Warm-up  How do you think scientists’ personal views, feelings, and experiences may affect their research?

Warm-up  In complete sentences, list three reasons why Mr. Sleep wants you to write today’s agenda in your notebook for THIS class.

Chapter 1: The Nature of Science Section 1

Learning Objectives  Students will understand what science is.  Students will know the general fields of study in science.  Students will grow a better understanding of how investigations are conducted.  Students will learn about the different parts of investigations.

What is science?  Science is a method for studying the natural world  Comes from scientia, meaning “knowledge”  Uses observations & investigation to gain knowledge about events

One minute quick write.  Science is a method for studying the natural world. How can science be used to study the supernatural?  Supernatural examples- God, miracles, ghosts, etc.

Major Categories of Science  Covers many topics classified by three main categories: 1. Life Science= Life & living things 2. Earth Science= investigates Earth & space 3. Physical Science= matter & energy

Investigations  Scientists learn new information about the natural world by performing investigations, which can be done many different ways. Investigations involve:  Observations & record keeping  Setting up experiments & isolating variables  Building models & recording behaviors

Parts of an Investigation: Variables  Variable- a factor that can cause a change in the results of an experiment  Independent variable- the variable YOU change to see how it will affect the dependent variable  Dependent variable- a variable in an experiment that changes according to the changes in the independent variable

One minute quick write.  John tests 3 types of fertilizer, A, B, and C for tomatoes to see which one works best. Every factor, such as water, sunlight, and shade is kept the same. John found that fertilizer A had the largest tomato plants.  Quick write- Identify the independent and dependent variables in this experiment and explain why.

Parts of an Investigation: Constants and Controls  To be sure you are only testing one variable in an experiment, you must keep the other possible factors the same.  Constant- a factor that does not change when other variables change in an experiment  Control- a standard by which the test results can be compared.

One minute quick write.  John tests 3 types of fertilizer, A, B, and C for tomatoes to see which one works best. Every factor, such as water, sunlight, and shade is kept the same. John found that fertilizer A had the largest tomato plants.  Quick write- Identify some constants in this experiment.

Parts of an Investigation: Data  An important part of every experiment includes recording observations and organizing test data.  Interpreting data and analyzing the observations is an important step.  Data do not tell you what to think!

Parts of an Investigation: Conclusions  Based on the analysis of your data, YOU decide whether or not your conclusion is correct.  Others may repeat your experiment, and those experiments must get the same data as you for your conclusion to be accepted by the scientific community

Parts of an Investigation: Bias  Bias- occurs when what the scientist expects changes how the results are viewed. Examples:  A company testing their own product.  Flat Earther’s performing an experiment to see if the Earth is truly a sphere.