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Scientific Thinking · Module 1

Foundations of Scientific Thinking

This module builds the apparatus: what makes a claim scientific, how to keep what you observed separate from what you concluded, how to turn a vague curiosity into a question that can actually be answered, and how to design a test whose result means something.

It ends where every real measurement ends — with an honest account of how uncertain the number is.

Lessons
6 lessons
Estimated time
~5-7 hours
Assessment
Module quiz included

Not started yet

Lessons

Lesson 1 · 16 min

What Is Science?

Lesson 2 · 15 min

Observation vs Inference

Lesson 3 · 16 min

Questions, Hypotheses and Predictions

Lesson 4 · 16 min

Scientific Theories, Laws and Models

Lesson 5 · 18 min

Variables and Experimental Design

Lesson 6 · 17 min

Measurement and Uncertainty

Check your understanding

Finish the lessons, then test yourself. Your best score is saved on this device. You can also open this quiz on its own page.

Foundations of Scientific Thinking — Module Assessment

11 questions · pass mark 75%

  1. 1.What single question best tests whether a claim is scientific?
  2. 2.Which is an observation rather than an inference?
  3. 3.What is the difference between a hypothesis and a prediction?
  4. 4.Why is a risky prediction stronger evidence than a safe one?
  5. 5.In science, how do a law and a theory relate?
  6. 6.In what sense is every model wrong?
  7. 7.A study gives fertilizer to plants and measures height. What is the dependent variable?
  8. 8.What does randomization protect against that careful matching cannot?
  9. 9.A scale consistently reads 72.4 kg for a 70 kg object. This is:
  10. 10.Why can more measurements not fix systematic error?
  11. 11.Rewrite 'this app makes you more productive' as a testable claim.
Answer every question to submit.