The Sciences

Pg. 276-278
The Sciences

Science is one of the basic

foundation of knowledge. It offers
answers to some of the important
questions in life.
Let us find more about the sciences
and how they affect our lives.
The Sciences

If we call superstitions and other mistaken ideas

unfounded beliefs, we might as well call science
"founded beliefs." The word science comes from
the Latin word meaning “Know”

Knowing cannot come from the kind of

careless observation and thinking that has led to
the great body included in science is based on
careful and repeated observations, exact
measuring, painstaking experiments, and accurate
records.
The Sciences
As the tree on page 276 shows, science has
many branches. It is made up of many separate
sciences. sooner or later you will probably study
some of these special sciences.

If you are interested in electricity or light or

sound, for example, you will study physics. If you
are interested in what things are made of, you will
study chemistry. If you want to learn more about
animals, will study zoology.
The Sciences

Some sciences are much older than others.

Astronomy is a very old science. Why people
were more eager to find out about the
faraway stars than about the plant and
animals around them and the rocks under
their feet is not easy to see.

Perhaps stars interested people because

they are far away and mysterious. At any rate,
astronomy is far older than botany or zoology
or Bacteriology, on the other hand, is quite a
new science. Bacteria had never been seen
before the microscope was invented.
The Sciences

The tree in the diagram could be more

elaborate, for each of the sciences shown has
branches. Plant physiology, for instance, is a
branch of botany, while mineralogy is a
branch of geology.
Each body of knowledge we think of as a
separate science is made of facts and
principles and theories. A few illustrations
will help you understand the difference
between the three.
The Sciences

''Jupiter is a planet" is a fact. A planet is a

spherical body much like the earth, which tavels in an
almost circular path around the sun. Jupiter has been
watched for so many years that scientists feel sure it
is a planet. "Everybody in the universe attracts every
other body” is a fact too but it is one that can be used
to explain other facts.
Such a fact we call a principle. This principle
helps explain why the planets do not run away from
the sun, which is a very large body and exerts a very
great pull. It explains too why the moon does not run
away from the earth, why falling stars fall, and many
other "whys."
The Sciences

The earth and all the other planets in the

sun's family, many scientists believe, were
formed from a vast pancake-shaped cloud of gas
and dust that once surrounded the sun.
This idea is a theory. There is evidence in
favor of it, but there is no way of proving that it is
true. It goes without saying that no one could
have been on the earth when it was formed.
Ideas that start out by being theories arc
sometimes clearly shown to be true. They cease
being theories and become facts or principles.
 Activity!

Open your books on page 278 and answer Round Table Discussion numbers 1-5
Founded and Unfounded Beliefs

Founded beliefs are beliefs backed by research and numerous tests from professionals and
intellectual thinkers.

These are examples of founded beliefs:

1. Dinosaurs are giant creatures who roamed the face of the earth hundreds of millions of
years ago
2. The human brain is the central part of the nervous system
3. Blood flows continously inside the veins of the human body
4. Dogs are mammals
5. Science is a systematized body of knowledge based on facts
6. Fossils are formed after a long time after a creature died
Practice!

Distinguish if the following is a founded belief or an unfounded one

1. Spiders are creatures that belong to the reptile class of animals

2. The human body is designed biologically to lay eggs
3. There is a pair of human lungs in the human body
4. walking under a metal staircase will give you 7 years of bad luck
5. Visiting a witch doctor will heal your dog bite
6. The sun is the nearedt star in our planet
7. The moon retrieves its light from the sun
8. Earth is the center of the solar system
9. The Greeks are known to be the first Christians in Asia
10. Gotham City is the most criminally infested city in the qorld
Distinguish whether the following are considered as basis
of founded beliefs or unfounded beliefs

1. Scientific magazines
2. Encyclopedias
3. Superhero Comics
4. Superstitions
5. Religious cults
6. The constitution
7. Dictionaries
8. Maps
9. Almanacs
10. Editorial section of newspapers
Activity!

List down 5 examples of the following

Founded beliefs:

Unfounded beliefs: