ABSTRACT
One very obvious and practical reason for considering the nature of science is the fact that it is present in the National Science Curriculum. At key stages 3 and 4, the understanding of the nature and history of scientific ideas is deemed to be an essential element in the study of science. This element seems to have three essential components, each of which will be explained in more detail shortly. They are:
1 the idea of the limits of science, i.e. it is not the only way of understanding experience
2 the study of changes in scientific ideas over time and across cultures 3 the importance of the context of science, moral, spiritual and cultural; the idea
that science is a cultural activity
These components-limits, changes and context or LCC as a mnemonic-are present in both the general PoS and the programme for Science Curriculum 1 (Sc
A teacher’s view of what science is may well affect the way they teach science. Also, the nature of science is now an essential element of the science curriculum-can teachers handle this part of the curriculum without at least some reflection on their own view of the nature of science? This chapter encourages you to reflect upon your own view of science and then to consider it in the context of other views of what science is.
