Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Nature of Science
The nature of science is to be constantly exploring the natural world while "living in the gray". As you explore, you make observations, ask questions, and then try to answer those questions. The tough part with science is that it is not exact and may not have one solution i.e. science "lives in the gray". I may be able to make a model that can replicate somthing that I am observing and trying to figure out, but just because the model appears to behave in the same way does not mean the model is correct. There may be several different ways to explain the how or why and any of them might be right. The "living in the gray" aspect of science is why we have to make assumptions about relationships between things. If we cut open tree after tree and they are all the same, we can make the assumption that all trees are the same or similar. These relationships can help us make additional observations and continue to build evidence.
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I like your analogy of Science as "living in the gray". Although Scientists can never actually prove what they research, through their many years of experimentation and observation there are bright spurts of light. Those periods of light are what make Science so interesting to me. I feel that we need to show our students how science can provide random and exciting spurts of information. We talked in class about how Science in the real world is messy but yet in the classroom it tends to be procedural with no surprises. We need to show them the gray and let them experience the light for themselves; this will hopefully keep their curiosity going for many years of Science.
ReplyDeleteI as well, liked your "living in the gray" analogy. As long as science remains "gray", the curiosity which you mentioned, is always going to linger in people. I feel as though curiosity is just part of human nature. People are always going to be curious! As educators, it's our job to show student's the effects of the "gray".
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea on the gray areas being a part of science. I think that it is this gray area that keeps scientists interested in finding answers to make the gray are either balck or white. To me the nature of scinec is based on behaviors and how science works. Teachers should try to keep their students curious about science and always asking questions and it is ok not to know the answers because this is a part of the nature of science.
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