Science is an organized system that collects, synthesizes, and assesses scientific information in the form of precise testable predictions about the natural world. Many people think of science as a scientific discipline that attempts to solve the puzzle of the universe using unhelpful guesswork or hunches. This common misunderstanding leads many young people to discount science altogether, even while making themselves open to new ideas and discoveries. The most valuable lesson science can teach young people is how to become confident about their own knowledge and accept criticism with open-mindedness. In addition, science is useful for encouraging students to develop important problem-solving skills, problem-solving strategies, and the ability to withstand peer pressure. Science education is necessary for creating competent scientists, because it helps people recognize, learn, and use scientific information in their everyday lives.
A major part of what makes science so valuable is its systematic approach: observation, experiment, and theory. Observation is the process of acquiring quantitative information about a particular subject by making careful observations, which may include collecting and reading scientific literature, watching a series of experiment (usually performed on a small scale at first) and recording the results, preparing a detailed report, and evaluating the data. For instance, many scientists collect sample water, dust, and air from a local airport and compare the composition to standard samples collected at another airport. When they compare the two samples, they are applying a scientific method called molecular biology, which involves comparing specific compounds in order to shed light on how those compounds interact with each other and with various other elements. They make a hypothesis about the chemical make-up of the sample.
Experiments are in the process of conducting supervised scientific tests in which scientists use controlled substances to see if their hypothesis is true. For instance, when scientists collect urine samples from people at random, they are using the natural world analogy to show how a person might interpret the behavior of a chemical in the environment. In this case, the hypothesis they are testing is whether or not the urine contains a measurable amount of a particular compound. There are many other different types of experiments, scientists use to test their hypotheses. Methods used in science, like those described above, are just a few examples of how scientists use natural world analogies to describe the behavior of their laboratory experiments.