After your visit, take a short survey to improve this site. You will be entered in a drawing
for a $50 Amazon gift card. Take survey now
Explore an interactive representation of the process of science. Support this project Home Glossary Search Understanding Science 101 For teachers Resource library
Welcome! Take our site tour, find out what's new, or subscribe for updates.

Understanding Science 101
A primer on the nature and process of science.

Quick links:
Main page
What is science? | How science works
Why science matters | Science toolkit
For teachers
Our section of teaching resources on the nature and process of science.

Quick links:
Main page
K-2 | 3-5 | 6-8 | 9-12 | 13-16
Resource database | Teaching tools
Resource library
A browsable archive of articles, tutorials, interactive features and more.

Quick links:
Main page
Misconceptions | FAQs | Search
How Science Works flowchart

Science in Action

See more stories...

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.
The structure of DNA: Cooperation and competition
Knowing the structure of DNA has helped push biology into new realms. Find out how the human side of science played out in this remarkable discovery.

Try out the new How Science Works Web Interactive!

Chart your own course through the process of science with our interactive journaling tool.

HHMI How Science Works App


Science talk
Stephen Jay Gould
"Science is not a heartless pursuit of objective information. It is a creative human activity, its geniuses acting more as artists than as information processors."
— Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould

Home | About | Copyright | Credits and Collaborations | Contact | Subscribe | Translations
Understanding Science was developed by the University of California Museum of Paleontology in collaboration with its Advisory Boards.

National Science Foundation
Funded by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EAR-0624436. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Endorsed by:
American
Institute of
Biological
Sciences
California
Science
Teachers
Association
National
Association
of Biology
Teachers

Encyclopedia
of
Life
Deep
Earth
Academy