Science and Engineering

What is Technology?

• Refers to products, processes, knowledge and tools that are designed to serve our needs

How does science relate to technology?

• Engineering uses scientific knowledge to develop technologies

• Engineers put science and math to practical use to create new technologies.

• Variety of engineers. • Technology is the application of knowledge

for practical purposes.

What is the Engineering Design Process?

• Has similarities to the scientific method• Series of steps that engineers follow to meet a

need

Step 1

• ASK: Identifying and Researching a Need– Engineers define and describe the need or

problem they are trying to solve.– Research is a key component of this step.

Step 2:

• IMAGINE: Developing Possible Solutions– Brainstorming is the process in which a group of

people share ideas quickly to promote additional ideas.

– Sometimes a possible solution to the problem comes from these ideas or it may take more time and thought.

Step 3:

• PLAN: Making a Prototype– A prototype is a test model of the product– They allow engineers to see if their design works

the way they expect it to

Step 4:

• CREATE: Testing and Evaluating– Prototypes are tested and evaluated– Engineers complete a cost-benefit analysis to

make sure that the cost of designing and producing the new product is worth its benefit.

Step 5:

• IMPROVE: Modifying and Retesting the Solution– If prototype does not work well, engineers will

modify their product or try a new solution.– Engineers must consider what was learned from

the prototype when modifications are made.

Communication

• As in the scientific method, engineers must share their successes, failures, and reasoning with others.

• This may be done through news releases, advertisements, and journals.

Technology and Society

• Technology provides solutions for many types of social, political, and economic needs.

• An intended benefit is the positive purposes for which a technology is designed to be used.

Consequences

• Unintended– Uses or results that engineers do not purposely

include in the design of products. – An unintended consequence can be beneficial or

negative.• Cell phones created many jobs. (Beneficial unintended)• Cell phones have created much noise pollution.

(Negative unintended consequence)• Cell phone use while driving has contributed to many

accidents. (Negative unintended consequence)

Bioengineering

• The application of engineering to living things, such as humans and plants.

Assistive Bioengineering

• Technology that is developed to help organisms without changing them.

• Examples– Eyeglasses– Crutches– Sterilized bandages– Prosthetic limbs– Hearing aids

Adaptive Bioengineering

• Technology designed to help organisms while permanently changing them.– Cochlear Implants– Organ transplants– Artificial organs– Implanted contact lenses

Scientific Models

• A representation of an object or a system• PHYSICAL MODELS look like the thing they

represent. For example, a model flower can help in studying plant parts and functions.

• Sometimes called a prototype.

• MATHEMATICAL MODELS – are made up of equations and data. A weather map is an example.

• CONCEPTUAL MODEL – Systems of ideas or based on making comparisons with familiar things to explain an idea. The Big Bang Theory is an example.

• Models are often used to represent things that are very small (the cell or the atom) or very large (the Earth or the Solar System).

Models Build Scientific Knowledge

• Models are often used to help illustrate and explain scientific theories.

• A theory is a unifying explanation for a broad range of hypotheses and observations that have been supported by testing.

• Theories and models can change as more information becomes available.

• When a theory and its models correctly predict the results of many different experiments, a scientific law could be formed.

• A scientific law tells us what happens but does not explain the why.

Science in Our World