Dr. Fleetwood’s Blog

The Nature of Science

Task: As a group, you will create a Slide show presentation, on the Zoho site, that describes the ‘nature of science’.

Procedure: You will use your previous readings and the Internet to research the ‘nature of science’. What is science – its purpose, process etc…? You should be sure you are able to at least answer the questions below. Your presentation should be creative and educational. It should contain text and pictures that aid in understanding what science is and what it is not. It should also include examples from history where appropriate. (i.e. a geocentric universe)

Some questions to think about (not all inclusive):

• What is science? How does it compare to religion and religious faith?

• Why do we use science?

• What general questions does science ask?

• How does science work?

• What is the scope of science? What are it’s limitations?

• Define and describe hypothesis, inference, experiment, peer review, theory
  and scrutiny.

• What is parsimony and how does it relate to scientific explanations?

• Can all science questions be answered through experimentation?

• Are scientific truths determined democratically?

• Are scientists always right?

• etc…

Due: Tuesday, 9/18/07

Complete the homework paper assigned in class regarding inference, data and prior knowledge.

Read about the ‘Nature of Science’ at the following website: http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/nature_01 and create a brief outline of the material.