The Nature of Science and Scientific Knowledge (5-12)

* Science distinguishes itself from other ways of knowing through the use of empirical standards, logical arguments, and skepticism as scientists strive for the best possible explanations about the natural world.  * Scientific explanations must be consistent with experimental and observational evidence and must make accurate predictions about systems being studied.  * Because all scientific ideas depend on experimental and observational confirmation, all scientific knowledge is subject to change as new evidence is available.  (NSES, 1996)

This is a very important lesson which is called The Nature of Science. It answers the essential question, WHAT IS SCIENCE? in a clear and meaningful way. Understanding how science works allows one to easily distinguish science from non-science. Thus, to understand biology, physics, or any other science, it is essential to begin with the nature of science. This site is part of Understanding Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

This wonderful web site comes to us from the University of California, Berkeley. The mission of Understanding Science is to provide a fun, accessible, and free resource that accurately communicates what science is and how it really works. The process of science is exciting, but standard explanations often miss its dynamic nature. Science affects us all everyday, but people often feel cut off from science. Science is an intensely human endeavor. Understanding Science gives users an inside look at the general principles, methods, and motivations that underlie all of science. Fantastic!

The Exploratorium is a science museum for the 21st Century, this learning tool is called Evidence - How We Know What We Know. For most of us, science arrives in our lives packaged neatly as fact. But how did it get that way?  Science is an active process of observation and investigation. In this case study on human origins, we explore how scientific evidence is being used to shape our current understanding of ourselves: What makes us human—and how did we get this way?

The name of this "learning tool" is called Tuberculosis. In this interactive, you learn how  Robert Koch proved with certainty that the dreaded disease, tuberculosis, was caused by specific bacteria. How did he do it? Play the game and find out.   This comes to us from nobelprize.org, a wonderfully creative web site. The have many other educational games that you can link to from this site.

Good data can be the gateway to inquiry. The name of this "learning tool" is called Tagging of Pacific Pelagics and features the real time data tracking of blue fin tuna, sea turtles, sharks and many other large sea animals. Just click on the tabs at the top to select the type of animal you are interested in. This is an incredible site, full of interesting and accessible data for students to use.

The name of this amazing "learning tool" and web site is Journey North. Data can be a wonderful gateway for inquiry. This tool allows students to follow the migration patterns of monarch butterflies, robins, gray whales, bald eagles and others. When you get to the site just click on the animal you would like to see the migration data of. You can even see who contributed the data. A tremendous site for students.

NASA continues to be a leader in science education! This "learning tool" is called the "Earth Observatory: Data & Images". Here you can explore data sets in a very visual way. Scroll your mouse over Atmosphere, Oceans, Land, Life on Earth, and Heat & Energy to see the specific variables you can choose. Select the variable and then build an animation to see it change over time. We recommend this site in many areas of learningscience.org