Materials
White board and class discussion
Science is....
The ingredients of science
Science Solves Problems - Applied Science
This was a short 1/2 hour lesson that Nate facilitated with the class at Summer's Knoll. The purpose was to build upon the problem based permaculture foundation that we have created, and begin to integrate the scientific method, or what is known as "applied science".
Nate began by writing "SCIENCE" on the white board, and asked the class to offer their personal definitions of science. Several themes emerged, most notably, that science was a way to discover and understand the world around us. After the discussion, Nate proposed a concrete definition of Science:
"Science is a recipe for solving problems. Science Solves Problems (SSP)".
Nate explained further, that just like any other recipe, their are ingredients to Science. The ingredients are added in a specific order, so that we can get the desired result, and solve our problem. Nate then went through the ingredients of Science with the class.
1. Observation
- Just like in Permaculture Design, Science starts with observation. This is where we identify that there is in fact a problem. Once we have observed what the problem is, we can start to collect all the parts and pieces involved in the problem. These are the Variables. Once we have identified all of the variables, we can finally start to think about how we will Measure them (by amount, or over time, or both)
We used a practical example to illustrate this. Nate told the class to imagine that they were in their homes, when all of a sudden they start to feel water drops on their heads. In this example, we observe that there is water falling from the ceiling. We might then observe that it is raining outside. So the variables are, the ceiling, the water drops falling inside, and the rain falling outside. We could then start to think about ways to measure the variables. Like how much rain is falling outside (inches per hour), how big the hole is in the ceiling, and how much water is falling from the ceiling.
2. Hypothesis
Many students had heard the word Hypothesis before, but to create a better picture of what it means, Nate told the class that it was an explanation based on observations. To illustrate this further, we used our simple example to construct a hypothesis. Based on observing, we concluded that there must be a hole somewhere in the roof, allowing rainwater into the house, which was leaking down onto our heads.
3. Prediction
1. Observation
- Just like in Permaculture Design, Science starts with observation. This is where we identify that there is in fact a problem. Once we have observed what the problem is, we can start to collect all the parts and pieces involved in the problem. These are the Variables. Once we have identified all of the variables, we can finally start to think about how we will Measure them (by amount, or over time, or both)
We used a practical example to illustrate this. Nate told the class to imagine that they were in their homes, when all of a sudden they start to feel water drops on their heads. In this example, we observe that there is water falling from the ceiling. We might then observe that it is raining outside. So the variables are, the ceiling, the water drops falling inside, and the rain falling outside. We could then start to think about ways to measure the variables. Like how much rain is falling outside (inches per hour), how big the hole is in the ceiling, and how much water is falling from the ceiling.
2. Hypothesis
Many students had heard the word Hypothesis before, but to create a better picture of what it means, Nate told the class that it was an explanation based on observations. To illustrate this further, we used our simple example to construct a hypothesis. Based on observing, we concluded that there must be a hole somewhere in the roof, allowing rainwater into the house, which was leaking down onto our heads.
3. Prediction
After we explained hypothesis, the next ingredient is to make a prediction based on some type of change or experiment. Nate explained this by offering several hypothetical experiments that we could try in our rainy roof scenario. The simplest being that if we followed the water trail up through the floor boards and ceiling, to the roof, we could located exactly where the leak was coming into the house. The prediction we could make, was that if we plugged the leak in the roof, the water coming into the kitchen would stop.
4. Experiment
4. Experiment
Finally, the last ingredient in science was the experiment, when we get to test our hypothesis and find out if our predictions were right or wrong. Nate illustrated to the class that being wrong, or having a prediction be incorrect was an important part of science solving problems, because these are the opportunities to think differently and learn new knowledge. He emphasized that we can always go back and try the ingredients in order again, but with different hypotheses and predictions based on our previous work.
This session was a good way to introduce and use analogy in applied science education. By giving the example of the leaky roof, it was an hypothetical analogy of a real world problem that science could help solve. The use of analogy is very important in developing self directed learning (SDL) skills. In problem solving, students that can think of similar situations where problems have been solved have a wider range of experiences to draw up hypotheses and predictions from. This facilitates and encourages critical thinking, and the ever so desirable "outside the box" mentality that successful engineers and scientists are able to utilize when designing innovations.
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