This material may be copied only for noncommercial classroom teaching purposes, and only if this source is clearly cited. A simulated crime scene is presented for teams of students to solve, using clues received piecemeal, adjusting hypotheses as more clues are found and discussed. The elements of science are recognized through discussion of the crime solution metaphor. Scientific knowledge is uncertain, tentative and subject to revision. Scientific explanations and interpretations can neither be proven nor disproven with certainty.
Scientists use a variety of criteria to compare explanations and select the better ones.
Scientific solutions to questions are generally collaborative. Scientists look for more than one line of evidence to lead them to solutions. Independent lines of evidence pointing to the same solution provides compelling support for the solution. Scientists attempt to integrate evidence into the larger framework of evidence which is already part of our knowledge base. Evidence is not all of equal value.