Activities

1. Define a scientific theory.
   
   
2. Identify each statement as a scientific theory or a general opinion.
   
   
   1. The planets formed when there was a massive explosion in space.
   2. Global Warming is caused by human activities.
   3. Crops grown with GMOs are harmful to people if eaten.
   4. Organisms on Earth had to evolve in order to survive over time.
   5. All matter is made of atoms.

3. What is the difference between a scientific theory and a scientific opinion?

4. Sir Isaac Newton wrote three laws that describe how forces on Earth affect motion.  Although Newton’s Laws of Motion are now accepted as truth, when Newton proposed them people were skeptical.  Write a procedure for an experiment that would help to prove one of Newton’s Laws of Motion.  Write an explanation to defend why this experiment proves the law to be true.

Answer Key/Rubric

1. A scientific theory is a statement that explains a phenomenon.  It is based on many experiments that test the same hypothesis and have yielded the same, or similar results.
   
   
2.   a.   Theory (The Big Bang Theory)

b.  Opinion (There are many factors that contribute to Global Warming.)

c.  Opinion (The results of studies testing the effects of GMOs are unclear.)

d.  Theory (The Theory of Evolution)

e.  Theory (The Atomic Theory)

3. Acceptable responses may include, but are not limited to:
   • A scientific theory has been tested many times and yields similar results from each test. 
   • A scientific opinion is a widely held opinion among scientists. 
   • Scientists may have differing opinions.

4. Example response:
   Procedure:

1. Create a stack of 5 dominoes on a flat tabletop.
2. Using a ruler, strike only the domino on the bottom of the stack.
3. Record observations.

When you strike the domino on the bottom of the stack, it slides from under the stack and across the table.  The rest of the dominos fall to land on the table, but remain in the straight stack.  This demonstrates Newton’s first law of motion:  an object in motion stays in motion and an object at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.  All of the dominos were at rest while in the stack.  They would have remained in the stack if an unbalanced force did not act on them.  When I hit the bottom domino with the ruler, I applied an unbalanced force to only that domino, and it slid across the table.  The rest of the dominos only had the force of gravity acting on them.  That is why they dropped to land on the table, but remained in the stack.