The basics: Misconceptions — Clear up common misconceptions about the nature of science. FAQs — Find answers to common questions about how science works and submit your own. Conceptual framework — Identify age-appropriate learning goals for students and understand how concepts taught at one grade level lay the groundwork for more sophisticated concepts later on.

Highlights from Understanding Science 101: 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."

Science in action:

Cells within cells: An extraordinary claim with extraordinary evidence Learn how an unlikely idea — that the merging of cells played a prominent role in evolution — overcame strong initial resistance within the scientific community and came to be an accepted part of evolutionary theory. 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.

Cold fusion: A case study for scientific behavior Learn what happened when two chemists made a foray into physics, alternative energy sources, and the public eye — but neglected to follow the guidelines for good scientific behavior. Find out how science is affected by and overcomes such negligence. 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.

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