Tentative and Durable
Tentative & Durable
Scientific knowledge is built over time with increased detail and elimination of incorrect conceptions.
Learning Objective: Explain how scientific knowledge can be both tentative and durable, providing examples of knowledge that exemplifies both of these characteristics.
Scientific knowledge is not written in stone; new perspectives can reveal new understandings. Changing cultures and technologies lead to new observations and inferences.
We’ve already seen how improved microscopes revealed there were not tiny people wrapped up in eggs or sperm. We’ve also covered how the context of an individual matters, like Darwin coming from an educated and wealthy family.
At the same time, we count on science getting things “right;” developing the next vaccine, revealing new material properties, and increasing food production.
How is it possible for knowledge to be subject to skepticism and change and still be useful?
This video addresses the changing nature of scientific knowledge.
New data has significantly altered evolutionary trees, including models of vertebrate ancestry.
Improved understanding of reptiles has revealed greater diversity and number of lineages. Many extinct large reptilian species are no longer considered to be dinosaurs.
Plesiosaurs were the real “Lock Ness Monsters” of the Jurassic Period in the Mesozoic Era.
The Ichthyosaurs pre-dated the Plesiosaurs as large reptilian marine carnivores.
Researchers rely heavily on morphological data to reveal information about long-extinct species. Other forms of data, like this fossilized coprolite (scat) from an Ichthyosaur, reveal information about diet and behaviors that may add important information to bone and tooth data.
Scientific knowledge changes, adding depth of understanding and reducing incorrect conceptions.
Check your knowledge – Tentative & Durable
Review your notes. Can you explain how scientific knowledge can be both tentative and durable? If so, move forward to the next page.
Learning Objective:
Explain how scientific knowledge can be both tentative and durable, providing examples of knowledge that exemplifies both of these characteristics.
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Geologic Time Contents
Complete all five of these sections before taking the quiz and submitting your media piece.
This Module
7: How long has it been here?
This Guide
7A: Geologic Time
Products Information
7A: Quiz & Media
