Student Name Class
Other Team
Member's Names
Scientists in Action
Introduction:
"Science is a particular way of knowing about the world." (National Academy of Sciences, "Teaching About Evolution and The Nature of Science," 1998). In this activity, your team will watch two video clips of scientists conducting research and identify scientific processes that the research studies have in common. The commonalities will then be used as the basis for a classroom discussion on what makes science different from other ways of knowing.
Student Learning Expectations:
By the time you have finished this activity you will be able to:
- describe the processes used by scientists in different areas of biology to investigate the natural world.
- compare how science as a way of knowing differs from other ways of knowing.
- distinguish between the types of explanations that are useful in doing science and those that are not.
- apply your knowledge of the relationship between evidence, inference and explanations from the previous puzzle activity to the work of scientists in two areas of biology.
Materials per Team:
- "Tail of the Peacock," a video clip of a peacock study featuring Marion Petrie
- "Ancient Farmers of the Amazon," a video clip on leaf-cutter ant studies featuring scientists Mueller, Schultz, and Currie
- This student worksheet - one for each team member plus one extra for team responses
Procedures for Teams:
1.Within your team, brainstorm and develop a list of all of the processes that you can think of that scientists do when they conduct investigations in the space below. Before your team discussion begins, take a few minutes to jot down your own ideas. Be prepared to report on your list to the rest of the class.
2.Watch the two video clips "Tale of the Peacock" and "Ancient Farmers of the Amazon." As you watch, look for any scientific processes that the scientists can be seen doing or talking about. Jot them down in the space below as you observe. Discuss your observations with your team members. Compile what you think are the most important in the space on your group worksheet (continue on the back of the worksheet if you need additional space). Be prepared to contribute your ideas to a class discussion.
3.Participate with other teams to list on the blackboard or a classroom flipchart the scientific processes that were identified from the two video clips. Compare the flipchart list of scientific processes to your team's initial list.
4.Write a brief paragraph in the space below that describes:
a)how the processes of science used by each scientist compare.
b)what the scientists assumptions were and how their assumptions affected their observations and experiments.
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