Blog Post: What does science actually look like?
For better or worse, most of us can remember back to what science class was like. But how many of us really understand what science looks like in action? It turns out that science can be a lot more complicated interesting than it initially seems. That’s right, you can forget the overly logical scientific method, mostly, because the reality of science in action is way more exciting.
This video by the California Academy of Sciences does a great job of explaining what the process of science actually looks like using the example of the discovery of a new spider species, and family, named Trogloraptor.
Spencer says: I like this video not only because I have a soft spot for spiders, but also because it walks us through the process that comes after an initial discovery. It shows how one question like “What kind of spider is this?” can lead to so many more questions. All of the parts of the scientific method we learned in school are still there, but the process itself is a lot more dynamic because it loops back on itself as new questions come up or unexpected things happen… like finding a spider that is not in any of the reference books.
So there you have it, a great example of science in action. Now, what questions do you have and how could you go about answering them?
