Standard 30
SC.7.N.3.1
Recognize and explain the difference between theories and laws and give several examples of scientific theories and the evidence that supports them. Explain why theories may be modified but are rarely discarded.
Recognize and explain the difference between theories and laws and give several examples of scientific theories and the evidence that supports them. Explain why theories may be modified but are rarely discarded.
Standard Summary: This standard asks us to compare the differences between scientific theories and laws. We should be able to recognize common examples of theories and laws and be able to explain why theories can be changed but usually not thrown out.
Vocabulary
Theory: An explanation for some aspect of the natural world a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is acquired through the scientific method and repeatedly tested and confirmed through observation and experimentation.
Law: the description of an observed phenomenon. It doesn't explain why the phenomenon exists or what causes it.
Evidence: Data that is collected through experimentation or observation that contributes to a theory or law
Hypothesis: an idea or explanation that you test through study and experimentation.
Patterns: Phenomenon that occur in predictable and repetitive way
Prediction: an idea or assumption about what will happen in the future
Theory: An explanation for some aspect of the natural world a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is acquired through the scientific method and repeatedly tested and confirmed through observation and experimentation.
Law: the description of an observed phenomenon. It doesn't explain why the phenomenon exists or what causes it.
Evidence: Data that is collected through experimentation or observation that contributes to a theory or law
Hypothesis: an idea or explanation that you test through study and experimentation.
Patterns: Phenomenon that occur in predictable and repetitive way
Prediction: an idea or assumption about what will happen in the future
Theories and Laws are both important parts of scientific understanding. These are different from the colloquial (common) ways we understand these words. A theory is not simply a guess or assumption, it requires many years (sometimes 100's) of gathering evidence and observations to come up with a viable explanation for why something happens. In the common world, a law is a rule that you follow within a society. In science, it is a fact; a phenomenon that always happens in the same circumstances. Using laws, we can make predictions about how things in our universe behave. A theory will never become a law because a theory tries to explain something, a law is just an observable outcome.
Most theories cannot ever be transformed into fact. No amount of facts supporting such theories makes this so. Remember, a theory is a general statement intended to explain facts. For example, the ancient peoples noticed peculiar points of light that wandered amongst their background. We now know these to be the planets. They wandered because they, like the Earth, were orbiting around the sun, each at different speeds, different distances from the Sun. Nicolaus Copernicus is generally considered to be the first to propose this, and support his theory with hard evidence, but ancient cultures stumbled upon this through speculation. We now consider this a fact because we have sent many craft to these planets and can predict their motions to a very high precision. Of course, our predictions come from the theory (and the laws underlying it).
Other common examples of theories are: the theory of evolution/natural selection, the big bang theory and cell theory. Commonly known laws include Newton's laws of gravity and motion and Mendel's Law of independent assortment (genetics).
Most theories cannot ever be transformed into fact. No amount of facts supporting such theories makes this so. Remember, a theory is a general statement intended to explain facts. For example, the ancient peoples noticed peculiar points of light that wandered amongst their background. We now know these to be the planets. They wandered because they, like the Earth, were orbiting around the sun, each at different speeds, different distances from the Sun. Nicolaus Copernicus is generally considered to be the first to propose this, and support his theory with hard evidence, but ancient cultures stumbled upon this through speculation. We now consider this a fact because we have sent many craft to these planets and can predict their motions to a very high precision. Of course, our predictions come from the theory (and the laws underlying it).
Other common examples of theories are: the theory of evolution/natural selection, the big bang theory and cell theory. Commonly known laws include Newton's laws of gravity and motion and Mendel's Law of independent assortment (genetics).