Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Assignement #3: Science and Scientific: due August 21

You created your autobiography of science and identified along a time line the classes you took and your reflections of these classes. Respond to the following by August 21.

1. Why did you respond positively or negatively to those science experiences.
2. Were the classes science classes?
3. What made the activities scientific?
What is the role of evidence in science?

16 comments:

  1. 1)As you may have noticed I had a positive response to all the science classes that had to do with the body or the environment. I love learning about the body and why things are the way they are in the environment. I had a couple of responses that were in the middle because in some instances I like them and in others I did not. The science fair was fun and we got a long way with it. I think I enjoyed it so much because I like to learn by doing. The science classes with a negative response were mostly because we did not do much in that class but sit there.

    2)Yes! I believe the classes were science classes. In the physical science and chemistry I learned different science laws, equations, and theories. In biology and anatomy I learned about the environment and the body. I think all of these things are science because you have to experiment and observe to know anything about what we talked about in those classes.


    3)Most of the activities that we did in these classes you had to use the scientific method and I feel that anything that uses the scientific method is science.

    4)I think the role of evidence in science is very important. Without evidence there is no proof of an experiment or why there should even be an experiment. The role of evidence in other words is proof of whatever is being tested or wants to be tested.

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  2. 1. I responded both positively and negatively to each science class I was in. There were aspects that I enjoyed and also did not enjoy. I mainly disliked Chemistry because I had a hard time understanding how everything worked. I definitely enjoyed Biology the most because that is when I did the most dissecting. Instead of book work, it was hands on activities where you could see biology in action.

    2. I do believe the classes I took were science classes because everything was based off of the scientific method and we showed how to prove different theories. Labs always reflected what we were learning in class in order to integrate the book to our activities. Even as early as elementary school I remember learning theories and the scientific method. Once I got older I understood how those theories and methods applied to science, as well as everyday life.

    3.The activities that we did again, were based off the scientific method and proved different theories. Many of my dissections were scientific because we looked at whatever we were dissecting from a biological perspective.

    4. Evidence plays a key role in science because without evidence, you cannot prove your theories, hypothesis, and statements. Evidence is what proves whether or not your experiments failed, or were a success. They were what proved whatever you were trying to research, explain, or produce.

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  3. 1. Why did you respond positively or negatively to those science experiences. Overall, I enjoy science. I responded positively in the classes that I enjoyed probably because of the teacher and my participation in class. The classes I enjoyed most involved a teacher who was animated and very willing to go the extra mile for us. The classes I responded negatively to were chemistry and astronomy. Chemistry was an awful experience because I never truly grasped the concepts.I went to countless hours of tutoring and got so much help, but nothing clicked for me. My teacher was frustrated and in the end, I did fail the high school course. I disliked astronomy because it felt like all they wanted me to do was memorize things. So I did and I made an A but I literally have no idea what I "learned", only 1 year later.
    2. Were the classes science classes? I believe they classify as sciences. Anatomy and Biology felt more like medical sciences and I liked that. Astronomy didn't feel like science to me because it wasn't made tangible to me. It was all book learning which is silly because we should have walked outside and looked at the sky and talked about what we saw!
    3. What made the activities scientific? I immediately think of the scientific method. If i can observe it with my eyes, a microscope, telescope. If I can record data and look for patterns. I can make predictions and carry out an experiment - these are the things that make a class scientific to me.
    What is the role of evidence in science? In science evidence is something that we record as data. Evidence should come from lots of experiments because evidence proves something - and if it is provable, it must have been repeated. The role of evidence is to be able to say, "yes, we have conducted an experiment and this data as evidence proves or points toward our sureness. We can confidently say "_____" is true about "________".

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  4. 1. I responded positively to some of my science experiences, and I responded negatively to some of my science experiences. The science classes I responded positively to were (AP) environmental science, organic chemistry, and biology. I responded positively to these subjects because the classes were very hands on. We would experiment with lots of labs and field trips to put what we learned in class into action. The science classes I responded negatively to were physics, astronomy, and chemistry. These classes were not always hands on classes. They were classes in which memorization was always required, and the teachers did not display passion for the subject.
    2. The classes I responded positively to would be considered science classes. These classes were ones where we explored, did experiments, made observations, observed natural processes, and learned about laws and theories. These classes were ones where we put knowledge into practice. I consider these characteristics to be ones that make a class a science class.
    3. These activities were scientific because that embodied the scientific method. These activities also put into practice the laws and theories that were taught. The scientific activities were the ones you learned from, not the ones that were just busy work.
    4. Evidence plays a strong role in science. Science has to be proved if it is factual or not. By having evidence, findings can be used to support a theory, law or idea.

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  5. 1. Honestly, I think it comes down to 2 main reasons for why I either enjoyed them, or I didn't. The teacher, and simply the subject area and if I found it interesting or not. I always loved dissecting and learning about the human body, but I didn't have a very good teacher that year, but I made it interesting for myself simply because I liked the subject. While environmental science, I didn't enjoy learning about it it as much, but I had a teacher who went out of her way to make it interesting.
    2. Technically they were all science classes because they covered topics that fall under scientific realms, however the ones that I didn't enjoy as much were ones that were simply taught fact by fact, with no questioning, exploring and on hands on activities, which are all very important aspects of a "science" class in my opinion.
    3. The use of the scientific method, the questioning of theories, the discovery of new ideas and the ability for one activity or new idea to lead to another idea and another, as if everything in the class was based off of everything else.
    4. Evidence is the data or findings from multiple experiments, ideas and explorations into a certain area, its the findings that make something factual or not.

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  6. 1) Well in high school I had a teacher that didn't really try to teach us the material. For chemistry, when we couldn't understand the material or the problem, he would just write in the answer for us. Because of that I never felt the need to learn in that class because when it was too difficult he would write the answer or throw out the question. In biology he would kind of do the same thing except it was just with terms. That was pretty much the entire test; it was knowing the term and its definition. In my biology two class my teacher didn't even teach! We watched videos of another MD professor lecturing. College was completely different! I don't know if it was just because I was finally learning in subjects that I've always wanted to know more in or what, but I loved my Astronomy and Geology classes! I absolutely loved Astronomy! I could sit and learn all day in that class! Geology was much harder than I thought it would be, but I still enjoyed learning about our planet! The lab was the hardest part of geology. But even though it was hard, I enjoyed the challenge it presented.
    2)I would consider the classes that I took science classes because they dealt with plants, our bodies, chemistry, the earth, and outer space. Although my classes in high school weren't run the best way, I still believe it was science for what the classes could have been. It could have had more discovery and hands on experiments, but in the end, the class still dealt with science. In college I believe that it was definitely more like what a science class should be! I had labs that had me thinking, predicting, and discovering! It was hands on!
    3)The activities in my college class were scientific by helping me apply the knowledge of what I do know to hypothesize about other events or reactions. They had to do with the scientific method. In my geology class we had to figure out and hypothesize what kind of minerals would react with hydrochloric acid. We were thinking and predicting!
    4)I believe that the role of science is to try and answer the what's and why's of this world that we don't already know. Like in space we figured out what a black hole is, yet still have many questions that we are trying to answer why to, but we also have discovered/observed white holes. What are they? And why do we have them? What is their function in the universe? With our bodies, once we figured out how they functioned, or even how diseases function in our bodies, we could better diagnose and cure people. Evidence is crucial to science though. You need multiple experiments and you must be able to prove you're theory. Some theories we cannot prove, such as what happens inside a black hole. Some things we know to be fact, like gravity or that the Earth's surface is moving. The reason we know this is from repeated testing, observations, and recordings of those experiments and observations and compiling the results. You need the data to validate your theories.

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  7. 1. It depended on the class, subject matter, the teacher, and whether we did hands-on activities or not. My favorite science classes were those that dealt with animals and biomes because I love animals and the outdoors. For example, my college biodiversity professor had us do a paper that required us to go outside and take pictures of things in nature such as animals and plants. The astronomy class that I took in college was pretty cool because I had never taken that class before, and the teacher really knew his stuff. I also enjoyed the math aspects of chemistry because math is my favorite subject. The science classes that weren’t interesting were the ones where we just sat and listened to the teacher read off the power points or overhead projections, as well as the ones where we didn’t interact with our classmates. For all of the science classes that I took, the labs were the best; this allowed us to move around and visualize the material better.
    2. Yes, I believe the classes were science classes. They involved the study of the physical and natural world. Those that had labs involved dissecting, experiments, and the scientific method. These classes also dealt with natural processes in the universe and all of its components.
    3. The activities were scientific because they involved using the scientific method, experiments, facts, theories and laws, processes, and patterns and cycles. They also answered some of these questions: ‘why are things the way they are?’, ‘what is life and how does it work?’, ‘how were humans made?’, and ‘what’s matter?’.
    4. Evidence is a way of recording your observations. It helps to prove or disprove your hypothesis. If you have evidence your theory can be backed up and possibly justified. Without evidence in an argument, you have no argument.


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  8. 1. I believe I responded positively and negatively to all of my science classes. The only class that I responded positively in all areas was Physics. I had an amazing teacher who made learning enjoyable and we always did activities to help learn all of the material. Most of my other science classes I would consider boring and that is why I did not enjoy science. Although the content of the classes could have been interesting and I could have learned a lot, I did not. I honestly think this falls mostly on the teacher. Science is very interesting and full of new and exciting material, but sitting in a classroom and reading from a book does not help you learn. If the material is taught in a hands on manner with different perspectives on Science being portrayed I would love every Science class.

    2. I would say that my classes would be considered Science classes. The information that was given was considered "science." All classes dealt with what society has considered science. Every class gave facts and theories that are considered scientific. One aspect of science classes that changed from high school to college is the labs. In high school we would do random labs that did not impact me very much, but in college the labs seem to really help me grasp the material. College classes seem to be more "scientific" to me.

    3. What made the activities scientific was the process that we went through to find an answer. Science is a process. The way we had to think to find an answer made the classes scientific. When we did labs we had to answer questions and do experiments. That made the activities scientific to me. In some cases we used the scientific method and went through that process. I think in college the labs were more scientific than the actual class. The class is just sitting there with a teacher reading a powerpoint, but in the labs you actually get to use the knowledge from the class.

    4. Evidence is the basis for everything in science. If you cannot prove it, which you do by using evidence, then why should anyone believe you. Evidence is what helps set a solid ground for whatever it is you are trying to prove. If there is no evidence for your theory then there is nothing to help explain to others how you got the final results. Science is testable and you need evidence to show others what you did during your testing.

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  9. 1. I responded both positively and negatively to the majority of my science experiments. I responded positively to the experiments that I knew that I had a full grasp on the material, and I usually enjoyed the experiment after that. I responded negatively to the experiments that I had no idea how to do the material, and did not feel prepared on the material.

    2. The majority of the classed that I did experiments in were deemed science classes, and that has always been the expectation with science classes that I was enrolled in. These classes also tried to teach us to be continuous thinkers and to try and find our own answers, and to speculate answers that others gave as well.

    3. We had to document our processes through the scientific method, as well as do a pre-lab. Then present our findings to the teacher that we had in the form of a lab report. They were also independent and we could have found other endings rather then our classmates.

    4. The role of evidence in science to provide either supporting or disproving evidence to hopefully support the researchers/scientist hypothesis. It is also to allow other people to go back and replicate the experiment too see if they have similar findings.

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  10. 1. I responded to some science classes positively while others were not the best science experiences. Personally I enjoyed science classes that used hands on experiments and visuals. Being a visual learner, simply reading out of a textbook didn’t allow me to fully understand all of the information I was reading. When I was able to see and watch something take place in person I was able to grasp the subject. I also responded well to chemistry because it intertwined with math and science, which I enjoyed. My brain is able to comprehend things quicker when I can use numbers.

    2. Some aspects of the classes classified them as science classes. However during biology, physical and earth science, there was a lot of face memorizing and basic information that we were taught was correct. There was no exploring, investigating or experiments of any sort. I feel like the classes covered information that was under the subject of science but did not necessarily make the class scientific.

    3. The activities that we did allowed us to question, investigate, and create our own hypothesis and thoughts. I believe allowing the students to come up with their own opinions and perform a hands on experiment gives us the opportunity to do scientific activities. If we just memorize what we are told is scientific how can we ever prove to ourselves it is true?

    4. Evidence plays a vital role in making things scientific. It goes back to the entire argument that students can’t really believe things or discover on their own that something is true if they are told simply the fact. We did not discover things in science by simply just stating that it is true, we investigated and analyzed and we must show students the evidence to these investigations if they want to fully understand what they are learning.

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  11. 1. I had both positive and negative reactions to science. I personally have ALWAYS loved science, on the weekends I watch science shows just for fun. My negative reactions typically dealt with the teacher being harsh or not very good at teaching. I love biology and so I thrived off of learning about cells and the miniature world that lives in each individual cell. I love electricity and that is why in basic physics I excelled above all the rest in my class. Even with having terrible teachers at times I never got discouraged, I just hoped the next year of science classes would be better.
    2. I believe even the science classes I did not like were considered scientific in nature. We learned about how things worked and the world around us. We were made to hypothesize and we did lab work. We learned about laws and theories, we also did experiments to see if the theories and laws were correct (dropping things to prove gravity and such).
    3. When doing the lab experiments we had to hypothesize and/or use the scientific method. We always had to show the entire scientific method that we used to make sure the activity went correctly.
    4. Evidence is a must for science. Without evidence there is no proof you are correct or incorrect. Science is a fact based study and must have evidence to be able to have facts.

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  12. 1. I responded positively to the science classes that had more hands-on activities because I am a tactile learner. I had negative experiences in my chemistry classes because the equations were very difficult for me to understand. I have always thought science was interesting, sometimes it is just hard for me to grasp some of the more difficult concepts.

    2. Most of the classes were considered science classes. They consisted the memorization of facts and equations for testing. They also involved experiments and critical thinking. I learned about scientific theories and ideas.

    3. These activities were scientific because they were based on a scientific law or theory we discussed in the classroom. They would give the students a hands-on proof of a scientific concept.

    4. The role of evidence in science is to give proof so students understand why it is necessary to learn. Evidence gives people the motivation to study and try to understand the concepts.

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  13. 1. I had both positive and negative experiences when it came to my science classes. I responded more positively when the science class had more math related lessons in the curriculum than others, for example Chemistry. I also really enjoyed the experiments and hands on activities that went along with multiple lessons. I had a negative experience with science classes that just contained lectures and homework. It was hard for me to not be able to experience and actually see what we were learning about.
    2.I considered all of the science classes I took to be identified as “science” classes because each studied different aspects such as the Earth, animals, humans, and overall our surroundings of the natural world! In each class I found that we explored, documented, and researched so we could consider or own thoughts to learn even more.
    3. The activities such as labs were considered scientific to me because in order to complete the specific tasks, we all had to go through the steps of the scientific method to come up with a final solution. The work that we did was very factual with patterns that answered questions that might be unknown without the use of science.
    4. Evidence is the key for scientists to be sure of something unknown. It does prove questions about it science, but it also helps disprove any theories scientists once thought was true.

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  14. 1. My experiences in science were on a downhill slope as grew up and moved onto harder sciences. You'll notice on my timeline that in elementary school I accurately describe what exactly I was studying. This is because I remember fun, hands on experiences with the subjects. I remember the projects that I did with each teacher, and these teachers correspond to the grade I was in. K-5 I was engaged in my learning. 6-8 grade I don't what what I was learning in science, I cant even tell you the title of the book. Since sixth grade science has been a class I 'get through' every year. I make adequate grades based on memorization, but I haven't really learned anything. This experience has been negative, because I love math and I think I would enjoy science if given the right teacher.
    2. While I wasn't necessarily learning anything all the time, I have always identified my classes as "science" classes. There was a question, a process and an answer. I might have been bored out of my mind, but the classes stuck to what in my mind is the definition of science. THe subject matter has always revolved geology, evolution, plants, chemicals, etc.
    3. I considered activities done in science as very scientific. Doing activities in class was the only part of science class I enjoyed. I also believe it was the only place I ever learned anything. a question was always posed, and we were expected to work through a given procedure and determine an answer. The idea of finding concrete evidence to support a claim is what identified as scientific.
    4.I feel like the role of evidence is crucial in science. In order to make a claim and expect others to believe you, you must be able to back your claim up. Evidence is there to give proof and validation to what you are presenting.

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  15. 1. Science has never been an easy class for me and I have always struggled. It was not until my sophomore year of high school Chemistry class where science became less difficult for me. I am not sure if it's all the formulas and different parts that confuse me. I am not a math and science person so those subject have always caused problems for me. I also think I dislike science so much because I have never really had a teacher that had tons of passion behind what they taught. I am all about if you're going to teach it either love it or pretend like you do. No student is going to be interested in a subject where the teacher isn't. My memory is only pretty strong with chemistry stuff because I did well in the class and I felt like I had accomplished something.

    2. I would classify these classes as science classes because they are all explaining observations that are proving laws or theories. I felt like in the classroom they were "science" classes because you made observations, did experiments, and reviewed formulas. All things that I have grown up knowing make up the subject of science. The subjects were always centered with how things in the world were made up.

    3. I think what made the activities scientific were you weren't always using formulas, you were using beakers full of substances, looking through microscopes, dissecting something, or making something explode. The experiments always seemed to further your understanding of the world or the things that make it up.

    4. I feel like the role of evidence in science is very important because in order to make a theory you need evidence to back it up. The evidence is there to help support what you're trying to prove. Without evidence to prove something it would be hard to believe or completely understand what the person is trying to prove.

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  16. 1) During my reflection of past science courses, I was reminded of how different my experiences were in each of them. Therefore, I responded both negatively and positively. After primary school, my interest for science began to grow, but the work we began to do in the early years of sixth grade did not cater to the “I want to know why and how” mindset. This is why word like “boring”, “confused”, and “not interesting” appear on my timeline during those times. I just could not believe that science was only just reading a book and answer the questions at the end of the chapter. Some of the more positive science experiences occured when classes began to get more experiment based and more hands-on. Not only did some of the questions I asked become clear, I began to want to know more. These count as positive experiences for me. I think the most positive experience I have had in a science course occurred in Environmental Science when I was able to actually make connections to things I had learned previously. It was a GREAT feeling!

    2) In some cases, my high school science courses did justify as true science classes. I had the same teacher for three of my five science courses and it was obvious that she knew the difference between a science class and a “not so science class”. I am not sure that my early classes of memorization count for science classes. I mean, there WAS something valuable that came out of memorizing some things… ROYGBIV, the Sedimentary Rock song.

    3) Ms. Mitchell knew how to appeal to a different audience. She knew that lots of students coming to her classes did not really like science or in their words “science was not their best subject”. This was not due to any fault of her own, just the fact that students had difficult times understanding concepts that they were being lectured to from a book. (That combined with teachers who were neither knowledgeable enough or interested enough to teach a group students). The same was true for me.Up until taking one of her courses, I thought science could not get any worse. By taking her class, I was ready for something new and refreshing. Ms. Mitchell gave us that and so much more. Lab reports, dissections, lab experiments, and reflective thinking, I had a new appreciation for science; So much so that my intended major when I graduated high school was Biology. People actually began to take her classes simply because they wanted to be challenged.

    4) The role of evidence in science is to support the statement that is being made. Without evidence, scientists are deemed unreliable to other scientist. This is especially true when trying to prove theories.

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