If you don’t work in a STEM field, you might need a refresher on some fundamental concepts before you start working with your child on the activities in the book. This chapter offers a basic introduction to the various fields in the industry, and includes a hands-on learning activity designed to help you explore the scientific method.
When you hear the word “science,” a number of images probably come immediately into your mind. You might think of a laboratory featuring beakers and Bunsen burners, or a scientist in a white lab coat looking through a microscope, or a tweed-coated professor peering at the stars through a telescope. Perhaps the word conjures up images of the periodic table, or high-school biology students dissecting a frog. Science certainly includes images like those, but it’s a broader concept than many people realize.
Science is a process for discovering knowledge or uncovering general truths based on observation and experimentation. Science also refers to the body of knowledge that results from that process. You can think of science as a process of discovery, along with all the discoveries that are made along the way and the application of those discoveries.
Not all scientific discoveries arrive through experimentation—some have come more or less by accident. A happy accident like that is called serendipity, and there are many examples of it occurring in science throughout the years. Alexander Fleming, a Scottish scientist, left a petri dish open by mistake and it became contaminated by a bacteria-killing mold. That “accident” marked the discovery of penicillin. While testing radar equipment for the Raytheon company, a worker noticed that a candy bar had melted in his pocket, leading to the development of the microwave oven. Safety glass came about when a lab worker forgot to wash out a glass beaker and the plastic that it had contained coated the inside of the beaker.
One of the most basic distinctions is to divide scientific work into basic science and applied science. Basic science involves the discovery of new knowledge or fundamental principles. Applied science involves utilizing already existing knowledge for some purpose. The discovery of x-rays would be considered basic science. The use of x-rays to examine fractured bones is applied science. All fields of science have basic aspects and applied aspects.
Science is divided into a number of scientific disciplines or fields. The major scientific fields are then further divided into subfields. Here are some of the most common STEM fields.
Anyone who decides to become a teacher must have patience, dedication, and a real desire to help others. Teachers of STEM subjects need extra patience and skill because so many students have a fear of math and science.
Public school teachers need a license or certification in the state they teach in and in the subject they teach. They need a passing score on a set of exams called the Praxis exams. The demand for teachers varies by state and city, and also by subject area. The overall demand for science and math teachers is greater than the demand for teachers of other subjects. Ask current teachers for any advice they have to offer about this important and rewarding career.
The life sciences are those fields involving the study of living organisms, including biology and its subfields. Some of the life science subfields are biochemistry, anatomy, genetics, botany, horticulture, zoology, microbiology, food science, and environmental health. Medicine is also part of the life sciences.
The physical sciences focus on the study of nonliving matter and energy. The physical sciences include all the subfields of physics, chemistry, earth science, and atmospheric sciences. Mathematics also has a number of divisions and subfields. The computer sciences are also grouped under this broad category.
Physics involves the study of matter and energy. Some of the subfields in physics are fluid dynamics, optics, nuclear physics, quantum physics, astronomy, and astrophysics. Physics principles are employed in many other science and technology fields.
Chemistry focuses on the composition and properties of substances, as well as the interactions among substances. Some of its subfields are organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, and biochemistry.
Earth science includes all the subfields related to the study of the earth’s makeup. Geology, paleontology, soil science, volcanology, and seismology are among the earth science subfields.
Oceanography is the study of oceans and marine life. The atmospheric sciences and meteorology involve the study of the weather and climate and their impact on the earth.
The field of mathematics involves the study of numbers, equations, shapes, and their relationships. Some of its subfields are algebra, number theory, and set theory. Applied mathematics focuses on the use of math concepts in other fields, such as engineering and business. Control theory and dynamic systems are examples of subfields in applied mathematics. Statistics involves gathering, analyzing, and presenting data.
Computer sciences deal with computers and their practical applications. Computer science subfields include databases/information systems, programming languages, and artificial intelligence/robotics.
Engineering involves the practical application of science and math for the purpose of designing and building physical structures and machines, or otherwise managing resources. Some engineering fields are mechanical engineering, civil engineering, aerospace engineering, industrial engineering, nuclear engineering, and electrical engineering.
An emerging area of engineering is nanoscience, which involves the creation of nanotechnology. The National Nanotechnology Initiative claims that, “[n]anoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across all the other science fields.” Just to give you an idea of how small the nanoscale is, there are 25,400,000 nanometers in an inch.
The social and behavioral sciences are those that examine how humans behave, either as individuals or as part of a group. Some examples of social and behavioral sciences are anthropology, psychology, economics, sociology, and political science.
Science writers write articles and blog posts for magazines, newspapers, and websites. Some science writers are so intrigued by their subjects that they write full-length books. Science writers don’t have to be scientists; many train as journalists and then later decide to focus their attention on science. Some science writers specialize in one or a few popular niche areas, such as space travel, artificial intelligence, or biotechnology.
Those interested in a career in science writing should, of course, regularly read science articles and books, both in their specialty area and beyond. Reading the work of other science writers helps the aspiring writer learn the style of writing that readers expect and discover which science topics people find most interesting.
Early humans developed many theories about why the world works the way it does. There were fanciful explanations for various natural phenomena, many of them involving unseen forces, such as gods and goddesses. Lightning storms, earthquakes, even the rising and setting of the sun all had explanations based on the actions of various deities. Those explanations may have made for entertaining stories, but there was nothing scientific about them.
The scientist Ibn al-Haytham, who lived during the tenth and eleventh centuries, made one of the earliest statements about the scientific method in his book Doubts Concerning Ptolemy.
The seeker after the truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and, following his natural disposition, puts his trust in them, but rather the one who suspects his faith in them and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits to argument and demonstration and not to the sayings of a human being whose nature is fraught with all kinds of imperfection and deficiency.
Ibn al-Haytham’s statement captures the basic idea behind scientific inquiry, or what has come to be known as the scientific method. The theories and principles that are widely accepted in each of the various sciences were not accepted immediately. Each was subjected to lots of analysis and verification. In some cases, the theories were only partially correct and had to be corrected or completed by later scientists. The scientific method has been employed in the discovery and refinement of many important findings in science.
The particular application of the scientific method may differ some from field to field, but the basic process is the same in all sciences. The scientific method can be broken down into a few fundamental steps.
Scientific inquiry begins with a researcher asking a general question. For example, suppose you begin to wonder about the new chemical factory that was just built in your neighborhood close to your favorite fishing stream. In particular, you wonder if the factory will harm the stream in some way. That’s your general question: Will the new chemical factory affect the local stream?
As a researcher, you always want to know what other research has been done on your subject. Most researchers read a lot about their subject, particularly any work that was published recently. Researchers also need a good understanding of the fundamental science, or the widely accepted principles, relating to their research. To analyze the question about the chemical factory and the stream, it would be good for the researcher to have a background in environmental science or some related field.
A hypothesis is a proposition about the cause or nature of something. For it to be used as part of the scientific method, a hypothesis must be testable. For example, a man who lost his car keys could form the hypothesis that his keys were stolen by leprechauns. Since there’s no obvious way to scientifically test whether or not leprechauns stole his car keys, the man’s hypothesis can’t be explored with the scientific method. The man’s hypothesis would be considered highly nonscientific in light of the fact that science doesn’t generally acknowledge the existence of leprechauns!
You also can’t test hypotheses that are statements of value judgment. For example, the statement “people who drive yellow cars have poor taste” is not a testable hypothesis, because good taste and poor taste are all in the eye of the beholder.
Following are some examples of testable hypotheses.
In your research about the factory’s effects on the stream, you could start with a hypothesis such as “Most factories emit pollutants that are dangerous to the environment and the health of living things.”
After stating your hypothesis, it’s time to look for a way to test it. Some tests of hypotheses are easy to conduct; others take a lot of time and resources. For example, you could state the following hypothesis: “A 1-pound brick dropped from 5 feet will reach the ground in less than 2 seconds.” Such a hypothesis would be easy to test by performing a simple experiment. You could simply drop the brick from 5 feet and time how long it takes the brick to reach the ground. Usually scientists will want to repeat an experiment a number of times to verify the results. If you dropped the brick several times in a row and each time it reached the ground in less than 2 seconds, you could be pretty certain of your results.
Experiments are used to gather data about the hypothesis being tested. Each time you drop the brick, you record the length of time it takes the brick to reach the ground. Each time you repeat the experiment and record the result, you’re making an observation. The data or observations you’re recording—generated by repeated trials of your experiment—are what you’ll analyze to determine whether your stated hypothesis is true. But experiments are not the only method used to gather data. Social scientists often use surveys to collect information. For example, if you wanted to find out how people feel about a particular political candidate, you could conduct a survey, asking people their opinion of the candidate.
Sometimes scientists use data that already exists. For example, if you needed to know the population of the United States in order to test your hypothesis, you wouldn’t be required to count the number of people living in the country. The U.S. Census Bureau gathers population data for the nation, and anyone can use the data. When you utilize data that’s been gathered by someone else, it’s known as secondary data. (If you did count the citizens yourself, you would be gathering primary data.)
For your factory-effects-on-stream research, you could do searches online (such as “factory pollutants” and “industrial water pollution”) to find websites that have useful secondary data.
The final step in the scientific process is to analyze the data you’ve gathered and make a conclusion about your stated hypothesis. If your hypothesis turns out false, you might repeat your procedure to be sure you didn’t make any errors in conducting the experiment or recording the data. Even if you prove your hypothesis, it’s a good idea to review your procedure to be sure it’s error-free.
After reaching a conclusion about your hypothesis, you’ll want to communicate your results, either in the form of an oral presentation or a written report. For as long as the scientific method has existed, scientists have communicated the results of their work so that others could build upon it and advance the sciences.
This famous experiment that kids have been doing for decades requires only an eyedropper and a few coins. The basic purpose of the experiment is to introduce the scientific method.
Materials Needed:
There are several ways to approach this activity. One is to begin with the smallest coin, a dime, and an eyedropper filled with tap water. Invite your child to squeeze one drop of water onto the dime and then observe how the water behaves. After your child has observed the water for a moment, ask her to make a prediction about how many drops of water will fit on the dime before the water spills off the coin’s edge. Help her craft her prediction into a testable statement of hypothesis before she proceeds with the experiment.
After your child records the number of water drops the dime held, ask her to make a conclusion about whether her hypothesis was correct or not. Then ask her to make a prediction (i.e., state a hypothesis) about the number of water drops a penny will hold. After she has completed her experiment and made her conclusion about the penny, have her repeat the process with a quarter.
If your child is particularly inquisitive, invite her to repeat the entire process (penny, dime, and quarter) using two other safe liquids. Some possible choices include milk, soda, and cooking oil. Be sure to clean the coins and the eyedropper after each round. For the rounds involving other liquids, encourage your child to form statements of hypothesis that include some comparison to water (e.g., fewer drops of milk will fit on the penny than drops of water).
| Record Your Results: The Coin and Liquid Experiment | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Drops | |||
| Liquid | Dime | Penny | Quarter |
Water | |||
Milk | |||
Soda | |||
Oil | |||
Other Liquid | |||
The actual science underlying the eyedropper activity is somewhat advanced. If your child is deeply interested in science, encourage her to seek out the scientific explanation online or in the library. The point of the activity is to introduce her to the basic steps of the scientific method, and expose her to some basic STEM vocabulary.
Although it has its limitations, the scientific method has endured for centuries thanks to the millions of insights and advances it has yielded. Without the advent of the scientific method, the pursuit of scientific knowledge wouldn’t have followed the trajectory it has, and human life wouldn’t be the same as we know it today.
Science Fiction or Science Fact is a game you can play anywhere, and it’s a game that constantly changes. The basic premise of the game isn’t complicated. One person makes a statement relating to some scientific development, and then another person determines whether that statement is science fiction or science fact. The game constantly changes because the frontiers of science are always advancing.
Some ideas that you can use for the game are listed here. You can also find ideas by reading magazines such as Scientific American or Popular Science or looking at their websites. These statements represent science facts that probably sound like a lot like science fiction.
Science Facts That Sound Like Science Fiction:
For statements of pure science fiction, you can be as creative as you want. Just to get your juices flowing, a few statements of pure science fiction are listed here.
Statements of Pure Science Fiction (for the Time Being):
In some cases, there have been hoaxes in which science fiction has been portrayed as science fact. For example, a statement about British scientists cloning dinosaurs from fossils was once released, but it was proved to be a prank. As you search for additional material for the game, be sure to choose your sources carefully.