What motivates us to study science? Challenge B students (those who are 13 years of age and older) get a wealth of amazing scientific knowledge throughout the Research strand, which aids in their understanding of the world and helps them develop into better researchers.
This article examines the research Challenge B students do on the lives and discoveries of well-known historical scientists in order to highlight a number of the reasons why science education is crucial.
Reasons Why Studying Science is So Important
Of fact, science is a very broad subject of study. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the benefits of studying science. Nevertheless, maybe this piece can help you and your student understand the significance of science education.
We’ll start by looking at some widespread myths about science in our society.
By having Challenge B students conduct research on the biographies and scientific findings of well-known scientists, we will debunk each of these fallacies. Students will gain a greater understanding of the value of a science education as they study the lives of historical scientists.
We’ll then conclude each part with a few key takeaways that Challenge B students discover from studying the biographies of notable scientists from the past. We’ll also examine how a powerful
Studying Science Inspires Curiosity and an Attitude of Discovery
misunderstanding
More information is available to us now than it has ever been throughout human history. That’s fantastic, but it may also give us the false sense that we already know the solutions. Sadly, the perception that science is “settled,” that almost all that can be known has already been found, and that not much more can be added to the corpus of knowledge already in existence, is fostered by our superabundance of information.
Although Google is an extremely useful tool, we cannot Google our way to understanding science.
Truth
In fact, science is not about settled facts. Rather, science is about inquiry, gathering evidence, formulating hypotheses, designing experiments, and innovating. Science is creative, inspires curiousity, and encourages an attitude of exploration.
Challenge B students learn, through real-life examples, that “settled” science has routinely been re-energized by new ideas throughout history. Consider Louis Pasteur and the scientific theory of spontaneous generation. Until the 19th century, scientists and natural philosophers maintained that living organisms could come into existence from nonliving matter. Louis Pasteur disproved this theory by sterilizing beef broth and noting that the broth did not produce microorganisms when properly isolated from contamination. When he exposed the broth to the environment, however, microorganisms began to develop. Through experimentation, Louis Pasteur overturned over two millennia of “settled” science.
Furthermore, scientific innovations do not come out of nowhere but instead build upon previous information viewed in a new light. A fantastic example of this is Johannes Kepler, who worked with existing understanding and calculations but had the aha moment of realizing that in order to fit the observed data, the planets’ orbits had to be elliptical rather than circular.
Lesson
Students are exposed to excellent role models in the scientists they research.
Students learn from these scientists how to be discoverers themselves. They perceive that science is explorative, innovative, and creative. Students also learn the important life lessons of dealing with the ambiguities and frustrations of stepping out into uncharted territory.
They learn from famous examples like Faraday or Curie to respond to the questions of what to do when they do not have access to an answer key or an expert resource to consult. In addition, students are frequently inspired to lifelong scientific curiosity by the models they meet in their research.
Theory
group of related hypotheses have been confirmed through repeated experimental tests, it may become a theory, which can be thought of as the pot of gold at the end of the scientific method rainbow.
Theories are much broader in scope than hypotheses and hold enormous predictive power. The theory of relativity, for example, predicted the existence of black holes long before there was evidence to support the idea. It should be noted, however, that one of the goals of science is not to prove theories right, but to prove them wrong. When this happens, a theory must be modified or discarded altogether.