These scientists are working hard on a water testing project. They are looking to find pollutants. Scientists often work together in teams or partnerships to make great progress.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of UCAR
The Scientific Process
Being a
scientist is fun. You get to do experiments and think of reasons why things might be happening a certain way. Being a scientist is also hard work.
After a scientist comes up with a reason why something might be happening, they have to test that reason with experiments. If their reason holds up during experiments, then the scientist usually shares his/her findings with other scientists. In modern science, this is done by talking about the findings during a presentation or by writing about the findings in a journal. A scientific journal is like a magazine, read by other scientists. See Science for an example of a scientific journal.
A discovery isn't really accepted in the science community until other scientists agree that the first scientist's work makes sense. Sometimes agreement on a science topic takes a long time--years, or even decades. Evolution, the Big Bang, and climate change are all theories that were first brought up long ago, and these are all still being researched and worked on by scientists today.
Now it's not just scientists that do science - students do too! When you do a science experiment in class, or in a science fair project, you are taking part in the scientific process too!
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
Our
online store includes
books on science education,
classroom activities in The Earth Scientist,
mineral and
fossil specimens, and
educational games!
You might also be interested in:
Scientists use the word theory differently than nonscientists. "It’s just a theory," you hear people say. When speaking casually, people often use the word "theory" to mean a "guess" or a "feeling". In
...more
The Sun is very important to the Earth. The Sun warms our planet, heating the surface, the oceans and the atmosphere. The Sun also gives us light. We definitely couldn't live on Earth without the Sun!
...more
Has anyone ever told you that you shouldn’t eat things that you find on the floor? Well, the rules are different for bacteria. Scientists have found tons of bacteria at the bottom of the ocean. And it
...more
As an educator, you have the challenging task of teaching content that is integrated into other content areas to many students at various learning levels. Hopefully, looking into the VOCALS campaign can
...more
Why did the dinosaurs go extinct? No one knows for sure, but there are some explanations that seem to make sense. At the time the dinosaurs and lots of other species died out (which is sometimes called
...more
Being a scientist is fun. You get to do experiments and think of reasons why things might be happening a certain way. Being a scientist is also hard work. After a scientist comes up with a reason why something
...more
Thomas Edison was an American inventor who lived between 1847-1931. He is most famous for inventing the light bulb, which produced light using electricity. But during his life, Edison patented over a
...more
