Science Is A Search For Order in Nature

In 1963, botanist F.
Herbert Bormann, forest ecologist Gene Likens, and their colleagues began carrying out such a
controlled experiment. The goal was to compare the loss of water and soil nutrients from an area of uncut forest (the
control site) with one that was stripped of its trees (the experimental site).
Science Is a Search
for Order in Nature
Science is an attempt to discover how nature worksand to use that knowledge to make predictions about what is likely to
happen in nature. It is based on the assumption that events in the natural world follow cause-and-effect patterns in orderly
ways that can be understood through careful observation, measurements, experimentation, and modeling.
There is nothing mysterious about this process. You use it all the time in making decisions. As the famous physicist Albert
Einstein put it, “The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.” Here is an example of
applying the scientific process to an everyday situation:
Observation: You try to switch on your flashlight and

nothing happens.
Question: Why didn’t the light come on?
Hypothesis: Maybe the batteries are dead.
Test the hypothesis with an experiment: Put in new
batteries and switch on the flashlight.
Result: Flashlight still does not work.
New hypothesis: Maybe the bulb is burned out.
Experiment: Replace bulb with a new bulb.
Result: Flashlight works when switched on.
Conclusion: Second hypothesis is verified.
Here is a more formal outline of steps scientists often take in trying to understand nature.
 Identify a problem.
 Find out what is known about the problem.
 Ask a question to be investigated.
 • Collect data to answer the question..
 Propose a hypothesis to explain the data. Scientists suggest a scientific hypothesis—a possible and testable
explanation of what they observe in nature or in the results of their experiments.
 Make testable projections. Scientists make projections about what should happen if an hypothesis is valid and
then run an experiment to test the projections.
 Test the projections with further experiments, models, or observations. Accept or reject the hypothesis.
Four important features of the scientific process are curiosity, skepticism, peer review, and reproducibility. Scientists are
curious, and they delight in uncovering new information and ideas about how nature works. But they tend to be highly
skeptical of new data, hypotheses, and models until they can be tested and verified. Science is a community effort. And an
important part of the scientific process is peer review, in which scientists openly publish details of the methods and
models they used, the results of their experiments, and the reasoning behind their hypotheses for other scientists working
in the same field (their peers) to evaluate. Also, any evidence gathered to verify a hypothesis must be reproducible. That is,
scientists should repeat and analyze the work to see if the data can be reproduced and whether the proposed hypothesis is
reasonable and useful. A scientific theory should be taken very seriously. It has been tested widely, supported by extensive
evidence, and accepted by most scientists in a particular field or related fields of study.
Another important and reliable outcome of science is a scientific law, or law of nature—a well-tested and widely
accepted description of what we find happening over and over in the same way in nature. A fundamental part of science is
testing. Scientists insist on testing their hypotheses, models, methods, and results over and over to establish the reliability
of these scientific tools and the resulting conclusions.
Science Has Some Limitations

Environmental science and science in general have three important limitations. First, scientists cannot prove or disprove
anything absolutely, because there is always some degree of uncertainty in scientific measurements, observations, and
models. A second limitation of science is that scientists are human and thus are not totally free of bias about their own
results and hypotheses. A third limitation—especially important to environmental science—is that many environmental
phenomena involve a huge number of interacting variables and complex interactions
Chemical Elements Important to
the Study of Environmental Science
Element Symbol
Hydrogen H
Carbon C
Oxygen O
Nitrogen N
Phosphorus P
Sulfur S
Chlorine Cl
Fluorine F
Bromine Br
Sodium Na
Calcium Ca
Lead Pb
Mercury Hg
Arsenic As
Uranium U
Ions Important to the Study

of Environmental Science
Positive Ion Symbol
hydrogen ion H+
sodium ion Na+
calcium ion Ca2+
aluminum ion Al3+
ammonium ion NH4
+
Negative Ion Symbol
chloride ion Cl–
hydroxide ion OH–
nitrate ion NO3
–
carbonate ion CO3
2-
sulfate ion SO4
2–
phosphate ion PO43–.
Compounds Important to the

Study of Environmental Science
Compound Formula
sodium chloride NaCl
Sodium hydroxide NaOH
carbon monoxide CO
carbon dioxide CO2
nitric oxide NO
nitrogen dioxide NO2
nitrous oxide N2O
nitric acid HNO3
methane CH4
water H2O
hydrogen sulfide H2S
Sulfur dioxide SO2
sulfuric acid H2SO4
calcium carbonate CaCO3
glucose C6H12O6
ammonia NH3
Organic Compounds
Are the Chemicals of Life
The millions of known organic (carbon-based) compounds
include the following:
Hydrocarbons: compounds of carbon and hydrogen

atoms. One example is methane (CH4),
Chlorinated hydrocarbons: compounds of carbon hydrogen, and chlorine atoms. An example is the
insecticide DDT (C14H9Cl5).
Simple carbohydrates (simple sugars): certain types
of compounds of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
atoms. An example is glucose (C6H12O6),
The three major types of

organic polymers are
 complex carbohydrates such as cellulose and starch,

which consist of two or more monomers of simple
sugars such as glucose
 proteins formed by monomers called amino acids
 nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) formed by monomers
called nucleotides
Lipids, which include fats and waxes, are not made
of monomers, but are a fourth type of macromolecule
essential for life

Science Is A Search For Order in Nature

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Science Is A Search For Order in Nature

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In 1963, botanist F.

Observation: You try to switch on your flashlight and

Science Has Some Limitations

Ions Important to the Study

Compounds Important to the

Hydrocarbons: compounds of carbon and hydrogen

The three major types of

 complex carbohydrates such as cellulose and starch,

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