Transcript Thinking like a scientist - Sonoma Valley High School

Thinking like a scientist
Galileo Gallilei and his telescope
The goal of science
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To investigate and understand the world
around us
To explain events in the natural world
To make useful predictions
AIDS
virus
Orion nebula
Tools of a scientist
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Observation- gathering information in an
orderly way
Skepticism- asking questions and needing
proof
Logic- interpreting data analytically
Collaboration- willingness to share ideas
and work with others
Spontaneous generation
A recipe for bees
1. Kill a bull in winter
2. Build a shed
3. Place the dead bull
on branches inside the
Shed
4.Wait for summer. The
Decaying body of the bull
Will produce bees
From the Romans, circa 8 CE
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People believed that
life could somehow
arise from non-living
things
Redi and the maggots
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People thought that
maggots (larval flies)
arose from meat
In 1668, F. Redi did
an experiment to test
this idea
Redi’s experiment
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3 sets of jars: one left open, one sealed with a
lid, one covered with cloth
Looking at variables
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Controlled variables: both jars have meat, location
and temp the same
Manipulated variable: gauze covering keeps flies off
the meat
Responding variable: whether maggots appear
Spallanzani’s Experiment :
microbes in gravy
In the 1700s, microscopes reveal the
existence of cellular
life
Gravy is boiled.
Flask is
open.
Gravy is teeming
with microorganisms.
Flask is
sealed.
Gravy is boiled and sealed
Gravy is free of
microorganisms.
Pasteur’s experiment
Broth is boiled.
Broth is free of
microorganisms
for a year.
Curved neck
is removed.
Broth is
teeming with
microorganisms.
In 1864, spontaneous generation was finally disproved
by this experiment
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Knowledge in science is built upon the
work of others.
Experiments must be repeatable
Conclusions are made based on fact and
logic, not popular belief.
Science knowledge is always changing
Superconductors at
low temperatures