Assignment Directions:

This assignment should be written as a paper (i.e. in paragraph form), should be at least 750 words (excluding references), and DOUBLE-SPACED. You do not need to repeat the instructions in the assignment. You will watch three of the TED Talks from the list below. While watching the talks you selected, select specific ideas from the talk that characterize science. Synthesize the ideas that you identified in the talks with what you have learned in class to develop an explanation of the nature of science. You must choose three different characteristics of science, each supported by at least one of the TED talks you watched, to support your explanation of the nature of science. Some examples of characteristics could be: science relies on observation, science is innovative, science brings cultures together, etc... (see link below for more examples). Your explanation must be supported by plausible and logical ideas that are capable of being disproven or "falsified" to describe each of your chosen characteristics of science. For example, you cannot say "one characteristic of the nature of science is that science requires imagination/creativity because it is God that created all living organisms, not evolution, and science goes against this fact", because this idea cannot be supported by ideas and explanations that are capable of being disproven or rationalized with physical evidence. Additionally, you will compare and contrast each characteristic from your explanation of the nature of science to the characteristics of the nature of a discipline that interests you, and speculate on the types of questions people in these fields can work together to answer.  Use the following outline as a guide when writing your paper. Remember, your paper must be written in paragraph form. Introduction (5 points)
Provide the exact title and a brief overview (1-2 sentences) of each TED Talk you watched. All TED Talks must come from the list on page 2.
Briefly introduce the three specific characteristics you identified to explain the nature of science.
Describe your major/discipline/career field of interest.
 

The main body of the paper should describe the three characteristics of science you introduced in part (b) of the introduction, relate these characteristics back to concepts learned in the BSC1005 course, and compare each characteristic to the discipline you described in part (c) of the Introduction (total 30 points). Use the ideas in the TED Talks to justify why each characteristic you identified is scientific and to support your comparisons between the nature of science and the nature of a different discipline.
 

For each characteristic:

Describe the characteristic (for example: “scientific knowledge is based on evidence.”).
Support this characteristic by using specific ideas from the TED Talks. You may incorporate additional information learned from class etc., but be sure to reference at least one TED Talk to support each characteristic. Provide time stamps from the videos as part of your evidence (i.e. “As Carrie Poppy noted (2:13)…”). Refrain from direct quotes.
Remember: Your explanation must be supported by plausible and logical ideas that are capable of being disproven or "falsified" to describe each of your chosen characteristics of science 
How does this characteristic relate to at least one concept or topic you have learned about in BSC1005? (For example: “Dr. Erickson discussed the types of evidence paleobiologists use to learn about the lives of dinosaurs”).
How is this characteristic of science similar to or different from characteristics of your discipline? Compare and contrast how this characteristic of science relates to your major/discipline/career field of interest (for example: “Science uses evidence-based reasoning, and, in my field, we also use evidence to prove our clients are innocent. However, the types of evidence in my field seem to be different from science. For instance, …”). Only thoughtful, descriptive responses with at least one example to support reasoning will receive full credit.
 

Conclusion (5 points)
Summarize your explanation of the nature of science based on the three characteristics you described in your paper.
Pose one question you think scientists and professionals in the discipline you described could work together to answer. Be sure to mention at least one of the characteristics/connections you described in the previous paragraphs to support your conclusion.
Describe how you think scientists and professionals in your discipline would go about answering this question (i.e. what methods would they use? What data would they collect?).
Use these ted talks: https://www.ted.com/talks/uri_alon_why_truly_innovative_science_demands_a_leap_into_the_unknown, https://www.ted.com/talks/lee_smolin_on_science_and_democracy?language=en, https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_shermer_on_believing_strange_things?language=en