Chapter 1 Text Responses!

•  What is an example of someone’s exhibiting a scientific way of thinking?

An example of someone exhibiting scientific thinking is when they want to know by how much the stars move every night, and then set up an experiment that measures this, or when they question how we know what black holes are.

• Can you think of a time when you had a significant misconception or alternative conception about the way things worked? How did you realize your thinking had to change?

 I had a significant misconception about the weather cycle when I was young. I thought that the sky just made clouds and that it produced new water for the world. However, I soon realized that things cannot just manifest into being, but that there was an entire cycle that water goes through in weather and that the amount of water we have can not just increase.

• Why is it important for students not just to recite what they have learned but to demonstrate it in a new context?

It’s important for students to demonstrate it in a new context because it means that they can actually comprehend what they have learned instead of just memorizing words. Words are meaningless unless you can give them meaning and have an understanding of what they are learning.

• In your own life, how, if at all, has technology helped you learn?

Technology has enabled me to look at things that would normally have been invisible to the naked eye. It has allowed me to collaborate on research projects and look things up that other scientists around the world have worked on. Technology has helped me because I’m primarily a visual and hands on learning, so through technology I can watch how icicles are formed or how a tadpole becomes a frog.