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Teachers' Domain: Scientific Processes
published by the WGBH Educational Foundation
This resource features two NOVA videos that depict the scientific process in the framework of two groundbreaking 20th century experiments. The first video depicts the the work of chemist Percy Julian to find a synthetic treatment for glaucoma, and the second features Dr. Judah Folkman's quest to understand how tumors grow.

The videos are accompanied by an animated graphic display that shows the steps each scientist is taking along the path of scientific process. The graphics help learners understand that scientists approach and solve problems in unique, non-linear ways. Though both scientists are rigorous and orderly, their approaches do not follow a textbook "scientific method".

Included on this web page are background information and discussion questions for teachers.

Please note that this resource requires Flash.
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/drey07.sci.phys.matter.scpr...
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Research Design & Methodology
Education Practices
- Active Learning
= Problem Solving
- High School
- Middle School
- Instructional Material
= Activity
- Audio/Visual
= Movie/Animation
Appropriate Courses Categories Ratings
- Physical Science
- Physics First
- Conceptual Physics
- Algebra-based Physics
- AP Physics
- Activity
- New teachers
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Intended Users:
Learner
Educator
General Public
Formats:
application/flash
text/html
Access Rights:
Free access
Restriction:
© 2007 WGBH Educational Foundation
Keywords:
experiment, experimental design, experimentation, hypothesis, research design, research methodology, research process, scientific experiment
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created October 6, 2010 by Caroline Hall
Record Updated:
October 6, 2010 by Caroline Hall
Last Update
when Cataloged:
December 31, 2007

AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

1. The Nature of Science

1A. The Scientific Worldview
  • 6-8: 1A/M2. Scientific knowledge is subject to modification as new information challenges prevailing theories and as a new theory leads to looking at old observations in a new way.
1B. Scientific Inquiry
  • 3-5: 1B/E1. Scientific investigations may take many different forms, including observing what things are like or what is happening somewhere, collecting specimens for analysis, and doing experiments.
1C. The Scientific Enterprise
  • 6-8: 1C/M7. Accurate record-keeping, openness, and replication are essential for maintaining an investigator's credibility with other scientists and society.

AAAS Benchmark Alignments (1993 Version)

1. THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

A. The Scientific World View
  • 1A (9-12) #3.  No matter how well one theory fits observations, a new theory might fit them just as well or better, or might fit a wider range of observations. In science, the testing, revising, and occasional discarding of theories, new and old, never ends. This ongoing process leads to an increasingly better understanding of how things work in the world but not to absolute truth. Evidence for the value of this approach is given by the improving ability of scientists to offer reliable explanations and make accurate predictions.
B. Scientific Inquiry
  • 1B (6-8) #1.  Scientists differ greatly in what phenomena they study and how they go about their work. Although there is no fixed set of steps that all scientists follow, scientific investigations usually involve the collection of relevant evidence, the use of logical reasoning, and the application of imagination in devising hypotheses and explanations to make sense of the collected evidence.
  • 1B (6-8) #4.  New ideas in science sometimes spring from unexpected findings, and they usually lead to new investigations.
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Record Link
AIP Format
Teachers' Domain: Scientific Processes (WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, 2007), WWW Document, (http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/drey07.sci.phys.matter.scprocess/).
AJP/PRST-PER
Teachers' Domain: Scientific Processes (WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, 2007), <http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/drey07.sci.phys.matter.scprocess/>.
APA Format
Teachers' Domain: Scientific Processes. (2007, December 31). Retrieved June 19, 2013, from WGBH Educational Foundation: http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/drey07.sci.phys.matter.scprocess/
Chicago Format
WGBH Educational Foundation. Teachers' Domain: Scientific Processes. Boston: WGBH Educational Foundation, December 31, 2007. http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/drey07.sci.phys.matter.scprocess/ (accessed 19 June 2013).
MLA Format
Teachers' Domain: Scientific Processes. Boston: WGBH Educational Foundation, 2007. 31 Dec. 2007. 19 June 2013 <http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/drey07.sci.phys.matter.scprocess/>.
BibTeX Export Format
@misc{ Title = {Teachers' Domain: Scientific Processes}, Publisher = {WGBH Educational Foundation}, Volume = {2013}, Number = {19 June 2013}, Month = {December 31, 2007}, Year = {2007} }
Refer Export Format

%T Teachers' Domain: Scientific Processes
%D December 31, 2007
%I WGBH Educational Foundation
%C Boston
%U http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/drey07.sci.phys.matter.scprocess/
%O application/flash

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source
%D December 31, 2007
%T Teachers' Domain: Scientific Processes
%I WGBH Educational Foundation
%V 2013
%N 19 June 2013
%8 December 31, 2007
%9 application/flash
%U http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/drey07.sci.phys.matter.scprocess/


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Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation.

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