University of the Philippines

National Institute for Science and Mathematics

Education Development

Applications of
Science in Everyday
Life
Rodolfo S. Treyes, Ph.D.
Biology Work Group

Science

is a process
by which we carry out
in order to understand
how things around us
exist and how they
came to be that way.

Science is a way of
understanding how things in
our world exist today, how
they existed in the past, and
what they will become in the
future.
Aktami & Ergin, 2008; Johnson & Lawson

Science
Knowledge
Process

Science Education
provides learners with
basic knowledge and
facilitates development of
scientific skills to the
learners

The K to 12 science
curriculum highlighted
the use of inquirybased teaching to
facilitate learning of
science concepts and
development of

Inquiry-based learning is
a pedagogy, which
enables students to
experience the processes
of knowledge creation.
Rachel Spronken-Smith, 2008

Inquiry-based teaching
involves development of
process skills and
inquiring attitudes or
habits of mind that
allow students to
continue their search for

Today the term science process

skills is commonly used.
Popularized by the curriculum
project, Science A Process
Approach (SAPA), these skills are
defined as a set of broadly
transferable abilities, appropriate to
many science disciplines and
reflective of the behavior of
scientists.

Michael J. Padilla, Professor of Science Education, University of Georgia, Athens, GA

1990

SAPA grouped process

skills into two types:
Basic (simpler) process
skills, provide a foundation
for learning
Integrated (more complex)
skills
Michael J. Padilla, Professor of Science Education, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
1990

Basic Science Process Skills

1. Observing
This is the most basic skill in science.
Observations are made by using the 5
senses.
Good observations are essential in
learning the other science process
skills.

Basic Science Process

Skills

2. Classifying (Comparing)
After making observations it is important
to notice similarities, differences, and
group objects according to a purpose. It
is important to create order to help
comprehend the number of objects,
events, and living things in the world.

Basic Science Process Skills

3. Measuring
Measuring is important in collecting and
comparing information. It helps us also
classify and communicate observations.
It is used to determine the size, amount, or
degree of (something) by using an instrument
or device marked in standard units or by
comparing it with an object of known size.
The metric system is recommended be used
to help understand the scientific world.

Basic Science Process

Skills

4. Inferring
An inference is an
explanation based on an
observation. It is a link
between what is observed
and what is already known.

Basic Science Process

Skills

5. Predicting
It is a guess based on
good observations and
inferences about an
observed event or prior
knowledge
(hypothesizing).

Basic Science Process

Skills

6. Communicating
It is important to be able to share
our experiences.
Communication can be done with
spoken word or written words
aided with graphs, diagrams or
photographs.

Science Education
guides learners acquire
basic concepts through
active involvement with
their environment

It is the students who

create knowledge
rather than knowledge
being imposed orBruner, 1990
transmitted by direct
instruction.

Science is understood to
be a process of finding out
explanation
organize and
communicate

New
Informatio
n

Rather than memorizing facts,

science is seen as a way of
thinking and trying to
understand the things in our
world.
This idea emphasized in
the science framework of
the Philippine K to 12
Basic Education Program

The union of science,

mathematics, and
technology forms the
scientific endeavor and
that makes it successful.

The National Science

Teachers Association
views ScienceTechnology Society as
the teaching and learning
of science in the context
of human experience.
Robert E. Yager Editor
The Science, Technology, Society Movement: What research says to the
Science Teacher. Vol. Seven. National Science Teacher Association. 1993.
Washington D.C. 20009.

The emerging research is

clear in illustrating that
teaching science in an STS
context results in students
with more sophisticated
concept mastery and ability
to use process skills.

Robert E. Yager Editor

The Science, Technology, Society Movement: What research says to the
Science Teacher. Vol. Seven. National Science Teacher Association. 1993.
Washington D.C. 20009.

Accordingly, the K to 12 science

framework describes portraits
of science, mathematics, and
technology that emphasize their
roles in the science endeavor
and reveal some of the
similarities and connections
among them.

Contextual Learning

This involves students in

activities that help them
connect science concepts
to their context in real-life
situations with the aid of
science process skills.

Contextual Learning

By making
connections, students
see meaning on the
science concepts they
have learned in the
classroom.

Contextual Learning

The broader the

context within which
learner is able to make
connections, the more
meaning content will
hold for them.
Johnson, 2002

Science is both:
process and
knowledge.

There is nothing
mysterious or magical
about the things that
scientists do.

They all require

common sense.

Thank you!