Back to Science! Home

6th Grade Textbook

 

 

Nature of Science Big Ideas

Science is the use of evidence to construct testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena, as well as knowledge generated through the process.

Some questions are outside the realm of science because they deal with phenomena that are not scientifically testable.

Scientific hypotheses are tentative and testable statements that must be capable of being supported or not supported by observational evidence. Hypotheses of durable explanatory power that have been tested over a wide variety of conditions become theories.  Scientific theories are based on natural and physical phenomena and are capable of being tested by multiple, independent researchers. The scientific theories, unlike hypotheses, are well established and highly reliable, but they still might be subject to change as new information and technologies are developed.

Scientific investigations are conducted for different reasons. All investigations require a research question, careful observations, data gathering, and analysis of the data to identify the patterns that explain the findings

Descriptive investigations are used to explore new phenomena such as conducting surveys of organisms A hypothesis is not required in descriptive investigation.

When conditions can be controlled in order to focus on a single variable, experimental research design is used.

Scientific investigations are used to learn about the natural world. Certain types of questions can be answered by investigations. The methods, models and conclusions built from these observations change as new observations are made. Models of objects and events are tools for understanding of natural world and can show how the systems work. Models have limitations and, based on new discoveries, are constantly being modified to more closely reflect the natural world.