Understanding Science 101 is an in-depth, multi-part course that explains what science is, how it works, and how it is intertwined with our lives and with society more broadly. Because there are many misconceptions about the nature and process of science and because the true process of science differs from the view that may be presented in your textbook, reviewing Understanding Science 101 can be an important part of preparing to teach on this topic. The chapters and highlights of Understanding Science 101 include:

• What is science? Find out what makes science science.
  • The Science Checklist. A tool for determining how scientific something is.
  • The limits of science. Examines the sorts of issues that science does not address.
• How science works. The Scientific Method, as presented in many textbooks, is oversimplified. Find out how science really works.
  • The Science Flowchart. A visual tool that portrays science as a dynamic, non-linear process.
• The core of science. Learn how scientific testing works and how a scientific argument is built.
• The social side of science. Learn more about the role of the community in stimulating, scrutinizing, and building on scientific advances.
• Science and society. Find out how science is embedded in, and influenced by, the broader society.
• What has science done for you lately? Discover just a few of the many ways in which science affects our everyday lives.
• A scientific approach to life. Uncover the real meaning of media messages about science and evaluate the science behind policies.
  • Your science toolkit. A set of questions to help you evaluate sources of scientific information.