The Nature of Science - (copy)

Research survey exploring students' understanding of the Nature of Science.


A red asterisk (*) indicates required questions.

  1. What is your date of birth?*


  1. What is Science?*


  1. What other subjects do you study?*


  1. How is Science different from some of these subjects?*


  1. It is the task of science to form theories to explain observations.*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. An experiment is a set of conditions under which observations are made.*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. Nature is not permitted to disobey the laws of science.*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. A theory in science may be modified in light of new evidence.*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. It is not possible to "prove" any scientific law or theory*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. The diagram shows a model describing the structure of an atom. This model is an exact description of what atoms would look like if you could see them.
    *
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. How do scientists know that dinosaurs once lived on the earth?*


  1. How sure are scientists about what dinosaurs looked like?*


  1. Science is always a process of observation, hypothesis, experimentation and conclusion*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. If a scientist fails to solve a problem, it is probably because he did not follow the “scientific method" of observation, hypothesis, experimentation and conclusion.*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. Surprising or unexpected observations have played an important role in the advance of science.*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. A theory with ten supporting and two denying experiments is more likely to be accepted than a theory with four supporting and no denying experiments.*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. Scientists have different ideas about why dinosaurs died out. If all scientists have the same information about dinosaurs, why do you think they disagree about this?*


  1. Scientists should not use their imagination*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. Some of the best scientists have been extremely imaginative
    *
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. Scientists generally wear lab coats and carry out experiments*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. When you make a scientific observation about the world, it is affected by your past experiences.*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. A TV weather presenter uses lots of scientific facts to figure out what they think the weather will be like the next day. How certain do you think weather people are about these predictions?*


  1. Explain why.*


  1. There are many methods of solving scientific problems.
    *
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. A hypothesis is an attempt to explain a number of phenomena.*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. Explain what you think the difference is between a scientific law and a scientific theory.*


  1. Occasionally, a new discovery can change the way we look at the world
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. The knowledge of science is final.
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. Scientists have differences of opinion about scientific matters.*
     
      1 2     Don't know
    Agree  Disagree  


  1. Whay year are you in?*
    Year 9
    Year 10
    Year 11
    Year 12
    Year 13
    Other





Mr Zani
Otago Boys' High School
Dunedin