Summary Week 1 2

WEEK 1-2 SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE; SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Science
 Latin sciencia, meaning ‘KNOWLEDGE’
 A systematic and methodical activity of building and organizing knowledge about how the universe
behaves through observation and experimentation, or both
 Learning and discovering new facts.
 Intellectual/practical activity of observing and experimenting.
 the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world.
 Methodical way of acquiring knowledge and solving problems
 It is the systematic activity of building and organizing knowledge.
How does SCIENCE CONTRIBUTE to TECHNOLOGY?

1. New knowledge which serves as a direct source of ideas for new technological possibilities
2. Source of tools and techniques for more efficient engineering design and a knowledge base for evaluation of feasibility
of designs
3. Research instrumentation, lab techniques, and analytical methods used in research that eventually find their way into
design and industrial practices
4. Practice of research as a source for development and assimilation of new human skills and capabilities eventually useful
for technology
5. Creation of a knowledge base that becomes increasingly important in the assessment of technology in terms of its
wider social and environmental impacts
6. Knowledge base that enables more efficient strategies of applied research, development, and refinement of new
technologies
TECHNOLOGY
 Greek root word techne, meaning, ‘ART, SKILL, or CUNNING of the HAND’
 APPLICATION of scientific knowledge, laws, and principles to produce services, materials, tools, and
machines aimed at solving real-world problems.
 refers to the use of scientific knowledge for practical purposes or applications
 creating and inventing things
 It applies scientific knowledge and understanding of laws and principles for practical purposes and
to solve practical problems/ It is the application of understanding of natural laws to the solution of
practical problems.
 It refers to a collection of systematic knowledge regarding our surrounding and how best we can
make use of them for ourselves as well as all for all living beings.
How does TECHNOLOGY give back to SCIENCE?

1. Providing a fertile source of novel scientific questions and thereby also helping to justify the
allocation of resources needed to address these questions in an efficient and timely manner,
extending the agenda of science.
2. Source of otherwise unavailable instrumentation and techniques needed to address novel and
more difficult scientific questions more efficiently
Science, Technology and Society
 A relatively young field or academic discipline
 It is an interdisciplinary field (not conflicting) of Science, Technology, and Society which examines
the ways in which society influences the creation of scientific knowledge and technological
development.
 It is the study of how society, politics and culture affect scientific research and technological
innovation and vice-versa.
 It deals with the historical development of Science and Technology, including their philosophical
underpinnings.
 The study of STS primarily concerns non-Science students as much as those in the Science and
Technology programs
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
 mathematical and experimental technique employed in the sciences
 the technique used in the construction and testing of a scientific hypothesis
 defined as controlled, systematic investigations that are rooted in objective reality and that aim to
develop general knowledge about natural phenomena
CHARACTERISTICS of a SCIENTIFIC METHOD:

 They are orderly & systematic processes.
 Control external factors
 Their findings are based on the empirical evidences.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD SEQUENCE:

1. Observation – you observe a topic that can generate questions for further research
 a tool that is used by many different types of scientists and researchers as a way of
gathering information
 where SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY begins
2. Define the Problem or Objectives – state the problem or question or objectives
 MEASURES a VARIABLE in an experiment.
3. Formulate a Hypothesis – make an educated guess
 a scientific explanation that is conditional and requires more investigation
4. Test the Hypothesis - experimentation
5. Results Interpretation – gather-analyze-interpret data
6. Conclusion – Do your data and observations/results support your hypothesis?
7. Communicate results – report the results of your experiment
2 Types of OBSERVATIONS in the SCIENTIFIC METHOD:

1. QUANTITATIVE OBSERVATION
 It describes properties or occurrences in ways that RELY on numbers.
 Are measurements, which by definition consist of both a number and a unit.
 employs mathematical models and relies on the scientist to collect information based on
numbers (e.g. How many apples fell from a tree or balcony?)
 common in physics, biology and the natural sciences.
2. QUALITATIVE OBSERVATION
 It describes properties or occurrences in ways that DO NOT RELY on numbers.
 quality of what has happened in an experiment (e.g. ‘What are the shapes of the apples that fell
from a balcony or tree?’ Or, ‘What happened to them when they fell?’)
 can be very important in experiments that require interpretation
Qualitative measurement
 focuses on collecting information that is not numerical. You can remember this by thinking of the
word 'quality. ' Quality is not something that you measure with numbers. You don't say that dinner
was 3 qualities, or that park bench is only 1 quality. Likewise, qualitative data is not numerical.
 Examples:
 hair colors of players on a football team
 color of cars in a parking lot
 the letter grades of students in a classroom
 the types of coins in a jar
 the shape of candies in a variety pack
 Color of a sample
 Texture of a surface
 Coarseness of a powder
 Aroma of a reaction
 Malleability of a metal
 These types of measurements are called Intensive
Quantitative measurement
 is measurement of data that can be put into numbers. The goal of quantitative measurement is to
run statistical analysis, so data has to be in numerical form. In Carrie's case, her data is already
quantitative; so is data like blood pressure, height, or age
 Examples:
 Mass of as sample
 Length of a piece of wire
 Molecules in a mole
 Volume of a gas
 Temperature of a sample
 These types of measurements are called Extensive.
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WEEK 1-2 SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE; SCIENTIFIC METHOD

How does SCIENCE CONTRIBUTE to TECHNOLOGY?

How does TECHNOLOGY give back to SCIENCE?

CHARACTERISTICS of a SCIENTIFIC METHOD:

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD SEQUENCE:

2 Types of OBSERVATIONS in the SCIENTIFIC METHOD:

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