scientific method (inquiry)
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Scientific Method (Inquiry)
What is the scientific method…..
?The scientific method is a ______
for answering questions.process
What is Science?
or
Here are a few statements to test your current
understanding of science!
Science actually attempts to disprove ideas (hypotheses).Science is limited strictly to solving problems about the physical and natural world. Explanations based on supernatural forces, values or ethics can never be
disproved and thus do not fall under the area of science.
Science can prove anything, solve any problem or answer any question.
True or False?
False
Any study done carefully and based on observation is scientific.
• • Science must follow certain rules.
• • The rules of science make the scientific process as objective as is possible.
Objective = Not influenced by feelings, interests and prejudices; UNBIASED
vs. Subjective = Influenced by feelings, interests
and prejudices; BIASED
False
Science can be done poorly.
Different scientists may get different solutions to the same problem.
Understanding Experimental Design
A process of discovery…
The Controversy Over Spontaneous Generation
Problem: What causes tiny living things to appear in decaying broth?
Spallazani’s Hypothesis: Microbes come from the air. Boiling will kill them.Needham’s Hypothesis: Spontaneous generation-Life forms arose from non-living matter.
1700’s
John Needham
Lazzaro Spallanzani
Needham >
Spallazani >
Experimental Designs with flaws
Louis Pastuer …disproved the idea of spontaneous generation of life.
He concluded that germs in the air were able to fall unobstructed down the straight-necked flask and contaminate the broth. The other flask, however, trapped germs in its curved neck, preventing them from reaching the broth, which never changed color or became cloudy.
Controlled all of the variables in the experiment--- GOOD EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
Objectivity is the key to good science.
To be objective, experiments must be designed and conducted in a way that does not introduce
bias into the study.
Soooo…what is good science?
The Beginnings of Immunologyusing the scientific method
Edward Jenner and the first vaccine:
COWPOX : Infectious disease that caused mild discomfort, aching, a few pustules, some swelling…symptoms that disappeared in a few days. No biggie.
SMALLPOX: Infectious disease that caused massive disfigurement, sometimes blindness, and often death.
Late 1700’s to early 1800’s – English physician
Dr. Jenner was aware of farm workers' belief that if you had cowpox in the past, you wouldn’t get smallpox.
The Beginnings of ImmunologyEdward Jenner and the first vaccine.
Question: Does having cowpox make a person immune to smallpox?
Hypothesis: If someone is infected with cowpox, then they will be immune to smallpox because having cowpox keeps a person from getting smallpox.
Experiment: Jenner made small incisions or punctures in arms of human subjects and rubbed in cowpox material (pus) in order to infect them with cowpox.
Analysis & Conclusion: He saw that people that he infected with cow pox, when later exposed to smallpox, would get a little bit sick, but never come down with a full-blown case of smallpox. Cowpox infection prevents smallpox infection.
Present Results / Peer Evaluation: At first his peers doubted the safety and value of his treatment, but eventually the importance of the cowpox inoculum was recognized.
1800’s – English physician
Vaccination was not without its critics. In this cartoon from 1802, the British satirist James Gillray implied that vaccination caused people
to become part cow.
Fun Fact
Independent duplication = Two or more scientists from different institutions investigate the same question separately and get similar results.
Peer-reviewed journal. = A journal that publishes articles only after they have been checked for quality by several expert, objective scientists from different institutions.
Verification is another quality control measure to eliminate bias.
Results are verified by independent duplication and publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Scientific Method (Inquiry)Observation, Question or
Problem
Hypothesis
Experiment/TestData/Analysis
Conclusion
Publish
Scientific Theory vs. Law
Scientific Theory vs. LawTHEORYExplanation for an observation or phenomena
that is confirmed by a large amount of evidence or tests (experiments).
Example:
Germ theory of disease - Infectious diseases result from the action of microorganisms.
Although highly controversial when first proposed, it is now a cornerstone of modern medicine leading to such important innovations as antibiotics and hygienic practices.
LAWA statement of a scientific principle that appears
to be without exception at the time it is made, and always works the same way under the same conditions; A scientific rule.
Example:
Newton's First Law of Motion (Law of Inertia) - every object either remains at rest or in continuous motion with constant speed unless acted upon by an outside force.
Treponema pallidum - ♪ (Trep-o-neemah pal-lid-um)
So, what's the difference?
A SCIENTIFIC THEORY
- are typically non-mathematical.
A SCIENTIFIC LAW
- are often mathematically defined
• Looking at things this way helps to explain, in part, why physics and chemistry have lots of "laws" whereas biology has few laws (and more theories).
• In biology, it is very difficult to describe all the complexities of life with "simple" (relatively speaking!) mathematical terms.
So that’s Science…
Now, what’s the difference between:
1. Non-science
2. Science ?
Non science = Outside the field of Science
• Values
• Religious and other beliefs
• Art
• Creativity & Intuition
Subjects of nonscience are usually easily separated from science.
Nonscience is important in human thinking and experience.
Science• Science is the
study of the natural world using information gathered from the natural world.
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