Let’s do a little exercise…

www.carlwozniak.com
Dinosaur tracks are
common occurrences in
the southern and eastern
U.S.
Here is a section of tracks
that were recently
uncovered.
Can you answer the
following questions?

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•In what direction did
the animals move?

•Did they change speed

or direction?

•Was the soil moist or

dry?

•In what type of rock

were the prints made?

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•What is the size and
nature of the organisms?

•Were the tracks made

at the same time?

•How many animals

were involved?

•Can you reconstruct the

events that occurred?

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The following summer
some more digging
revealed more of the
track.
What additional
information have you
gained that allows you
to refine your answers?

www.carlwozniak.com
•Were the tracks made
at the same time?

•How many animals

were involved?

•Can you reconstruct the

events that occurred?

•In what direction did

the animals move?

•Did they change speed

or direction? www.carlwozniak.com
In the final summer of
the excavation one last
part of the footprint trail
was uncovered. Does
this section provide
additional information
to refine your
hypothesis?

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So what can you infer
happened?

What did you base your

hypothesis on?

And this is how science

is done.

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 Science: An
Organized Body
of Knowledge

Quezon City Polytechnic University Mathematics and Science Department

Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
Lesson 1 (Week 1)
 Topic Outline
1. Science and its Branches
2. Scientific Method and Inquiry
3. Scientific Theory and Law
4. Scientific Research
1.0 Science and its Branches

SCIENCE
scire (Latin)
“to know”

To know about what?!?

 What is knowledge?
It is a statement about what you accept as
sufficiently "real" to allow you to take action
upon and thereby live your life.

How do you know things?

RESEARCH Knowledge
• Gathering of knowledge is
universal.
• Group work!
• To this end, research
knowledge is based on a
protocol to allow one to select
between alternative
observations or hypotheses.
Research knowledge requires that
• all observations must be…
– reproducible….
– by more than 1 observer.
• all hypothesis be falsifiable.
• it involves “natural”
phenomena.
In Research knowledge…
• It is forbidden to say “this is
true”,
rather "this is the most likely
explanation in light of existing
knowledge”.
Approaches to research knowledge
• Empirical Science

– Deals with objects and

observation.
– No truth, no right and wrong.
SCIENCE: Is an ORGANIZED Body of
Knowledge that deals with TRUTH,
PRINCIPLES, and PHYSICAL LAWS to
EXPLAIN NATURAL PHENOMENA.
Science is the study of the material
universe.
Our understanding of this material
universe changes and improves over
time.

SCIENCE IS VERY DYNAMIC!

SCIENCE is DYNAMIC
In our study of the material
universe, there are two
assumptions:

(1) there is order in nature and

therefore the material
universe is knowable

(2) the human mind is capable

of knowing this order
LIMITS of SCIENCE
In 2004 the city council of
Monaza, a city in Italy, barred
pet owners from keeping
goldfish in curved fishbowls.
The sponsors of the measure
explained that it is cruel to
keep a fish in a bowl because
the curved sides give the fish
a distorted view of reality and
the fish suffered from this.

How do we know that the reality we perceive is true?

PERCEPTION
The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something
through the senses.

The way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting

something; a mental impression.

"the normal limits to human perception"

Honeybees can see ultraviolet
rays, are attracted to sweet scents
and have heavy bodies to support.
They are definitely best suited to
crawl on and pollinate daisies.
 Hummingbirds are
attracted to red, pink
and orange colors, have
poor sense of smell and
“hover at” rather than
land on flowers.

Snake Eyes

Did you know that pythons and pit vipers

like rattlesnakes can see the world in two
different ways? Like us, they can use their
eyes to form a visual image of objects in
their surroundings. Unlike us, they also
have infrared vision. They have infrared
sensors, which they use to form a similar
image based not on shape but on the heat
emitted by objects around them.
The material universe is
knowable within the limits of:

(1) the human mind;

(2) culture; and

(3) technology.
SCIENCE is like a TREE
The Three
Main
Roots or
Reasons
why we
have NEEDS PROBLEMS
Science
are: CURIOSIT
Three Main Branches of Science
1. Natural Science: a branch of science that deals
with the physical world.

A. Physical Science: the sciences concerned with

the study of inanimate natural objects, including
physics, chemistry, astronomy, and related subjects.

B. Biological Science: is the natural science that

studies life and living organisms, including their
physical structure, chemical processes, molecular
interactions, physiological mechanisms, development
and evolution.
2. Social Science: the scientific study of human society
and social relationships. It is a subject within the field
of social science, such as economics or politics.

3. Applied Science: is the application of existing

scientific knowledge to practical applications, like
technology or inventions. Within natural science,
disciplines that are basic science, also called pure
science, develop basic information to predict and
perhaps explain and understand phenomena in the
natural world.
2.0 The Scientific Method
Scientific knowledge is a collection of statements that:
(1) are internally consistent
(2) are logically interrelated
(3) can produce a prediction which can be tested by
experiment and observation
Scientific Method: a method of procedure that has
characterized natural science since the 17th
century, consisting in systematic observation,
measurement, and experiment, and the
formulation, testing, and modification of
hypotheses.
 Science is experimental!
Not everything can be resolved by debate or argumentation!

Experiments are done

to:

(1) discover phenomena

and relationships

(2) verify laws and

confirm theories,
models and their
predictions
Categories of Scientific Investigations

(1) Observational Investigation - “What have we

here?”
(2) Controlled what-if Experiment- “I wonder what will
happen if…?”
(3) Explanation-Seeking Experiment- “What caused it to
do that?”
(4) Modeling what-if Experiment - “If I understand
things correctly, I can predict how this thing will handle
under different circumstances.”
(5) Problem-Solving what-if Experiment- “I don’t care
how you do it, JUST FIX IT!”
 Is there a rigid, cut and dried method for
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Science?
 Science follows a basic
method, and that is
observing, thinking and
experimenting

 but there is no strict recipe!

 involves serendipity,
imagination, dreams and
luck!
 Fleming’s “Discovery”: Serendipitous
Alexander Fleming
discovered
penicillin in 1928.

Discovered? Well,
yes. And no.
• Fleming realized that a petri dish containing
Staphylococcus bacteria culture he’d mistakenly Fact is, the Scottish
left open had been contaminated by a mold — scientist and Nobel
Penicillum — which was now killing the bacteria. Prize laureate
didn’t so
• Thus was born the age of antibiotic medicine. much discover the
Penicillin is still the most widely used treatment antibiotic
for many gram-positive infections, such as as stumble upon it.
syphilis.
 SERENDIPITY
• in science, is making a discovery

• when you’re not exactly looking for it,

• but your mind is prepared for the

unexpected.
Lesson learned…
3.0 Scientific Theory and Law
What really is a hypothesis?
• An explanation for the pattern created by two or
more facts.
– Based on observation
– Has predictive value
– Testable, open to being proven wrong
• Note: NO amount of data will prove a hypothesis
to be true! They only fail to disprove it.
Hypotheses with strong predicting power.

• Eventually become a THEORY

A scientific theory is a well-substantiated

explanation of some aspect of the natural world,
based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly
confirmed through observation and experiment.
Such fact-supported theories are not "guesses" but
reliable accounts of the real world.
 Copernican Hypothesis
• Heliocentrism: from hypothesis to theory

When supported by the following Laws

• Galileo’s Law of Inertia

• Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Mechanics
• Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion
 The death of a hypothesis or theory
• Data are found which contradict it.
• Its predictions constantly fail.
• It is supplanted by a new set of hypotheses
which explains more of the data, or explains
the same data more elegantly.
Does theory become law?

A LAW is meant to
concisely describe an
action or set of actions.

It is simple and universal.

 What then is good science?
• Eliminates as many variables while
entertaining as many alternate interpretations
of the observations as possible.
• Hallmark of good science is “DOUBT”

Why would non-scientists have

to know what good science is?
 Chernobyl Disaster April 26, 1986
Polish photographer
Wojciech Laski, showing two
children with serious
congenital defects (one of
them one-armed),
supposedly caused by
radiation. Five years later, 13
October 1995, Reuters
dispatch reported that 800
thousand children have been
affected by the
consequences of Chernobyl
accident, which was "as
terrible as a nuclear attack.

Increase in reported congenital malformations in both contaminated

and uncontaminated areas of Belarus appears related to better
reporting, not radiation.
Why is it important to recognize pseudoscience?
The Value of Science

The value of science lies in its

predictive power.

We make use of natural laws for our

benefit.

It also teaches us honesty, humility, tolerance,

and lessons on boldness and courage.