Practicing like a Scientist

Think, act and reason like scientists (and engineers!)

Science is not just a body of knowledge that reflects current understanding of the world; it is also a set of practices. The idea of science as a set of practices has emerged from the work of historians, philosophers, psychologists, and sociologists. Their work illuminates how science is actually done. These practices reflect those of professional scientists.

It is only through engagement in the practices that one can recognize how such knowledge comes. It develops an appreciation of "how we know" what we know in science. There has always been a tension, however, between the emphasis that should be placed on developing knowledge of the content of science and the emphasis placed on scientific practices. A narrow focus on content alone has the unfortunate consequence of leaving students with naive conceptions of the nature of scientific inquiry. Such understanding will help students become more critical consumers of scientific information.

Investigate

#1 Ask Questions 

Asking questions is essential to developing scientific habits of mind. Questions can be driven by 

• • curiosity about the world (e.g., Why is the sky blue?)

  • Be inspired by a model’s or theory’s predictions

  • By attempts to extend or refine a model or theory

  • By the need to provide better solutions to a problem (e.g. why it is impossible to siphon water above a height of 32 feet?)

There is a distinction between questions that can be answered empirically and those that are answerable only in other domains of knowledge.  The experience of learning science is to develop students’ ability to ask well-formulated questions that can be investigated empirically 

#2 Use and Develop Models 

People often use models in their everyday lives. Maps are models of roads and locations. A globe is a model of Earth. Model cars, airplanes, and trains are tiny replicas of vehicles. All models are representations of something else—an idea, an object, an event, a process, a system—and act as substitutes for the real things.

Models are central to the process of understanding, doing, and communicating about science.  For example, weather maps are models that scientists use to predict weather patterns . Models also allow scientists to go beyond the visible world to describe objects that are too large or small, too slow or quick for the human eye; things that don’t exist anymore; things that have never been created; and ideas too difficult to communicate in words. They are the expressions of internal ideas or thoughts that scientists have about how the world works. 

Models can be physical replicas. Models can be analogies. Models can be mathematical formulas. Scientific models represent something about the structure, behavior, and function of objects, processes, or events that happen in the world. 

Practicing scientists draw on models already developed by others in the field, but the power of models comes from developing them. Developing models helps scientists visualize complex concepts, understand problems, and communicate new ideas. 

#3 Plan and Carry out Investigations

Through measurements and observations of the material world and of the designed world, scientists (as well as students) test claims, questions, conjectures, hypotheses and models. It takes time to sort things out in the natural world, to ask the right questions, and to make the appropriate measurements and observations. If students only encounter pre-planned confirmatory investigations following step-by-step procedures that ensure the desired outcome occurs, then important and relevant thinking and designing practices and struggles that are part of doing science and engineering get stripped away. Planning and Carrying out Investigation is an important stage to help progress through the decision making steps of moving from questions, to measures, to data, to evidence, and to explanation.

Imagine different student groups using different ways of measuring, recording, and/or representing their observations. Each group then presents on how they tackled the investigation. Such sharing often leads to refinements to the investigation plans, alterations in how to take measurements or perhaps a decision to start over. 

Explain

Scientific explanations must meet certain criteria. First and foremost, they must be consistent with experimental and observational evidence. In other words, explanations must make accurate predictions about systems being studied. Explanations should also be logical, be open to criticism, report methods and procedures and make knowledge public