Fake Science)
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that are claimed to be scientific and factual, in the absence of empirical evidence.
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but does not adhere to the standards of science (e.g. controlled variables, sample size, replicability, empirical and measurable evidence)
Examples of pseudoscience:
Astrology.
Acupuncture.
Alchemy.
Reflexology.
Phrenology.
One noticeable example of a pseudoscience is astrology. Astrology studies how the position and movements of celestial bodies, such as planets and stars, can explain people’s actions and events on Earth.
N.1.6. Observation vs Inference
Describe how scientific inferences are drawn from scientific observations and provide examples from the content being studied.
TUTORIAL
