Vocabulary
applied science The application of science to practical problems.
basic science Research whose goal is just to find out how the world works, not to solve
an urgent problem. Basic research is the source of most new scientific information and
nearly all new theories.
falsifiable Testable. If a hypothesis generates predictions that can be shown to be true or
false by experiment or observation, the hypothesis is ”falsifiable” or ”testable.”
hypothesis A proposed explanation for something that is testable.
predict To say what will happen in a given situation. A scientific prediction is different
from an everyday prediction, like predicting the weather before it happens. A scientific
prediction is related to a specific hypothesis.
scientific method A careful way of asking and answering questions to learn about the
physical world that is based on reason and observable evidence.
scientific theory A well-established set of explanations that explain a large amount of
scientific information.
Points to Consider
- Next we consider the tools of the scientist.
- How do you think scientific “tools” can help a scientist?
- What do you think is one of the more common tools of the life scientist?
1.3 Lesson 1.3: Tools of Science
Lesson Objectives
- Describe the growing number of tools available to investigate different features of the
physical world. - Describe how microscopes have allowed humans to view increasingly small tissues and
organisms that were never visible before.