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Science as Inquiry
CONTENT STANDARD A:
As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop
 ABILITIES
NECESSARY TO DO SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
- Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations.
- Design and conduct scientific investigations.
- Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and
communications.
- Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic
and evidence.
- Recognize and analyze explanations and models.
- Communicate and defend a scientific argument.
UNDERSTANDINGS
ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
- Scientists usually inquire about how physical, living, or designed
systems function. Conceptual principles and knowledge guide scientific inquiries.
Historical and current scientific knowledge influence the design and interpretation of
investigations and the evaluation of proposed explanations made by other scientists.
- Scientists conduct investigations for a wide variety of reasons. For
example, they may wish to discover new aspects of the natural world, explain recently
observed phenomena, or test the conclusions of prior investigations or the predictions of
current theories.
- Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and
manipulation of data. New techniques and tools provide new evidence to guide inquiry and
new methods to gather data, thereby contributing to the advance of science. The accuracy
and precision of the data, and therefore the quality of the exploration, depends on the
technology used.
- Mathematics is essential in scientific inquiry. Mathematical tools
and models guide and improve the posing of questions, gathering data, constructing
explanations and communicating results.
- Scientific explanations must adhere to criteria such as: a proposed
explanation must be logically consistent; it must abide by the rules of evidence; it must
be open to questions and possible modification; and it must be based on historical and
current scientific knowledge.
- Results of scientific inquiry--new knowledge and methods--emerge from
different types of investigations and public communication among scientists. In
communicating and defending the results of scientific inquiry, arguments must be logical
and demonstrate connections between natural phenomena, investigations, and the historical
body of scientific knowledge. In addition, the methods and procedures that scientists used
to obtain evidence must be clearly reported to enhance opportunities for further
investigation.
Physical Science
CONTENT STANDARD B: As a result of their activities
in grades 9-12, all students should develop an understanding of
STRUCTURE
OF ATOMS
- Matter is made of minute particles called atoms, and atoms are
composed of even smaller components. These components have measurable properties, such as
mass and electrical charge. Each atom has a positively charged nucleus surrounded by
negatively charged electrons. The electric force between the nucleus and electrons holds
the atom together.
- The atom's nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons, which are
much more massive than electrons. When an element has atoms that differ in the number of
neutrons, these atoms are called different isotopes of the element.
- The nuclear forces that hold the nucleus of an atom together, at
nuclear distances, are usually stronger than the electric forces that would make it fly
apart. Nuclear reactions convert a fraction of the mass of interacting particles into
energy, and they can release much greater amounts of energy than atomic interactions.
Fission is the splitting of a large nucleus into smaller pieces. Fusion is the joining of
two nuclei at extremely high temperature and pressure, and is the process responsible for
the energy of the sun and other stars.
- Radioactive isotopes are unstable and undergo spontaneous nuclear
reactions, emitting particles and/or wavelike radiation. The decay of any one nucleus
cannot be predicted, but a large group of identical nuclei decay at a predictable rate.
This predictability can be used to estimate the age of materials that contain radioactive
isotopes.
STRUCTURE
AND PROPERTIES OF MATTER
- Atoms interact with one another by transferring or sharing electrons
that are furthest from the nucleus. These outer electrons govern the chemical properties
of the element.
- An element is composed of a single type of atom. When elements are
listed in order according to the number of protons (called the atomic number), repeating
patterns of physical and chemical properties identify families of elements with similar
properties. This "Periodic Table" is a consequence of the repeating pattern of
outermost electrons and their permitted energies.
- Bonds between atoms are created when electrons are paired up by being
transferred or shared. A substance composed of a single kind of atom is called an element.
The atoms may be bonded together into molecules or crystalline solids. A compound is
formed when two or more kinds of atoms bind together chemically.
- The physical properties of compounds reflect the nature of the
interactions among its molecules. These interactions are determined by the structure of
the molecule, including the constituent atoms and the distances and angles between them.
- Solids, liquids, and gases differ in the distances and angles between
molecules or atoms and therefore the energy that binds them together. In solids the
structure is nearly rigid; in liquids molecules or atoms move around each other but do not
move apart; and in gases molecules or atoms move almost independently of each other and
are mostly far apart.
- Carbon atoms can bond to one another in chains, rings, and branching
networks to form a variety of structures, including synthetic polymers, oils, and the
large molecules essential to life.
CHEMICAL
REACTIONS
- Chemical reactions occur all around us, for example in health care,
cooking, cosmetics, and automobiles. Complex chemical reactions involving carbon-based
molecules take place constantly in every cell in our bodies.
- Chemical reactions may release or consume energy. Some reactions such
as the burning of fossil fuels release large amounts of energy by losing heat and by
emitting light. Light can initiate many chemical reactions such as photosynthesis and the
evolution of urban smog.
- A large number of important reactions involve the transfer of either
electrons (oxidation/reduction reactions) or hydrogen ions (acid/base reactions) between
reacting ions, molecules, or atoms. In other reactions, chemical bonds are broken by heat
or light to form very reactive radicals with electrons ready to form new bonds. Radical
reactions control many processes such as the presence of ozone and greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, burning and processing of fossil fuels, the formation of polymers, and
explosions.
- Chemical reactions can take place in time periods ranging from the
few femtoseconds (10-15 seconds) required for an atom to move a fraction of a chemical
bond distance to geologic time scales of billions of years. Reaction rates depend on how
often the reacting atoms and molecules encounter one another, on the temperature, and on
the properties--including shape--of the reacting species.
- Catalysts, such as metal surfaces, accelerate chemical reactions.
Chemical reactions in living systems are catalyzed by protein molecules called enzymes.
MOTIONS
AND FORCES
- Objects change their motion only when a net force is applied. Laws of
motion are used to calculate precisely the effects of forces on the motion of objects. The
magnitude of the change in motion can be calculated using the relationship F = ma, which
is independent of the nature of the force. Whenever one object exerts force on another, a
force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction is exerted on the first object.
- Gravitation is a universal force that each mass exerts on any other
mass. The strength of the gravitational attractive force between two masses is
proportional to the masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them.
- The electric force is a universal force that exists between any two
charged objects. Opposite charges attract while like charges repel. The strength of the
force is proportional to the charges, and, as with gravitation, inversely proportional to
the square of the distance between them.
- Between any two charged particles, electric force is vastly greater
than the gravitational force. Most observable forces such as those exerted by a coiled
spring or friction may be traced to electric forces acting between atoms and molecules.
- Electricity and magnetism are two aspects of a single electromagnetic
force. Moving electric charges produce magnetic forces, and moving magnets produce
electric forces. These effects help students to understand electric motors and generators.
CONSERVATION
OF ENERGY AND THE INCREASE IN DISORDER
- The total energy of the universe is constant. Energy can be
transferred by collisions in chemical and nuclear reactions, by light waves and other
radiations, and in many other ways. However, it can never be destroyed. As these transfers
occur, the matter involved becomes steadily less ordered.
- All energy can be considered to be either kinetic energy, which is
the energy of motion; potential energy, which depends on relative position; or energy
contained by a field, such as electromagnetic waves.
- Heat consists of random motion and the vibrations of atoms,
molecules, and ions. The higher the temperature, the greater the atomic or molecular
motion.
- Everything tends to become less organized and less orderly over time.
Thus, in all energy transfers, the overall effect is that the energy is spread out
uniformly. Examples are the transfer of energy from hotter to cooler objects by
conduction, radiation, or convection and the warming of our surroundings when we burn
fuels.
INTERACTIONS
OF ENERGY AND MATTER
- Waves, including sound and seismic waves, waves on water, and light
waves, have energy and can transfer energy when they interact with matter.
- Electromagnetic waves result when a charged object is accelerated or
decelerated. Electromagnetic waves include radio waves (the longest wavelength),
microwaves, infrared radiation (radiant heat), visible light, ultraviolet radiation,
x-rays, and gamma rays. The energy of electromagnetic waves is carried in packets whose
magnitude is inversely proportional to the wavelength.
- Each kind of atom or molecule can gain or lose energy only in
particular discrete amounts and thus can absorb and emit light only at wavelengths
corresponding to these amounts. These wavelengths can be used to identify the substance.
- In some materials, such as metals, electrons flow easily, whereas in
insulating materials such as glass they can hardly flow at all. Semiconducting materials
have intermediate behavior. At low temperatures some materials become superconductors and
offer no resistance to the flow of electrons.
Life Science
CONTENT STANDARD C: As a result of their activities
in grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of
THE
CELL
- Cells have particular structures that underlie their functions. Every
cell is surrounded by a membrane that separates it from the outside world. Inside the cell
is a concentrated mixture of thousands of different molecules which form a variety of
specialized structures that carry out such cell functions as energy production, transport
of molecules, waste disposal, synthesis of new molecules, and the storage of genetic
material.
- Most cell functions involve chemical reactions. Food molecules taken
into cells react to provide the chemical constituents needed to synthesize other
molecules. Both breakdown and synthesis are made possible by a large set of protein
catalysts, called enzymes. The breakdown of some of the food molecules enables the cell to
store energy in specific chemicals that are used to carry out the many functions of the
cell.
- Cells store and use information to guide their functions. The genetic
information stored in DNA is used to direct the synthesis of the thousands of proteins
that each cell requires.
- Cell functions are regulated. Regulation occurs both through changes
in the activity of the functions performed by proteins and through the selective
expression of individual genes. This regulation allows cells to respond to their
environment and to control and coordinate cell growth and division.
- Plant cells contain chloroplasts, the site of photosynthesis. Plants
and many microorganisms use solar energy to combine molecules of carbon dioxide and water
into complex, energy rich organic compounds and release oxygen to the environment. This
process of photosynthesis provides a vital connection between the sun and the energy needs
of living systems.
- Cells can differentiate, and complex multicellular organisms are
formed as a highly organized arrangement of differentiated cells. In the development of
these multicellular organisms, the progeny from a single cell form an embryo in which the
cells multiply and differentiate to form the many specialized cells, tissues and organs
that comprise the final organism. This differentiation is regulated through the expression
of different genes.
THE MOLECULAR BASIS OF HEREDITY
- In all organisms, the instructions for specifying the characteristics
of the organism are carried in DNA, a large polymer formed from subunits of four kinds (A,
G, C, and T). The chemical and structural properties of DNA explain how the genetic
information that underlies heredity is both encoded in genes (as a string of molecular
"letters") and replicated (by a templating mechanism). Each DNA molecule in a
cell forms a single chromosome.
- Most of the cells in a human contain two copies of each of 22
different chromosomes. In addition, there is a pair of chromosomes that determines sex: a
female contains two X chromosomes and a male contains one X and one Y chromosome.
Transmission of genetic information to offspring occurs through egg and sperm cells that
contain only one representative from each chromosome pair. An egg and a sperm unite to
form a new individual. The fact that the human body is formed from cells that contain two
copies of each chromosome--and therefore two copies of each gene--explains many features
of human heredity, such as how variations that are hidden in one generation can be
expressed in the next.
- Changes in DNA (mutations) occur spontaneously at low rates. Some of
these changes make no difference to the organism, whereas others can change cells and
organisms. Only mutations in germ cells can create the variation that changes an
organism's offspring.
BIOLOGICAL
EVOLUTION
- Species evolve over time. Evolution is the consequence of the
interactions of (1) the potential for a species to increase its numbers, (2) the genetic
variability of offspring due to mutation and recombination of genes, (3) a finite supply
of the resources required for life, and (4) the ensuing selection by the environment of
those offspring better able to survive and leave offspring.
- The great diversity of organisms is the result of more than 3.5
billion years of evolution that has filled every available niche with life forms.
- Natural selection and its evolutionary consequences provide a
scientific explanation for the fossil record of ancient life forms, as well as for the
striking molecular similarities observed among the diverse species of living organisms.
- The millions of different species of plants, animals, and
microorganisms that live on earth today are related by descent from common ancestors.
- Biological classifications are based on how organisms are related.
Organisms are classified into a hierarchy of groups and subgroups based on similarities
which reflect their evolutionary relationships. Species is the most fundamental unit of
classification.
THE
INTERDEPENDENCE OF ORGANISMS
- The atoms and molecules on the earth cycle among the living and
nonliving components of the biosphere.
- Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, from photosynthetic
organisms to herbivores to carnivores and decomposers.
- Organisms both cooperate and compete in ecosystems. The
interrelationships and interdependencies of these organisms may generate ecosystems that
are stable for hundreds or thousands of years.
- Living organisms have the capacity to produce populations of infinite
size, but environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension has profound
effects on the interactions between organisms.
- Human beings live within the world's ecosystems. Increasingly, humans
modify ecosystems as a result of population growth, technology, and consumption. Human
destruction of habitats through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes, and
other factors is threatening current global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems
will be irreversibly affected.
MATTER, ENERGY, AND ORGANIZATION
IN LIVING SYSTEMS
- All matter tends toward more disorganized states. Living systems
require a continuous input of energy to maintain their chemical and physical
organizations. With death, and the cessation of energy input, living systems rapidly
disintegrate.
- The energy for life primarily derives from the sun. Plants capture
energy by absorbing light and using it to form strong (covalent) chemical bonds between
the atoms of carbon-containing (organic) molecules. These molecules can be used to
assemble larger molecules with biological activity (including proteins, DNA, sugars, and
fats). In addition, the energy stored in bonds between the atoms (chemical energy) can be
used as sources of energy for life processes.
- The chemical bonds of food molecules contain energy. Energy is
released when the bonds of food molecules are broken and new compounds with lower energy
bonds are formed. Cells usually store this energy temporarily in phosphate bonds of a
small high-energy compound called ATP.
- The complexity and organization of organisms accommodates the need
for obtaining, transforming, transporting, releasing, and eliminating the matter and
energy used to sustain the organism.
- The distribution and abundance of organisms and populations in
ecosystems are limited by the availability of matter and energy and the ability of the
ecosystem to recycle materials.
- As matter and energy flows through different levels of organization
of living systems--cells, organs, organisms, communities--and between living systems and
the physical environment, chemical elements are recombined in different ways. Each
recombination results in storage and dissipation of energy into the environment as heat.
Matter and energy are conserved in each change.
THE BEHAVIOR OF ORGANISMS
- Multicellular animals have nervous systems that generate behavior.
Nervous systems are formed from specialized cells that conduct signals rapidly through the
long cell extensions that make up nerves. The nerve cells communicate with each other by
secreting specific excitatory and inhibitory molecules. In sense organs, specialized cells
detect light, sound, and specific chemicals and enable animals to monitor what is going on
in the world around them.
- Organisms have behavioral responses to internal changes and to
external stimuli. Responses to external stimuli can result from interactions with the
organism's own species and others, as well as environmental changes; these responses
either can be innate or learned. The broad patterns of behavior exhibited by animals have
evolved to ensure reproductive success. Animals often live in unpredictable environments,
and so their behavior must be flexible enough to deal with uncertainty and change. Plants
also respond to stimuli.
- Like other aspects of an organism's biology, behaviors have evolved
through natural selection. Behaviors often have an adaptive logic when viewed in terms of
evolutionary principles.
- Behavioral biology has implications for humans, as it provides links
to psychology, sociology, and anthropology.
Earth and Space Science
CONTENT STANDARD D: As a result of their activities
in grades 9-12, all students should develop an understanding of
ENERGY
IN THE EARTH SYSTEM
- Earth systems have internal and external sources of energy, both of
which create heat. The sun is the major external source of energy. Two primary sources of
internal energy are the decay of radioactive isotopes and the gravitational energy from
the earth's original formation.
- The outward transfer of earth's internal heat drives convection
circulation in the mantle that propels the plates comprising earth's surface across the
face of the globe.
- Heating of earth's surface and atmosphere by the sun drives
convection within the atmosphere and oceans, producing winds and ocean currents.
- Global climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun at and
near the earth's surface. This energy transfer is influenced by dynamic processes such as
cloud cover and the earth's rotation, and static conditions such as the position of
mountain ranges and oceans.
GEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
- The earth is a system containing essentially a fixed amount of each
stable chemical atom or element. Each element can exist in several different chemical
reservoirs. Each element on earth moves among reservoirs in the solid earth, oceans,
atmosphere, and organisms as part of geochemical cycles.
- Movement of matter between reservoirs is driven by the earth's
internal and external sources of energy. These movements are often accompanied by a change
in the physical and chemical properties of the matter. Carbon, for example, occurs in
carbonate rocks such as limestone, in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas, in water as
dissolved carbon dioxide, and in all organisms as complex molecules that control the
chemistry of life.
THE
ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH SYSTEM
- The sun, the earth, and the rest of the solar system formed from a
nebular cloud of dust and gas 4.6 billion years ago. The early earth was very different
from the planet we live on today.
- Geologic time can be estimated by observing rock sequences and using
fossils to correlate the sequences at various locations. Current methods include using the
known decay rates of radioactive isotopes present in rocks to measure the time since the
rock was formed.
- Interactions among the solid earth, the oceans, the atmosphere, and
organisms have resulted in the ongoing evolution of the earth system. We can observe some
changes such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on a human time scale, but many
processes such as mountain building and plate movements take place over hundreds of
millions of years.
- Evidence for one-celled forms of life--the bacteria--extends back
more than 3.5 billion years. The evolution of life caused dramatic changes in the
composition of the earth's atmosphere, which did not originally contain oxygen.
THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE
UNIVERSE
- The origin of the universe remains one of the greatest questions in
science. The "big bang" theory places the origin between 10 and 20 billion years
ago, when the universe began in a hot dense state; according to this theory, the universe
has been expanding ever since.
- Early in the history of the universe, matter, primarily the light
atoms hydrogen and helium, clumped together by gravitational attraction to form countless
trillions of stars. Billions of galaxies, each of which is a gravitationally bound cluster
of billions of stars, now form most of the visible mass in the universe.
- Stars produce energy from nuclear reactions, primarily the fusion of
hydrogen to form helium. These and other processes in stars have led to the formation of
all the other elements.
Science and Technology
CONTENT STANDARD E: As a result of activities in
grades 9-12, all students should develop
ABILITIES
OF TECHNOLOGICAL DESIGN
UNDERSTANDINGS
ABOUT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
- Scientists in different disciplines ask different questions, use
different methods of investigation, and accept different types of evidence to support
their explanations. Many scientific investigations require the contributions of
individuals from different disciplines, including engineering. New disciplines of science,
such as geophysics and biochemistry often emerge at the interface of two older
disciplines.
- Science often advances with the introduction of new technologies.
Solving technological problems often results in new scientific knowledge. New technologies
often extend the current levels of scientific understanding and introduce new areas of
research.
- Creativity, imagination, and a good knowledge base are all required
in the work of science and engineering.
- Science and technology are pursued for different purposes. Scientific
inquiry is driven by the desire to understand the natural world, and technological design
is driven by the need to meet human needs and solve human problems. Technology, by its
nature, has a more direct effect on society than science because its purpose is to solve
human problems, help humans adapt, and fulfill human aspirations. Technological solutions
may create new problems. Science, by its nature, answers questions that may or may not
directly influence humans. Sometimes scientific advances challenge people's beliefs and
practical explanations concerning various aspects of the world.
- Technological knowledge is often not made public because of patents
and the financial potential of the idea or invention. Scientific knowledge is made public
through presentations at professional meetings and publications in scientific journals.
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
CONTENT STANDARD F: As a result of activities in
grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of
PERSONAL
AND COMMUNITY HEALTH
- Hazards and the potential for accidents exist. Regardless of the
environment, the possibility of injury, illness, disability, or death may be present.
Humans have a variety of mechanisms--sensory, motor, emotional, social, and
technological--that can reduce and modify hazards.
- The severity of disease symptoms is dependent on many factors, such
as human resistance and the virulence of the disease-producing organism. Many diseases can
be prevented, controlled, or cured. Some diseases, such as cancer, result from specific
body dysfunctions and cannot be transmitted.
- Personal choice concerning fitness and health involves multiple
factors. Personal goals, peer and social pressures, ethnic and religious beliefs, and
understanding of biological consequences can all influence decisions about health
practices.
- An individual's mood and behavior may be modified by substances. The
modification may be beneficial or detrimental depending on the motives, type of substance,
duration of use, pattern of use, level of influence, and short- and long-term effects.
Students should understand that drugs can result in physical dependence and can increase
the risk of injury, accidents, and death.
- Selection of foods and eating patterns determine nutritional balance.
Nutritional balance has a direct effect on growth and development and personal well-being.
Personal and social factors--such as habits, family income, ethnic heritage, body size,
advertising, and peer pressure--influence nutritional choices.
- Families serve basic health needs, especially for young children.
Regardless of the family structure, individuals have families that involve a variety of
physical, mental, and social relationships that influence the maintenance and improvement
of health.
- Sexuality is basic to the physical, mental, and social development of
humans. Students should understand that human sexuality involves biological functions,
psychological motives, and cultural, ethnic, religious, and technological influences. Sex
is a basic and powerful force that has consequences to individuals' health and to society.
Students should understand various methods of controlling the reproduction process and
that each method has a different type of effectiveness and different health and social
consequences.
POPULATION
GROWTH
- Populations grow or decline through the combined effects of births
and deaths, and through emigration and immigration. Populations can increase through
linear or exponential growth, with effects on resource use and environmental pollution.
- Various factors influence birth rates and fertility rates, such as
average levels of affluence and education, importance of children in the labor force,
education and employment of women, infant mortality rates, costs of raising children,
availability and reliability of birth control methods, and religious beliefs and cultural
norms that influence personal decisions about family size.
- Populations can reach limits to growth. Carrying capacity is the
maximum number of individuals that can be supported in a given environment. The limitation
is not the availability of space, but the number of people in relation to resources and
the capacity of earth systems to support human beings. Changes in technology can cause
significant changes, either positive or negative, in carrying capacity.
NATURAL RESOURCES
- Human populations use resources in the environment in order to
maintain and improve their existence. Natural resources have been and will continue to be
used to maintain human populations.
- The earth does not have infinite resources; increasing human
consumption places severe stress on the natural processes that renew some resources, and
it depletes those resources that cannot be renewed.
- Humans use many natural systems as resources. Natural systems have
the capacity to reuse waste, but that capacity is limited. Natural systems can change to
an extent that exceeds the limits of organisms to adapt naturally or humans to adapt
technologically.
ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY
- Natural ecosystems provide an array of basic processes that affect
humans. Those processes include maintenance of the quality of the atmosphere, generation
of soils, control of the hydrologic cycle, disposal of wastes, and recycling of nutrients.
Humans are changing many of these basic processes, and the changes may be detrimental to
humans.
- Materials from human societies affect both physical and chemical
cycles of the earth.
- Many factors influence environmental quality. Factors that students
might investigate include population growth, resource use, population distribution,
overconsumption, the capacity of technology to solve problems, poverty, the role of
economic, political, and religious views, and different ways humans view the earth.
NATURAL AND HUMAN-INDUCED HAZARDS
- Normal adjustments of earth may be hazardous for humans. Humans live
at the interface between the atmosphere driven by solar energy and the upper mantle where
convection creates changes in the earth's solid crust. As societies have grown, become
stable, and come to value aspects of the environment, vulnerability to natural processes
of change has increased.
- Human activities can enhance potential for hazards. Acquisition of
resources, urban growth, and waste disposal can accelerate rates of natural change.
- Some hazards, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and severe
weather, are rapid and spectacular. But there are slow and progressive changes that also
result in problems for individuals and societies. For example, change in stream channel
position, erosion of bridge foundations, sedimentation in lakes and harbors, coastal
erosions, and continuing erosion and wasting of soil and landscapes can all negatively
affect society.
- Natural and human-induced hazards present the need for humans to
assess potential danger and risk. Many changes in the environment designed by humans bring
benefits to society, as well as cause risks. Students should understand the costs and
trade-offs of various hazards--ranging from those with minor risk to a few people to major
catastrophes with major risk to many people. The scale of events and the accuracy with
which scientists and engineers can (and cannot) predict events are important
considerations.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN LOCAL,
NATIONAL, AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES
- Science and technology are essential social enterprises, but alone
they can only indicate what can happen, not what should happen. The latter involves human
decisions about the use of knowledge.
- Understanding basic concepts and principles of science and technology
should precede active debate about the economics, policies, politics, and ethics of
various science- and technology-related challenges. However, understanding science alone
will not resolve local, national, or global challenges.
- Progress in science and technology can be affected by social issues
and challenges. Funding priorities for specific health problems serve as examples of ways
that social issues influence science and technology.
- Individuals and society must decide on proposals involving new
research and the introduction of new technologies into society. Decisions involve
assessment of alternatives, risks, costs, and benefits and consideration of who benefits
and who suffers, who pays and gains, and what the risks are and who bears them. Students
should understand the appropriateness and value of basic questions--"What can
happen?"--"What are the odds?"--and "How do scientists and engineers
know what will happen?"
- Humans have a major effect on other species. For example, the
influence of humans on other organisms occurs through land use--which decreases space
available to other species--and pollution--which changes the chemical composition of air,
soil, and water.
History and Nature of Science
CONTENT STANDARD G: As a result of activities in
grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of
SCIENCE
AS A HUMAN ENDEAVOR
- Individuals and teams have contributed and will continue to
contribute to the scientific enterprise. Doing science or engineering can be as simple as
an individual conducting field studies or as complex as hundreds of people working on a
major scientific question or technological problem. Pursuing science as a career or as a
hobby can be both fascinating and intellectually rewarding.
- Scientists have ethical traditions. Scientists value peer review,
truthful reporting about the methods and outcomes of investigations, and making public the
results of work. Violations of such norms do occur, but scientists responsible for such
violations are censured by their peers.
- Scientists are influenced by societal, cultural, and personal beliefs
and ways of viewing the world. Science is not separate from society but rather science is
a part of society.
NATURE
OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
- Science distinguishes itself from other ways of knowing and from
other bodies of knowledge 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 meet certain criteria. First and
foremost, they must be consistent with experimental and observational evidence about
nature, and must make accurate predictions, when appropriate, about systems being studied.
They should also be logical, respect the rules of evidence, be open to criticism, report
methods and procedures, and make knowledge public. Explanations on how the natural world
changes based on myths, personal beliefs, religious values, mystical inspiration,
superstition, or authority may be personally useful and socially relevant, but they are
not scientific.
- Because all scientific ideas depend on experimental and observational
confirmation, all scientific knowledge is, in principle, subject to change as new evidence
becomes available. The core ideas of science such as the conservation of energy or the
laws of motion have been subjected to a wide variety of confirmations and are therefore
unlikely to change in the areas in which they have been tested. In areas where data or
understanding are incomplete, such as the details of human evolution or questions
surrounding global warming, new data may well lead to changes in current ideas or resolve
current conflicts. In situations where information is still fragmentary, it is normal for
scientific ideas to be incomplete, but this is also where the opportunity for making
advances may be greatest.
HISTORICAL
PERSPECTIVES
- In history, diverse cultures have contributed scientific knowledge
and technologic inventions. Modern science began to evolve rapidly in Europe several
hundred years ago. During the past two centuries, it has contributed significantly to the
industrialization of Western and non-Western cultures. However, other, non-European
cultures have developed scientific ideas and solved human problems through technology.
- Usually, changes in science occur as small modifications in extant
knowledge. The daily work of science and engineering results in incremental advances in
our understanding of the world and our ability to meet human needs and aspirations. Much
can be learned about the internal workings of science and the nature of science from study
of individual scientists, their daily work, and their efforts to advance scientific
knowledge in their area of study.
- Occasionally, there are advances in science and technology that have
important and long-lasting effects on science and society. Examples of such advances
include the following: Copernican revolution, Newtonian mechanics, Relativity, Geologic
time scale, Plate tectonics, Atomic theory, Nuclear physics, Biological evolution, Germ
theory, Industrial revolution, Molecular biology, Information and communication, Quantum
theory, Galactic universe, and Medical and health technology
- The historical perspective of scientific explanations demonstrates
how scientific knowledge changes by evolving over time, almost always building on earlier
knowledge.
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