Teaching resources
We have an entire section of teaching resources on the nature and process of science.

Review the basics

• Understanding Science 101 — Learn what science is, how it works, and how this factors into our everyday lives.

• How science works: The flowchart — Explore an interactive visualization of the process of science.

• Fair tests: A do-it-yourself guide — Find out what makes a fair test in science and how you can make use of the same ideas.

• Think science! — Develop your own scientific outlook on the world.

• What's natural? — Explore what is meant by the "natural world."

• Misconceptions — Clear up common misconceptions about the nature of science.

• FAQs — Find answers to common questions about how science works and submit your own.

Science in action

• Asteroids and dinosaurs — Learn more about how science works as you follow scientists on a journey of discovery toward solving the mystery of the dinosaur extinction.

• The structure of DNA: Cooperation and competition — Learn how the information shared among an unlikely group of researchers led to a key biological discovery — solving the molecular structure of DNA.

• Ozone depletion: Uncovering the hidden hazard of hairspray — Follow the scientific journey of Mario Molina, Sherwood Rowland, and other scientists as they study atmospheric chemistry and uncover environmental risks posed by common household chemicals.

• The science checklist applied: Studying variable stars — See how Henrietta Leavitt's story compares to the Science Checklist.

• The science checklist applied: Solving DNA's double helix — Look at the work of Franklin, Watson, and Crick in the framework of the Science Checklist.

• American Institute of Physics exhibits — Visit this website to explore science stories from the history of physics.

• Nobelprize.org — Visit the website of the Nobel Foundation to learn more about key discoveries in physiology, physics, chemistry, and economics.

Extra credit

• Astrology: Is it scientific? — Compare astrology to the Science Checklist.

• Intelligent Design: Is it scientific? — See if Intelligent Design passes the Science Checklist test.

• The story of serendipity — See how serendipity can be important in scientific advances, but how it is often augmented by other factors.

• Who pays for science? — Find out where scientific funding comes from.

• 125 Questions: What we don't know — Visit Science magazine's website to explore some of the big questions that scientists are studying right now.

• "I don't know what to believe" — Read a pamphlet from Sense About Science that explains how you can ask questions of the scientific information presented to you.

• Why is science important? Visit WhyScience to find out what the big deal about science is. Watch videos and read testimonials from scientists and lots of other folks explaining why they think science is great! You can even contribute your own views.

Coming soon!

• Cold fusion: A case study for scientific behavior — Find our whether Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann's 1989 announcement that they had produced fusion at room temperature amounted to good science, bad science, or a simple hoax.