Essay Instructions: My name is Yoonki Chang,
I am an international student.
This is my term paper homework, but I have a difficult situation. So, please help me this homework.
Please, think about written conventions (grammar, spelling, punctuation, apitalization), word choice (efficiency, clarity, and variety of words), sentence fluency (correction of awkward phrases, run-on sentences), overall organization (paragraph and essay structure).
I would like to get it at 10:00 am 9/24/2008.
Please don't use difficult words and grammar because I am an international student.
I attach the direction and article.
There are two question and please make it about 300 words.
Also, please seperate and marking number 1 and 2.
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A common misperception of science is that it defines "truth". See Scientific Method . Discuss and answer the following, using the giving ordered sequence. Separately answer each of the following. Do not combine 1, 2, and 3 in one general statement. Note that there may be overlap in the content of these answers. General statements will not be graded. Use complete sentences and your best writing skills. [20 points]
Describe/discuss what this statement means..... A common misperception of science is that it defines "truth".
1. Scientists make definite statements, such as: 1) Genes are made of DNA. 2) The carbon dioxide concentration is increasing in our atmosphere. 3) Herpes is caused by a particular virus. What do scientists use to support these statements. Explain why you or I should believe these statements if science does not define "truth"?
2. "Profession" Scientists never describe there data as being true, or this is "the truth". Explain why these statements are avoided by scientists.
The Scientific Method
An updated version of this lesson is available at Visionlearning: The Scientific Method
http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~acarpi/NSC/2-matter.htm
A common misperception of science is that it defines "truth". Science is not truth, but rather it is a way of thought. It is a process by which experimentation is used to answer questions. This process of experimentation is called the scientific method and involves several steps:
• Observation: Scientists are generally curious about their surroundings. This curiosity leads them to ask questions about the world around them.
• Hypothesis: As scientists formulate questions, they naturally try to answer those questions. Those attempts to answer questions lead to hypotheses, or some would say guesses, regarding the question's answer.
• Testing: Of all the steps in the scientific method, the one that truly separates science from other disciplines is the process of experimentation. In order to prove, or disprove, a hypothesis, a scientist will design an experiment to test the theory. An important aspect of scientific experimentation is repeatability. In other words, if two different people in two different parts of the world perform the same experiment, they should both get the same results.
The scientific method can be most easily understood through an example. In the late16th century, it was generally believed that an object would fall at a speed proportional to its weight. In other words, the bigger they come, the faster they fall. The Italian scientist Galileo thought differently about this idea. Galileo believed that the forces acting on a falling object were independent of the object's weight. In 1590, Galileo planned out an experiment. He climbed to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and dropped several different sized weights off the top of the Tower. A colleague watched the weights as they fell and recorded his observations.
What did they find? Let's repeat Galileo's experiment. Magically transported to Italy, we find ourselves at the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa with a 1 kg and 10 kg weight. To drop the weights, click on the tower. What happens when we drop the objects off the Tower ('we squash cars' is not a correct answer)? Repeat the experiment. What happens? Is the speed at which an object falls dependent or independent of its weight? Some questions for you to think about:
• What is the experimental hypothesis?
• Is the experiment repeatable?
Galileo found that two objects with different weights fall at exactly the same speed. This experiment disproved the previously held belief that objects with different weights fall at different rates. Why do two objects with different weights fall at the same speed? Galileo had discovered that the force of gravity (which would not be defined until several decades later by a scientist named Sir Isaac Newton) was constant. Thus, despite their different weights, two objects will fall (actually the objects are pulled) to the earth at exactly the same rate.
We have to remember
that what we observe
is not nature herself,
but nature exposed to our
method of questioning.
-Werner Heisenberg
In one of the most famous renditions of this experiment, the astronaut David Scott repeated Galileo's experiment on the moon using a falcon feather and a hammer (On earth, light objects like feathers are slowed down by wind resistance. The moon has no air and thus no wind resistance.) You can download a movie of David Scott repeating Galileo's experiment on the moon at the NASA Lunar Feather Drop Home Page [Note: You will need to download Apple's Quicktime before you can view this movie. The movie is a large (2.2 meg) file and may take some time to download on a 28.8 modem.]
Do you find yourself scratching your head saying "what the heck is a kg?" It's a metric unit of weight equal to 2.205 pounds. In the lessons that follow we'll assume you're familiar with things like the metric system, scientific notation, significant figures, etc. However, if you need some help with these concepts the sites listed below offer good explanations and some practice tests so you can check your skills. To return to this site, just use the 'back' button on your web browser.
There are faxes for this order.
