Nature of Science

What is science?

• Knowledge that helps explain the natural world

• A way of forming an opinion about the natural world

• A record of Earth's history

• A way of explaining natural phenomena based on opinions

What can happen to scientific knowledge over time?

• Once scientific ideas are formed, they cannot be changed.

• Scientific information can change if and when we conduct better investigations that provide new evidence

• We spend less time studying the natural world and thus, less scientific information is generated

• Both a and c

Which of the following helps to explain natural phenomena in the natural world?

• Scientific theories

• Scientific laws

• Assumptions

• Unreliable evidence

The best scientific experiments have:

• A small sample size and multiple trials

• A large sample size and multiple trials

• A small sample size and one trial

• A large sample size and one trial

What is a bias?

• A judgment based on scientific facts

• A judgment based on opinions or personal beliefs

• An experiment with a small sample size

• An experiment with unexpected results

Which of the following is based on facts and/or evidence?

• A scientific theory

• A scientific law

• A hypothesis

• Both a and b

What do you call an informed inference based on observations and can be proven or disproven?

• A scientific theory

• A hypothesis

• An opinion

• An assumption

Which of the following is true about scientific theories?

• Scientific theories can be refuted if new evidence is discovered

• Scientific theories provide evidence for assumptions

• A scientific theory can become a hypothesis

• A scientific theory is important to forming biases

Which of the following is NOT true about the limitations of science?

• Science cannot describe the supernatural

• Science cannot tell you how to use scientific information

• Science cannot confirm nor reject the existence of supernatural beings

• Science cannot provide information to help someone make decisions

Why is it important that we use scientific theories and laws to help us better understand the natural world?