How did scientists study nature in the past

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  How did scientists study nature in the past? 

• Bias
• To influence in a particular, typically unfair
  direction prejudice.
• Naturalistsomeone with a passion for and
  knowledge of the natural world

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How do we study science?

• Laboratory vs field work

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What is science?

• Science A process used to solve problems or
  develop an understanding of nature that involves
  testing possible answers.

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What is the scientific method?

• Method of gaining information about the world by
  forming possible solutions to questions, followed
  by rigorous testing to determine if the proposed
  solutions are valid.

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Presumptions of the Scientific Method

• Specific causes for observed events.
• Causes can be identified.
• General rules can describe observations.
• Repeated events have same cause.
• Perceptions are not individualistic.
• Fundamental rules of nature are universal.

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The Scientific Method

• Observation
• Background literature survey
• Hypothesis
• Methods and materials
• Results
• Statistics
• graphs
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• References

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Observation

• Occurs when we use our senses, or extension
  thereof, to record an event.
• Careful, thoughtful recognition of an event.
• Often leads to additional questions about the
  observations.
• Asking the right question is critical in
  determining how, and where, to look for answers.
• Literature Exploration

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Hypothesis

• - A testable statement that provides a possible
  answer to a question, or an explanation for an
  observation.
• A good hypothesis must be logical, account for
  all relevant information, allow prediction of
  related future events, and be testable.
• Given a choice, the simplest hypothesis with the
  fewest assumptions is the most desirable.

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Experiment

• Re-creation of an event enabling an investigator
  to support or disprove a hypothesis.
• Controlled Separate variables and divide
  experiment into experimental and control groups,
  differing by only one variable.
• Reproducible Experiment is repeated to
  eliminate unconscious bias.
• Independent investigators must be able to
  reproduce the experiment.

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Publishing

• Results must be published for peers to be able to
  examine and criticize.
• A hypothesis supported by many experiments and by
  different investigators is considered reliable.

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Control vs test variables

• Control
• Standard, no change, not manipulated
• Used as a basis for comparison with test variable
• Test variable
• Experimental
• Manipulated
• Usually changes during experiment

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Inductive vs Deductive

• Inductive
• Intuition
• insight
• Used to form hypothesis
• Deductive
• Deduce
• Conclude
• Interprete
• Used to evaluate results

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Laws vs theories vs models

• Law hypothesis supported by many studies
• Law of gravity
• Law of Natural selection
• Theory supported by some evidence
• Theory of Evolution
• Still questions about exact processes
• Model
• Physical or written schematic demonstrating how a
  natural event is related to other events.

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How does the scientific method relate to lab
reports?

• Introduction
• Observation What question are you
  investigating?
• Background Literature review what have other
  scientists discovered on the same topic
• Describe animal, plant or habitat you are
  investigating.
• Species descriptions
• Habitat description
• Hypothesis form a hypothesis using intuition
  from reading reports of other scientists and
  applying the information to your observation.
• What do you think is the explanation for what you
  see?

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How does the scientific method relate to lab
reports?

• Methods and Materials
• List materials used to run the experiment
• Describe how you will conduct the experiment
• Describe how you will evaluate the experiment
• Graphs
• statistics
• Sometimes the site description goes here

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How does the scientific method relate to lab
reports?

• Results
• Data table
• Graphs
• Statisitics
• Paragraph describing results

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How does the scientific method relate to lab
reports?

• Discussion
• How did your results support your hypothesis (or
  not). What evidence do you have of this?
• Stats
• graphs
• How do your results related to what other
  scientists have found?
• Do your results relate or contribute information
  to other theories, laws or models?

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How does the scientific method relate to lab
reports?

• Conclusion
• What is your overall conclusion or summary of
  this experiment?

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How does the scientific method relate to lab
reports?

• References cited cite your references Journals
• Beal, D.L. and R.V. Anderson, 1993. The response
  of zooplankton to applications of rotenone in a
  small pond. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 51
  551-556.
• Internet
• Beal, D.L. 2000. Restoring River Otters to the
  Illinois River K-6 internet activities.
• http//www2.ic.edu/beal/otters.
• Books Use the same format as journals
• Author, date published, title, edition (if
  available), publisher, number of pages.

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Scientific Method online Refs

• http//www2.ic.edu/beal/sciencemethods.html