Which Type of Science?

One of the first steps toward becoming a more successful science student is being able to identify which type of science you will be (or are) learning about during the school year. Science as a school subject can include almost everything we know about the natural world such a wide variety of information that it can seem like one big confusing blur. Understanding how the study of science is organized will help science students make sense of the overwhelming amount of information to learn. The study of science is organized into six major topics of study:

1) Life on Earth, 2) Matter, 3) Motion-Forces-Energy, 4) Earth’s Structure,

5) Weather, 6) Space: Our Solar System and Beyond

These six topics describe the six major “branches of science”:

1) Biology, 2) Chemistry, 3) Physics, 4) Geology, 5) Meteorology, 6) Astronomy

Within each major branch of science there are sub-topics which are commonly covered during a school year:

1) Biology: animals, plants, fungi, protists, cells, genetics, reproduction, photosynthesis, ecosystems, human body

2) Chemistry: elements/atoms, compounds/molecules, mixtures, properties, states of matter, chemical reactions

3) Physics: speed, acceleration, gravity, friction, mechanics, heat, light, sound, electricity, nuclear reactions

4) Geology: plate tectonics, weathering, erosion, rocks, minerals, ores, strata, fossils, landforms, water systems

5) Meteorology: weather types, measurements, patterns, air masses, fronts, storms, the water cycle

6) Astronomy: motions of the Sun-Earth-Moon system, the solar system, planets, stars, galaxies, asteroids

As a student starting a new school year, be sure to ask your science teacher which branch of science you’ll be studying. Once you know, you will be well on your way to having a focused start which will help make learning new material much easier. In many NGSS classes a number of different branches are taught together (integrated) in the same school year. Even so, it is very helpful to be able to identify the branch of science you are learning about on any given day or in any instructional unit. Now, let’s see if you can name the branch of science that each of these three Next Generation Science Standards relate to:

#1) Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms

does not change in a combustion reaction - and thus mass is conserved.

#2) Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental

shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past tectonic plate

motions.

#3) Construct a scientific explanation, based on evidence, for the role of

photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of

organisms.

Answers: #1> (2), #2> (4), #3> (1)

For some interesting takes on the Branches of Science, check out this Power Point:

The BRANCHES of SCIENCE - YouTube