Todays lecture was definitely an interesting an exciting one as the entire class got to view various videos created by different groups of classmates. Everyone was given an assignment in groups to create a video explaining what scientific theories and laws are, the differences between them and the misconceptions people so often get from these two terms. Many people assume that these two terms can be used interchangeably but in actuality, that is a serious misconception. The videos that were created by various groups in my class helped me gain a clearer understanding of how to distinguish between these two terms. Another term that was introduced in class today was the term “hypothesis”. The activity we did in class helped me conclude what this three terms mean. Law is a descriptive generalisation about how some aspect of the natural world behaves under stated conditions whereby it does not require a hypothesis and can be represented mathematically. A theory on the other hand, is made up of proven facts. It is an idea or explanation for a phenomenon that is supported either through evidence, research or experimentation. Finally, a hypothesis is an idea based on observations that is yet to be proven.
I know for sure that although I may be familiar and understand the terms scientific law, scientific theory and a hypothesis due to the discussions done in class, I am still uncertain if I will be able to distinguish the difference mainly between a scientific law and scientific theory as these two terms always seem somewhat similar. As I have stated that I have learned to tell the difference between these two terms, I am still unsure if I will be able to identify a law and a theory easily. I will need a lot of guidance and help in thoroughly understanding these two terms mainly
In the future, I must be sure to understand what I am teaching my students. Ensuring that they do not have any misconceptions between these two terms mainly is VITAL to me as a future teacher. I gave this a lot of thought due to my experience as a student back in school. I was never thought these two terms until now by my lecturer in university. This made me realise the reason why many people have misconceptions between these two terms and assume that they can be used interchangeably. It is because they were never educated in school by their teachers on these terms. Therefore, for me, as a future teacher, I will place importance in ensuring that my future students will be well educated and wouldn't lack understanding like me.
The differences and similarities between a theory and a law represented through a venn diagram
The definition of a hypothesis, a theory and a law