The Right Answer

Are you one of those students who is interested only in getting to the right answer? If so, you may find science frustrating. Science is based on experimentation and discourse. I am sure that most of you understand what experimentation is, but discourse might be a new concept for you. Discourse is a process of discussing a subject, examining it from all angles, considering everyone's ideas, and then trying to reach a conclusion.

Sometimes, science isn't as precise as we'd like things to be. There are often multiple ways to interpret results. There are even times when two different, yet logical, interpretations can be completely opposed to one another. When this happens, scientists run more experiments.

One of the things that excites me the most about science is that the "right answer" can change. Many of the "facts" that I learned in my college science classes are no longer considered to be true. Many of the biological processes that were a mystery when I was in college have now been explained. To be a scientist, or a science teacher, means never to stop learning.

Because there is not always a "right answer", scientists have to be able to explain their thinking in writing. They have to carefully document every step in their experiment, explain every test or measurement they made, compile the data from each of those tests and measurements, and explain their results.