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The Nature of Science

Science, as defined by the National Academy of Sciences, is the "use of evidence to construct testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena, as well as the knowledge generated through this process." This vast body of changing and increasing knowledge is described by physical, mathematical, and conceptual models. Students should know that some questions are outside the realm of science because they deal with phenomena that are not scientifically testable.

Scientific Observations, Inferences, Hypotheses, and Theories

Students are expected to know that:

  1. observations are active acquisition of either qualitative or quantitative information from a primary source through the senses;
  2. inferences are conclusions reached on the basis of observations or reasoning supported by relevant evidence;
  3. 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 are incorporated into theories; and
  4. scientific theories are based on natural and physical phenomena and are capable of being tested by multiple independent researchers. Unlike hypotheses, scientific theories are well established and highly reliable explanations, but they may be subject to change as new areas of science and new technologies are developed.

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Scientific inquiry is the planned and deliberate investigation of the natural world using scientific and engineering practices. Scientific methods of investigation are descriptive, correlative, comparative, or experimental. The method chosen should be appropriate to the question being asked. Student learning for different types of investigations includes:

  • descriptive investigations, which have no hypothesis that tentatively answers the research question and involve collecting data and recording observations without making comparisons;
  • correlative and comparative investigations, which have a hypothesis that predicts a relationship and involve collecting data, measuring variables relevant to the hypothesis that are manipulated, and comparing results; and
  • experimental investigations, which involve processes similar to correlative and comparative investigations but in which a hypothesis can be tested by comparing a treatment with a control.

Scientific Practices. Students ask questions, plan and conduct investigations to answer questions, and explain phenomena using appropriate tools and models.

Engineering Practices. Students identify problems and design solutions using appropriate tools and models.

Recurring Themes and Concepts

Science consists of recurring themes and making connections between overarching concepts. Recurring themes include structure and function, systems, models, and patterns. All systems have basic properties that can be described in terms of space, time, energy, and matter. Change and constancy occur in systems as patterns and can be observed, measured, and modeled. These patterns help to make predictions that can be scientifically tested, while models allow for boundary specification and provide a tool for understanding the ideas presented. Students analyze a system in terms of its components and how these components relate to each other, to the whole, and to the external environment.

Science and Social Ethics

Scientific decision making is a way of answering questions about the natural world involving its own set of ethical standards about how the process of science should be carried out. Students distinguish between scientific decision-making methods (scientific methods) and ethical and social decisions that involve science (the application of scientific information).

https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/laws-and-rules/texas-administrative-code/19-tac-chapter-112