Natural Science - Year I
Unit 1: What is Science?
Parents Guide for Unit 1
| This Unit's | Homework Page | History Lecture | Science Lecture | Lab | Parents' Notes |
For 2026: Please note that units are considered "under revision" until two weeks before the class date, and page content, web assignments, and exercises may change before that deadline.
Parent's Notes to Unit 1: Introduction to the Study of Science
If you have not already done so, please read the Parent Guide for Natural Science. This page contains information to help you help your student with the material and methods of this course.
Preparation
Students should complete both the web lecture and text book readings from the Homework assignment if at all possible before we meet for the first time in chat. However, the textbook readings are not required for completion of the homework assignment this time, and the discussion questions will be general, just in case you don't get your copy before class starts.
Below are notes on the main points of each assignment.
- History Web Lecture: What is science?
Students need to realize that we do not learn or think of ideas in a vacuum, but in context with other ideas that can shape and restrict our understanding of our own observations. I call our existing set of ideas our conceptual framework, and compare it to a suitcase stuffed with different objects. As we observe new things, we rearrange the contents of the suitcase, and sometimes change suitcases.
You may want to discuss with your student the history study questions at the end of the web lecture.
- Science Web Lecture:What are the topics appropriate to scientific study?
We often identify "nature" as the object of scientific study. We need to clarify what we mean by nature, and identify the different areas of natural science according to the key concepts that govern how we observe and form theories within each area.
Please review my science safety information if your student plans to do any experimental work, even if they are not taking the lab option.
- The Chat Preparation Essay: Every unit has a short essay question. Students need to post a complete and concise answer to this essay before the start of the unit discussion session (chat). We look at this question together during chat.
Encourage your student to start thinking about this essay a few days before chat. Discuss the topic together, and see if you can think of examples to support the position your student takes. A good essay is not a single sentence written five minutes before chat starts!
- Mastery exercise: The exercises questions are designed to help the student articulate his definition of science and identify several common approaches to scientific analysis. Review the exercise questions and be sure that your student understands each question and the feedback. Identify any problems and encourage him to bring them up during our discussion session on Tuesday morning (this means the mastery exercise should be attempted at least once before discussion session).
The Mastery exercise has no final due date before the end of the semester. This allows students to review it at any time. However, it must be completed with a passing grade of 85% before the student can take the unit quiz, which does have a due date! So encourage your student to complete the mastery completion requirement before the weekend, to give time Monday to take the quiz.
- Discussion: In the introductory section, we will visit the class website and talk about how to find and do the assignments. If you have already done this with your student, it will make the "adminstrivia" part of the session much shorter.
Our main topic for the morning will be "What is science?" Please encourage your student to think about this question before the class, and be ready to give his or her definition.
- Quiz:There is a short quiz on this unit to make sure that students understand terminology used in the readings and weblectures. Note that students cannot take quizzes until they have completed the Mastery Exercise successfully.
- Lab: This week's lab is intended to help students see how experience shapes how we observe events, and affects our objectivity. One of the goals of science is to identify and examine phenomena where we can agree on our observations.
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