|
|
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 alternative explanations
and models
- Communicate and defend a scientific argument
ALL STUDENTS SHOULD DEVELOP 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 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.
|
|
|
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 further 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 or urban smog.
- A large number of important reactions involve the
transfer or 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 or ozone and greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, burning and processing of fossil
fuels, and 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 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 by 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 lost
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 the 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.
|
|
|
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 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 the mutlicellular 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.
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 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.
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 ORGANIZATIONS 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
their 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.
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.
|
|
|
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, 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 other elements.
|
|
|
ABILITIES OF TECHNOLOGICAL DESIGN
- Identify a problem or design an opportunity
- Propose designs and choose between alternative
solutions
- Implement a proposed solution
- Evaluate the solution and its consequences
- Communicate the problem, process, and solution
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.
|
|
|
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 organisms.
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 individual's 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 sever 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 sever 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, sedimenta6tion 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 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 or 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.
|
|
|
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 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 PERSPECTIVE
- 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
or 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: 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.
|