TEGr 102

Teaching Science in Elementary Grades

(Physics, Earth and Space Science)
LEARNING GUIDE
TP-IMD-02 v0 No. ______

GWEN C. ESTOR

COLLEGE OF TEACHER
EDUCATION AND ARTS AND
SCIENCES

2021
DEPARTMENT OF TEACHER
EDUCATION
No copies temporary or permanent, in whole or in part of this IM shall be made
without written permission from Visayas State University
Lesson 1.1: THE NATURE OF SCIENCE AND PROCESSES OF SCIENCE

Lesson Summary
In this lesson, you will identify the nature of science and the processes of science. You
will be able to differentiate laws and theories in science. Skills to be developed as we
embrace science in our current education.
Learning Outcomes
1. Elaborate the nature, goals and processes of science.
Discussion
THIS IS SCIENTIFIC WORLD VIEWS
1. The Universe Is Understandable
2. The Universe Is a Vast Single System in Which the Basic Rules Are the Same
3. Scientific Ideas are Subject to Change
4. Scientific Knowledge is Durable
5. Science Cannot Provide Complete Answer to all Questions

What is the Nature of Scientific Inquiry?

• Certain features of science make it distinctive as a means of
understanding the world/universe.
• Those features are especially characteristic of the work of professional
scientists, but anyone can use them to think scientifically about many
aspects of everyday life.
Science Demands Evidence
• The validity of scientific claims is settled by referring to observations of
phenomena.
• Therefore, scientists concentrate on getting accurate data

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

1. Observe and describe a phenomenon or group of phenomena

2. Formulate hypotheses to explain the phenomena; hypotheses often take the form of
a proposed causal mechanism or mathematical relationship
3. Use the hypotheses to predict the existence or actions of other phenomena, or to
predict quantitatively the results of new observations
4. Perform additional data collection or repeat experimental tests of the predictions by
several independent experimenters using properly performed techniques or
experiments
Observations/Data ➔ ➔ Hypotheses Hypothesis Testing➔ ➔ Models➔ ➔ Laws ➔ ➔
Theories
• At some point in time, each stage must be reported to the larger scientific
community by presentations or publications
• The scientific method does not allow any hypothesis to be proven true.
• Hypotheses can be disproven; in which case those hypotheses are rejected as
false
 • A hypothesis which withstands a test designed to falsify it establishes a level of
probability that the hypothesis accurately explains data and can be used for
further predictions, subject to further tests
Hypothesis Testing

SCIENTIFIC LAWS AND THEORIES

• A Scientific Theory is an explanation of a set or system of related observations or
events based upon proven hypotheses and verified multiple times by detached
groups of unbiased researchers.
• As a result of our confidence in the Scientific method, both scientific laws and
broader scientific theories are accepted to be “true” (accurate) by the scientific
community as a whole.
• A scientific law or a scientific theory is used to make predictions of events or
relationships among data sets.
• The biggest difference between a law and a theory is that a theory is much more
complex and dynamic.
• A law governs a single action or situation, whereas a theory explains an entire
group of related phenomena (Mendel’s Laws versus Darwin’s Theory of
Evolution by Natural Selection)
• Genuine scientific theories must be falsifiable by applying the scientific method
(data collection and hypothesis testing) • If one cannot imagine a specific
investigation or experiment, based on predictions from the theory, leading to
results which can further verify or refute the predictions, then the theory, as an
explanation, is not scientific.
• When the scientific community accepts a Law or Theory, it represents the best
understanding of the explanations for the properties of a given system at that
point in time.
• A Scientific Theory represents our best understanding of the “truth” about some
aspect of the universe, even though it is not proven as absolute and is still
understood to be subject to future revision, or even to rejection.
THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
• The Experimental Method is usually considered the most scientific of all
methods, the “method of choice”
• The main problem with all other non- experimental methods is investigators have
less control over the situation and its components
• The Experimental Method exerts the most.
• An experiment is a study of cause and effect
• It differs from non-experimental methods in that it involves the deliberate
manipulation of one variable, while trying to keep all other variables constant
• Experiments must be properly designed and include controls

HYPOTHESIS GENERATION
• The use of logic and the close examination of evidence are necessary but not
usually sufficient for the advancement of science
• Scientific concepts do not emerge automatically from data or from any amount of
analysis alone
• Inventing hypotheses or theories to imagine how the world works and then
figuring out how they can be put to the test of reality is a creative thought process

SCIENCE EXPLAINS AND PREDICTS

• Scientists try to make sense of observations by constructing explanations for
observations that are consistent with currently accepted scientific principles
• Such explanations—theories—may be either sweeping or restricted, but they
must be logically sound and incorporate a significant body of scientifically valid
observations
• The credibility of scientific theories often comes from their ability to show
relationships among phenomena that previously seemed unrelated
• It is not enough for scientific theories to explain the observations that are already
known
• Theories should also explain additional observations that were not used in
formulating the theories in the first place; that is, theories should have predictive
power

SCIENTISTS TRY TO IDENTIFY AND TO AVOID BIAS

• When faced with a claim that something is true, scientists respond by asking
what evidence supports it
• But scientific evidence can be biased in how the data are interpreted, recorded or
reported, or even in the choice of what data are considered in the first place
• A scientist’s nationality, culture, gender, ethnic origin, age, political convictions,
etc., may incline him or her to look for or emphasize one kind of evidence or
interpretation over another

SCIENCE IS NOT AUTHORITARIAN

 • In science, it is appropriate to turn to knowledgeable sources of information and
opinion, usually specialists in relevant disciplines
• But respected authorities have been wrong many times in the history of science.

SCIENCE IS SELF CORRECTING AND PROGRESSIVE

• In the short run, new ideas that do not agree well with mainstream ideas may
encounter vigorous criticism, and scientists investigating such ideas may have
difficulty obtaining support for their research
• Challenges to new ideas are the legitimate business of science in building valid
knowledge

SF Author Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s First Law: “When a

distinguished but elderly scientist state that something
is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states
that something is impossible, he is very probably
wrong.”

Goal of Science Teaching:

• To develop the students’ competence in searching for knowledge and information
in the use of a number of basic as well as integrated science processes
• Acquire skill in developing the scientific method
• Arouse and sustain interest in future science-based pursuits

The Science Processes

• For the lower levels in the Elementary Level:
1. Observing – process where in we interact using our 5 senses:
▪ Sight
▪ Hearing
▪ Smelling
▪ Tasting
▪ Touch
Observations – refers to the statements that give information learned through the
use of five senses.
Inferences - identify, judge, or guess and as a result the students will formulate a
conclusion.

How to Develop the Skill

1. Make sure that the students are required to use several, if not all, the five senses.
2. Include observation of things that are moving or objects that are likely to produce
changes
3. Use materials and objects with different characteristics
 4. Allow them to use numerical descriptions
5. Plan lessons where they have to observe things and events
6. Stick to statements about what they observe

Advantages in Developing the Skill

1. Students become keen in gathering information through the use of the senses 2. The
observations they gather will be real
3. They are more competent in answering or solving problem situations rather than
depend on hearsays and untested solutions
4. Constant use of the senses
5. They develop a scientific mind
2. Comparing – the ability to recognize the similarities and differences of things
being observed

Advantages in Developing the Skill

1. Enables the students to analyze the information gathered by observing accurately
and honestly
2. Care in comparing guarantees precision and authenticity
3. Enables the students to evaluate evidence whether to accept or reject them before
formulating a conclusion
4. They become wise decision-maker
5. An objective comparison facilitates accurate interpretation of data.

How to Develop the Skill

1. Include materials with varied features so as to sharpen their ability to do the same
2. Refrain from pointing to the property to be examined’
3. Contrasts can be expressed in both quantitative and qualitative manner
4. Comparisons can be recorded in the form of tabulations, graphs, or colored
illustrations for easy interpretations

3. Classifying –is a process of grouping or sorting out the number of objects

according to observable characteristics they possess. Advantages in Developing the
Skill
1. Making it easy to look for them when needed’
2. A neat and properly arranged room speaks of a systematic and disciplined
group of students
3. An orderly learning environment is pleasant, safe and a joy to stay in
4. Systematic habits of work
5. Easy to analyze and interpret the data collected

How to Develop the Skill

1. Start by requiring the students to classify their things at home
2. A student can classify a number of objects if he/she discovers the characteristics,
property or quality of the objects where the classification ca be based
3. Expose them in the learning area in the school
4. Go out of the classroom and observe how things are classified in nature
5. Use only one characteristic at a time in classifying things to avoid confusion

4.Measuring –the process of comparing an unknown quantity to a standard.

Advantages in Developing the Skill

1. The skill in measuring insures accurate results in an experiment
2. Quantifying observations facilitates analysis and interpretation of data
3. Students develop the values of preciseness, care, and authenticity
4. Wasted of time, effort and expensive materials are avoided if students stick to
accurate measurement.
5. The habits of study and work are developed if the students are skilled in measuring

How to Develop the Skill

1. Consistently require students to quantify their answers about measurable materials to
be used until the habit is formed.
2. Hurried measurements often result to inaccurate data.
3. The measuring unit must be appropriate.
4. Provide sufficient practice in using common measuring instruments.
5. Always emphasize the importance of accurate measurements in order to avoid
wastage of materials

For the higher level and on the secondary level, the integrated processes are;
1. Inferring – is an interpretation or a tentative conclusion based on
observations.

Advantages in Developing the Skill

1. The skill can lead them into investigations following the scientific method.
2. Inferring can enhance their reasoning ability.
3. They will be motivated to gather more observations in order to form correct
inferences.

How to Develop the Skill

1. Provide more practice on inferring to sharpen their reasoning ability.
2. Caution them in forming ideas only after gathering enough observations that were
thoroughly analyzed.
3. Problem solving that calls for tentative conclusions can develop the skill in the long
run.

Predicting – the process of making a forecast based on observed events. The

prediction made between observed data are called interpolation and extrapolation.

Advantages in Developing the skill:

1. Students become more careful in making forecast, otherwise they will be turn out to
be guesses.
2. Skill in predicting speaks of a scientific mind.
3.This is guarantee that students will always be confident in following the scientific
method.
4. Constant practice in predicting makes students sticks to accurate measurements,
data and other information.

How to Develop the Skill

1. record observations in the form of graphs or tabulations where students can see a
trend or a pattern.
2. Provide experiences in making forecasts about events in the environment that are
controlled by time, measuring equipment and price.
3. Emphasize that there may be several variables that can affect the predicted event,
hence the prediction will not be accurate.
4. Caution them on making predictions beyond observed events because the same
result cannot be guaranteed.

Interpreting Data - the relationship between the cause-and-effect condition in a

controlled set-up becomes easy to interpret if the data is recorded in a tabulation or a
graph.

Advantages in Developing the Skill

1. The students become skilled in determining relationship between variables. A
proficiency much needed in interpreting results.
2. Observations will definitely enable them to follow the steps of the scientific method.
3. Proficiency in interpreting observations will be developed.

How to Develop the Skill

1. Train them in presenting data through various illustrations
2. Let them interpret different kinds of relationship between relevant and irrelevant data
3. An objective and unbiased interpretation form part of their study and work habits

Experimenting –the final test that requires competence in science processes

especially controlling variables interpreting data and formulating hypothesis

Steps in Scientific Method

• Identifying the problem
• Formulating a tentative solution
• Choosing the likely hypothesis
• Testing the hypothesis
• Collecting, recording and analyzing data
• Formulating conclusion

Advantages in Developing the skill

1. A scientific mind that has cultivated a scientific methodology is definitely one of the
best goals of science teaching
2. The skill in experimenting has a lasting effect on how they approach any learning
activity
3. They learn to manage their own lives problem-wise

How to develop the Skill

1. Making every learning activity problem-based and solution—oriented is ideal in a
science course.
2. Consistent guidance in following the procedures is recommended.
3. Involve the students in planning and implementing the designed set-up.
4. Revision in some steps in the procedure may be allowed in order to enhance their
creativity in finding appropriate answers to everyday inquires.