On Track - Tracking graad 3 - Science shapes reality

‘LOOK UP AT THE STARS AND NOT DOWN AT YOUR FEET. TRY TO MAKE SENSE OF WHAT YOU SEE, AND WONDER ABOUT WHAT MAKES THE UNIVERSE EXIST. BE CURIOUS.’ STEPHEN HAWKING

TRACKING: SCIENCE SHAPES REALITY In this tracking you will: learn to write scientifically (e.g. describe experiments); read a fragment from the sci-fi novel The Martian; watch a scientific documentary; talk about famous scientists and their merits; make and present an effective poster for a scientific project.

CONTENTS 1

2 3

4

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1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5

3 4 6 7 9

Who studies what?

Building blocks of scientific language English as the new Latin A Science First Aid Kit Conquer the language of science

What is science?

11

Making a career in science

13

3.1 3.2 3.3

13 14 16

Have you got what it takes?

Someone to look up to And where do you fit in?

Scientific writing

19

4.1 4.2 4.3

19 22 22

What is scientific writing?

Watch and describe Don’t let others do your thinking

5

Putting science to use

26

6

Science (Un)Ltd

30

6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5

30 32 34 36 38

7

2

The Scientific Universe

Are there limits to knowledge?

Oppenheimer’s Deadly Toy Science vs. ethics All problems solved?

What if we got stranded on Mars?

Present your project

42

7.1 7.2

42 43

What is a project poster?

Building your poster

TRACKING: SCIENCE SHAPES REALITY

1 ⁄ THE SCIENTIFIC UNIVERSE 1.1 ⁄ WHO STUDIES WHAT? Almost anything can be studied by scientists, from the tiniest particle to the complete physical universe, as is shown in the leftmost column of the figure below.

Scale of the Universe

Branches of Science

Examples of Science

Parallel Universes?

10

27

Visible Universe

1024 1021

Earth & Space

Diameter in metres

1018

1012

Solar System

Social Science

Geoscience

Functional Biology

109 106

Psychology

Milky Way

1015

Astronomy

Social Sciences

Earth

Life Science

1000

Cellular Biology

Human

1

Chemistry

0.001 10-6 10-9

Cell

Physical Science

Atom

Physics

10

-12

10-15

Particle

String Theory?

Formal Science

Mathematics

Logic

1 Place the sciences below into the grid in the figure above. biochemistry – climate studies – cognitive psychology – computer sciences – cosmology – developmental psychology – ecology – economics – ethics – evolutionary biology – geology – law – medicine – oceanography – philosophy – physiology – planetary science – reasoning – statistics – chemical reactions – materials – particle physics – thermodynamics

TRACKING: SCIENCE SHAPES REALITY

3

SPEAKING

2 Of course, these are not the only kinds of science. Which field of science do you want to participate in? Why this one? How might this scientific field benefit all of us?

3 Fit the scientist to the study or specialisation. Use a dictionary if necessary.

Scientist

Study or specialisation

1 an agronomist

a specialises in fossils

2 an astronomer

b specialises in plants

3 a botanist

c specialises in soil and crops

4 a cytologist

d specialises in the history of Earth

5 an epidemiologist

e specialises in the study of cells

6 an ethologist

f studies weather and climate

7 a geneticist

g studies animal behaviour

8 a geologist

h studies earthquakes

9 a geographer

i studies the spread of diseases

10 a marine biologist

j studies Earth’s surface

11 a meteorologist

k studies how traits are inherited

12 a microbiologist

l studies matter, energy, and how they are related

13 a palaeontologist

m studies microscopic plants and animals

14 a physicist

n studies ocean plants and animals

15 a seismologist

o studies stars, planets and galaxies

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

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SPOKEN 4 Now write down the name of three more scientists. Make sure they differ from the ones we INTERACTION have already come across and ask somebody else in class to explain what the scientist studies or specialises in.

1.2 ⁄ BUILDING BLOCKS OF SCIENTIFIC LANGUAGE As you saw in the previous exercises, scientific language often uses elements of Latin or Greek in its naming conventions.

1 Find out what the following key terms mean using the building blocks given.

For each key term, explain what is meant using the example that is already given.

Then provide an extra example and, again, explain what is meant.

1 bio: − biology: −

2 phil(o): − philatelist: −

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TRACKING: SCIENCE SHAPES REALITY

3 phobia: − claustrophobia:

−

4 miso: − misanthropist:

5 ortho: − orthography: −

6 psych(o): − psychology: −

7 proto: − proto-industrial:

−

TRACKING: SCIENCE SHAPES REALITY

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2 Be careful. Using a Latin or Greek word doesn’t make the word more scientific. What do the following words refer to?

1 mixologist:

2 cryptozoologist:

3 ventriloquist:

4 phrenologist:

5 astrologist:

6 alchemist:

1.3 â „ ENGLISH AS THE NEW LATIN READING

Read the following text and answer the questions. a What used to be the universal language of science? Why?

b What were the main languages in the period of the Industrial Revolution? Why?

c Why did German lose a lot of its influence?

d What happened in 1933 and in what way was this important for German as a language for science?

e Why did French decline as a language of science?

f Why has English become the new universal language? Is this because of its inherent qualities?

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TRACKING: SCIENCE SHAPES REALITY

ENGLISH AS THE NEW LATIN More than 98 percent of all scientific articles published today are in English, but that hasn’t always been the case. ‘There used to be one language of science in Europe, and it was Latin,’ says Michael Gordin, a historian of science at Princeton University who is writing a book about the selection of scientific languages. But researchers began to move away from Latin in the 17th century. Galileo, Newton, and others started writing papers in their native tongues, in part to make their work more accessible and in part as a reaction to the Protestant Reformation and the declining influence of the Catholic Church.

Once Latin was unseated as its lingua franca, scientific discourse splintered into local languages. Researchers worried that the loss of a common tongue would slow scientific progress, so by the middle of the 19th century, they had

settled on three primary languages. ‘If you were a professional scientist,’ Gordin says, ‘you were expected to read French, English, and German.’

German was not to hold its prominent position for long. After World War I, researchers from the U.S., England, France, and Belgium formed major scientific organizations, such as the International Astronomical Union. Unwilling to embrace their former foes, they left German scientists out. Germany suffered another setback in 1933, when the government dismissed one fifth of the nation’s physics faculty and one eighth of its biology professors for cultural and political reasons ( Jews and socialists were banned). Many left the country for the U.S. and England, where they started publishing in English.

Though the trend from that point on was toward English as the universal language of science, the shift took decades. One roadblock was the Cold War. During the 1950s and 60s, most scientific literature was published in either English or Russian. ‘Then in the 1970s, everything turns,’ Gordin says. As the Soviet Union fell into decline, the use of Russian declined too. By the mid-1990s, about 96 percent of the world’s scientific articles were written in English, a trend that has only grown since. These days, he says, ‘publishing in English is almost not a choice.’

Source: Popular Science

1.4 ⁄ A SCIENCE FIRST AID KIT 1 Complete the table underneath. It contains language which is indispensable for any scientific study. Use a dictionary if necessary.

Verb

Noun

achieve

achievement

Adjective

acquisition alternative analysis approach assessment assume authority

TRACKING: SCIENCE SHAPES REALITY

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Verb

Noun

Adjective

benefit comment component concept consistent corresponding deduction demonstrate distribution dominant element equation estimate evaluation final function initial interpretation maintenance method perceive period potential principle procedure process range require resource response select significant similar specific strategy theory transfer variable

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TRACKING: SCIENCE SHAPES REALITY

2 Here are some more indispensable words. Fit them into the correct context. area – aspect – circumstance – criterium/criteria – instance – journal – previous – primary – research – section – source 1 In any scientific

it is important that all results are written down in

a .

2 An important

of any scientific publication is that all

are correctly referred to.

3 In a

of the study, the

author stressed the importance of setting strict

of public health screenings.

4 It is of

in the

importance that under no

any

of the set of results is overlooked.

3 Match the ‘task word’ to the description.

Task word

Description

1 compare

a give the exact meaning of

2 examine

b describe the differences between two or more things

3 evaluate

c give more details to make your reader or listener understand

4 define

d give a summary of

5 describe

e clearly indicate which one

6 distinguish

f give examples

7 explain

g show the differences and similarities between

8 identify

h give a detailed description of

9 illustrate

i give the characteristics and/or facts about

10 outline

j give arguments for and against

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1.5 ⁄ CONQUER THE LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE You may already have an idea of what you want to study later on. Whatever you want to achieve, you will need words to express your aims and results. One way of building this set of words is to use word clouds based on associations.

TRACKING: SCIENCE SHAPES REALITY

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STRATEGY How to see through scientific words − Use the knowledge you have already gathered in other ways.

· In 1.1 and 1.2 we learned that scientific language

· Use your knowledge of other languages besides English and Dutch. You probably know

· Use your knowledge of prefixes and suffixes to derive the correct word. If you know the

often uses word elements from Latin and Greek.

Combining them in a logical way will get you on your way. E.g. if you know that an infection is very often expressed by adding ‘-itis’ to a body part, it will not be difficult to understand words like ‘laryngitis’ (infection of the larynx or throat) or ‘otitis’ (infection of the ear). Other examples are: bronchitis, myositis, appendicitis, ...

that if a Frenchman says something is ‘grave’, he means it is serious and heavy on the mind. So it is only natural that the force which makes two bodies attract one another is called ‘gravity’. word ‘gravity’, it is easy to derive from it the idea of ‘gravitational force’.

− On the Internet you can find a number of specialised scientific dictionaries. Go online to find a few examples. These dictionaries come in very handy if you want to look up or use a specific term.

1 Look up the correct term in English for the following explanations. Use one of the online scientific dictionaries. Describe how you found the answer.

1 a vehicle which can be used on firm ground and on water:

2 a substance (like tobacco or asbestos) which is likely to cause cancer:

3 said of organisms (e.g. bacteria) that can stand relatively high temperatures:

4 said of a climate that is not subject to a lot of sudden changes:

2 Your teacher will give you a sheet of paper with a word in the middle and a few lines sticking out. Use this to build a word map on the given topic. In the next step you will add elements to the word maps that were started by classmates.

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TRACKING: SCIENCE SHAPES REALITY