Nature of Science

1

• Nature of Science
• Science system of knowledge based on facts or
  principles.
• Observing, studying, and experimenting
• Branches of Science
• Natural Science 3 parts
• Biological Science living things
• Zoology (animals)
• Botany (plants)
• Ecology (life and environment)
• Earth Science study of the earth
• Geology (rocks)
• Meteorology (weather)
• Oceanography (oceans)

2

• Physical Science matter and energy
• Chemistry matter and how it changes.
• Physics energy and forces.
• Do these branches ever cross? YES
• Biochemistry matter of living things.
• Geophysics forces that affect the Earth.
• Science vs. Technology
• Technology use of science to meet human needs.
• Scientists how/why something works
• engineers how can we use it

3

• Scientific theories vs. laws
• Theory explanation that has been tested by
  repeated observations.
• Must be simple and clear.
• Must be repeatable.
• Predict from theory
• Law states a repeated observation about nature.
• Math and Science
• Math language of science
• area of rectangle length x width
• Gravity Force G (M1 x M2)/d2
• Models representation of an object/event that
  can be studied to understand the real thing.

4

• Chemical models
• Drawings on paper
• Computer models
• Way Science Works
• Scientific Method series of steps to solve
  problems
• 6 steps
• Observe
• Hypothesis
• Experiment
• Results (data)
• Analysis
• Conclusion

5

• Each experiment tests one variable at a time.
• Variable anything that can be changed in an
  experiment.
• Are there failures in science? NO!!
• If experiments result dont agree with
  hypothesis, you still have learned.
• Scientific Tools
• Senses
• Microscopes/telescopes
• Radio telescopes
• Spectrophotometers
• Particle accelerators

6

• Units of Measurement
• International System of Units (SI)
• Used for consistency
• SI base units
• Length - meter, m
• Mass - kilogram, kg
• Time - second, s
• Temperature - Kelvin, K
• Electric current - ampere, A
• Amount of substance - mole, mol
• Luminous intensity - candela, cd

7

• SI prefixes
• Kilo k thousand 1,000
• Mega M million 1,000,000
• Giga G billion 1,000,000,000
• Deci d tenth 0.1
• Centi c hundredth 0.01
• Milli m thousandth 0.001
• Micro - millionth 0.000001
• Nano n billionth 0.000000001
• Conversions

8

• Making Measurements
• Length straight line distance between 2 points.
• Mass quantity of matter in an object.
• Volume measure of space.
• Weight force with which gravity pulls on a
  quantity of matter.
• Organizing Data
• Types of Graphs
• Line graph best for displaying data that
  change.
• X-axis and y-axis.

9

• Bar graph used to compare data for several
  individual items or events.
• Shows the large or small differences in certain
  values.
• Pie charts used for displaying data that are
  parts of a whole.
• Writing Scientific notation
• Scientific notation simple number multiplied by
  a power of 10.
• T distance to Neptune 4,600,000,000,000 m
• speed of light 300,000,000 m/s
• 4.6 x 1012 m
• 3.0 x 108 m/s

10

• Can be large or small
• 104 10,000
• 10-4 .0001
• Using scientific notation
• Multiply add values of 10
• 2.0 x 104 x 3.0 x 105 6.0 x 109
• Divide subtract values of 10
• 4.6 x 1012 4.6 x 1012 1.5x104
• 3.0 x 108 3.0 108
• Using Significant figures
• Significant figures digits in a measurement
  that are known with certainty.

11

• Precision vs. Accuracy
• Precision degree of exactness of a measurement.
• Accuracy extent a measurement approaches the
  true value.
• Figure 1 20, page 25