UC Berkeley is promoting a beta version of a new NSF-funded website called Understanding Science: How Science Really Works. The site is designed for use by teachers and the public at large.
The school assembled the site with input from scientists, K-12 teachers, historians and even “philosophers of science.”
“Part of the fun of science is lost when you present it as a linear thing,” said Natalie Kuldell, an instructor in biological engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and one of 18 scientific advisors for the project. While the five-step process described in textbooks – ask a question, form an hypothesis, conduct an experiment, collect data and draw a conclusion – isn’t wrong, “it is an oversimplification,” she said in a statement.
The exploratory and adventurous sides of science are emphasized on the site, such as through personal stories of scientists.
The site addresses general questions such as “What is science?” to sexier issues such as asteroids and dinosaurs.
