Science as Inquiry

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

• Ask a question about objects, organisms, and events in the environment.
• Plan and conduct a simple investigation.
• Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses.
• Use data to construct a reasonable explanation.
• Communicate investigations and explanations.

Understandings about scientific inquiry

• Scientific investigations involve asking and answering a question.
• Scientists use different kinds of investigations, depending on the questions they are trying to answer.
• Simple instruments, such as magnifiers and rulers, provide more information than scientists obtain using only their senses.
• Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already know about the world (scientific knowledge).
• Scientists make the results of their investigations public.
• Scientists review and ask questions about the results of other scientists’ work.

Properties of objects and materials

• Objects have many observable properties, including size, shape, and the ability to react with other substances. Those properties can be measured using tools, such as a ruler.
• Objects are made of one or more materials, such as paper, wood, and metal. Objects can be described by the properties of the materials from which they are made.

Position and motion of objects

• An object’s motion can be described.
• Sound is produced by vibrating objects. The pitch of the sound can be varied by changing the rate of vibration.

Characteristics of organisms

• The behavior of organisms is influenced by internal and external cues. Humans and other organisms have senses that help them detect internal and external cues.

Organisms and their environments

• All organisms cause changes in the environment in which they live. Some of these changes are detrimental to the organism or other organisms, whereas others are beneficial.
• Humans change environments in ways that can be either beneficial or detrimental for themselves and other organisms.

Abilities of technological design

• Identify a simple problem.
• Propose a solution.
• Implementing proposed solutions.
• Evaluate a product or design.
• Communicate a problem, design, and solution.

Understandings about science and technology

• People have always had questions about their world.
• People have always had problems and invented tools and techniques (ways of doing something) to solve problems.
• Scientists and engineers often work in teams with different individuals doing different things that contribute to the results.
• Women and men of all ages, backgrounds, and groups engage in a variety of scientific and technological work.
• Tools help scientists make better observations, measurements, and equipment for investigations. They help scientists see, measure, and do things that they could not otherwise see, measure, and do.

Personal health

• Safety and security are basic needs of humans.

Science and technology in local challenges

• People continue inventing new ways of doing things, solving problems, and getting work done. New ideas and inventions often affect other people.
• Science and technology have greatly improved health and communication.

History and Nature of Science

Science as a human endeavor

• Science and technology have been practiced by people for a long time.
• Men and women have made a variety of contributions throughout the history of science and technology.
• Many people choose science as a career and devote their entire lives to studying it. Many people derive great pleasure from doing science.

Unifying Concepts and Processes

Systems, order, and organization

Evidence, models, and explanation

Constancy, change, and measurement

Form and function