People have sought to understand all areas of life through their senses, careful contemplation, and by raising perplexing questions. The sciences help to address the domain of human inquiry specifically related to the natural world around us. These domains are broken into a number of disciplines including astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, and physics.
Raising questions about the natural world is easy. Answering them is not. The historic development of scientific discoveries rarely went quickly. There were dead ends, fierce rivalries, and scrapped ideas. The work of science brought out the best and the worst in people.
Come explore stories that reveal how the big ideas of science were developed. Gain understanding of how ideas masquerading as science led to misinformation and disinformation.
What is science? How does science work? What are scientists?
Misconceptions regarding the answers to these questions abound. Too often science comes across to students as unapproachable and devoid of human involvement. These mistaken ideas can interfere in understanding science concepts, cause students to avoid pursuing careers involving science, and result in poor social decision-making by citizens and policy makers.
Thirty stories spanning five disciplines help students explore the development of key science concepts through the eyes of the scientists who were involved. Supplemental resources are provided for teachers to help achieve the greatest impact from the stories.
Pervasive pseudoscience thinking exists among the public regarding many socioscientific issues. Pseudoscience includes both misinformation (false information) or disinformation (deliberate dissemination of misleading or biased information) regarding both the content of science and how science works. Pseudoscience both reflects and promotes distrust in science, and exacerbates the personal and societal decision-making that places all of society at greater risk.
Explore 12 stories that examine how pseudoscientific ideas undermines legitimate scientific developments.
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