STS Module 1.
STS Module 1.
STS Module 1.
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. discuss how the ideas postulated by different people with great minds contributed to the spark of scientific
revolution; and
2. analyze how scientific revolution is done in various parts of the world like in Latin America, East Asia, Middle
East, and Africa.
TIME FRAME
January 17-January 24, 2022
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
I. ENGAGE
This lesson will give light to the development to the development of science and scientific ideas in the heart
of the society. It is the goal of this lesson to articulate ways by which society is transformed by science and
technology.
It is a well-established fact that science and technology impacts all aspects of our lives. Science and
technology is associated in all means with modernity and is considered as an essential for rapid development. The
state of science and technology determines the socio-economic progress of a country. A country who is not able to
implement science and technology would not progress and reap the benefits of development.
II. EXPLORE
Science and Technology: Definitions and Assumptions
- Science and technology are dynamic processes
- Science and technology satisfies two (2) basic needs:
1. Thirst for knowledge
2. The material requirements for human survival and prosperity
Science
- It is the description, understanding, and prediction of physical phenomena through the use and generation of
variable theories, laws, and principles.
- It came from the Latin word scientia meaning “knowledge”
- It is based on research, which is commonly conducted in academic and research institutions as well as in the
government agencies and companies
- The practical impact of scientific research has led to the emergence of science policies that seek to influence the
scientific enterprise by prioritizing the development of commercial products, armaments, health care,
and environmental protection.
Technology
- It is the use of scientific knowledge and/or empirical know-how for the production, improvement, and
distribution of goods and services, as well as the satisfaction of other material needs.
- It is more related to economic activity.
- Outputs of technological activity are necessarily composed of both “software” and “hardware.” Software
refers to methods, techniques, organization, and management. Hardware pertains to tools, equipment, machines
and materials.
Society
- It is a group of persons joined together for a common purpose or by a common interest.
- They come to learn and learn behavior expected of them
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- Ethical dilemmas and social conflict will build up in light of abounding beliefs and culture that are slowly
disintegrating or vice versa, vis-à-vis the changes made by science and technology in our society.
III. EXPLAIN
Scientific Revolution
Science is as old as the world itself. There is no individual that can exactly identify when and where science
began. From the genesis of time, science has existed. It is always interwoven with the society. So, how can science
be defined in the point of view of STS aside from the traditional definition given above?
1. Science as an idea. It includes ideas, theories, and all available systematic explanations and observations about
the natural and physical world.
2. Science as an intellectual activity. It encompasses a systematic and practical study of the natural and physical
world. This process of study involves systematic observation and experimentation.
3. Science as a body of knowledge. It is a subject or a discipline, a field of study, or a body of knowledge that
deals with the process of learning about the natural and physical world. This is what we refer to as school
science.
4. Science as a personal and social activity. This explains that science is both knowledge and activities done by
human beings to develop better understanding of the world around them. It is a means to improve life and to
survive in life. It is interwoven with people’s lives.
Human beings have embarked in scientific activities in order to know and understand everything around
them. They have persistently observed and studied the natural and physical world in order to find meanings and to
seek answers to many questions. They have developed noble ideas, later known as philosophy, to provide
alternative or possible explanations to certain phenomena. Humans also used religion to rationalize the origins of life
and all lifeless forms.
The idea of scientific revolution is claimed to have started in the early 16th century up to the 18th century in
Europe. Why in Europe? The probable answer is the invention of the printing machine and the blooming intellectual
activities done in various places of learning, and the growing number of scholars in various fields of human interest.
This does not mean, however, that science is a foreign idea transported from other areas of the globe. Anyone who
can examine the history of science, technology, medicine, and mathematics is aware that all great civilizations of the
ancient world had their own sophisticated traditions and activities related to these disciplines.
Scientific revolution was the period of enlightenment when the developments in the fields of mathematics,
physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature. It explained the
emergence of birth of modern science as a result of these developments from the discipline mentioned. The ideas
generated during this period enabled the people to reflect, rethink, and reexamine their beliefs and their way of life.
There is no doubt that it ignited vast human interest to rethink how they do science and view scientific processes.
Scientific revolution was the golden age for people committed to scholarly life in science but it was also a
deep trying moment to some scientific individuals that lead to their painful death of condemnation from the religious
institutions who tried to preserve their faith, religion, and theological views. Some rulers and religious leaders did
not accept many of the early works of scientists. But these did not stop people especially scientist to satisfy their
curiosity of the natural and physical world.
Scientific revolution is very significant in the development of human beings, transformation of the society,
and in the formation of scientific ideas. It significantly improved the conduct of scientific investigations,
experiments, and observations. The scientific revolution also led to the creation of new research fields in science and
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prompted the establishment of a strong foundation for modern science. In many ways, scientific revolution
transformed the natural world and the world of ideas.
Fig. 2. Variables that Influence the Development of Science Ideas, Science Discoveries, and Technology
Scientists are not driven by clamor for honor and publicity. They are ordinary people doing extraordinary
things. Some scientists were never appreciated during their times, some were sentenced to death, while others were
condemned by the Church during their time. In spite of all the predicaments and challenges they experienced, they
never stopped experimenting, theorizing, and discovering new knowledge and ideas.
In this part of the lesson, ten (10) notable scientists are discussed. For sure, there were many scientist who
worked before and after these individuals. However, it is important to note that these scientists, particularly through
their ideas, had shaken the world!
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Many consider Einstein’s theory of general relativity to be his crowning achievement. The theory predicted
both black holes and gravitational waves — and just last year, physicists measured the waves created by the collision
of two black holes over a billion light-years away. During their epic journey across the cosmos, the ripples played
with space and time like a fun-house mirror contorting faces.
General relativity also is the bedrock of gravitational lensing, which uses the gravity of stars and galaxies as
a giant magnifying glass to zoom in on farther cosmic objects. Astronomers may soon take advantage of such
physics to see geographic details of worlds light-years away.
Einstein, who died of heart failure in 1955, would have applauded such bold, imaginative thinking. His
greatest insights came not from careful experimental analysis, but simply considering what would happen under
certain circumstances, and letting his mind play with the possibilities. “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon
my imagination,” he said in a Saturday Evening Post interview. “Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the
world.”
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comet discoverer Edmund Halley to get Newton to publish. The only reason Halley knew of Newton’s work? A bet
the former had with other scientists on the nature of planetary orbits. When Halley mentioned the orbital problem to
him, Newton shocked his friend by giving the answer immediately, having long ago worked it out.
Halley persuaded Newton to publish his calculations, and the results were the Philosophiæ Naturalis
Principia Mathematica, or just the Principia, in 1687. Not only did it describe for the first time how the planets
moved through space and how projectiles on Earth traveled through the air; the Principia showed that the same
fundamental force, gravity, governs both. Newton united the heavens and the Earth with his laws. Thanks to him,
scientists believed they had a chance of unlocking the universe’s secrets.
Newton’s academic devotion was absolute. His sometime assistant Humphrey Newton (no relation) wrote,
“I never knew him to take any recreation.” He would only really leave his room to give lectures — even to empty
rooms. “Ofttimes he did in a manner, for want of hearers, read to the walls,” Humphrey wrote in 1727. Newton
never went halfway on anything.
It would take too long to list his other scientific achievements, but the greatest hits might include his
groundbreaking work on light and color; his development and refinement of reflecting telescopes (which now bear
his name); and other fundamental work in math and heat. He also dabbled in biblical prophecies (predicting the
world’s end in A.D. 2060), practiced alchemy and spent years trying, and failing, to produce the fabled philosopher’s
stone. Alas, even Newton’s genius couldn’t create the impossible.
In 1692, this rare failure, along with the unraveling of one of his few close friendships — and possibly
mercury poisoning from his alchemical experiments — resulted in what we’d now call a prolonged nervous
breakdown. Newton’s science-producing days were over, for reasons known only to him, though he would remain
influential in the field.
So how did Newton pass his remaining three decades? Remarkably, by modernizing England’s economy
and catching criminals. After languishing on a professor’s salary at Cambridge University for decades, in 1696
Newton received a cushy royal appointment to be Warden of the Mint in London. It was meant as an easy job with a
nice paycheck: It “has not too much bus’nesse to require more attendance than you may spare,” his friend Charles
Montague wrote after landing him the job. But Newton, focused as ever, threw himself into it.
After a promotion to Master of the Mint, he oversaw the recoinage of English currency, advised on
economics, established the gold standard and replaced all the country’s metal currency with improved, ridged coins
(still in use today), which made it harder to shave off bits of the precious metals.
He also focused his attention on counterfeiters, searching them out as zealously as he sought answers from
the heavens. Newton established information networks among London’s shadiest spots, even going undercover to do
so. Counterfeiting was considered high treason, punishable by death, and Newton relished witnessing his targets’
executions.
Newton was known by his peers as an unpleasant person. He had few close friends and never married.
Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed called him “insidious, ambitious, and excessively covetous of praise, and
impatient of contradiction.” The man could nurse grudges for years, even after his foes had died.
He famously feuded with German scientist Gottfried Leibnitz, mainly over who invented calculus first,
creating a schism in European mathematics that lasted over a century. Newton also made it his life’s work to torment
English scientist Robert Hooke, destroying the legacy of a man once considered London’s Leonardo da Vinci.
How fitting that the unit of force is named after stubborn, persistent, amazing Newton, himself a force of
nature.
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Darwin also married his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood, during this time. They had 10 children, and by all
accounts Darwin was an engaged and loving father, encouraging his children’s interests and taking time to play with
them. This was a level of attention uncommon among fathers at that time — to say nothing of eminent scientists.
Through it all, the theory of evolution was never far from his mind, and the various areas of research he
pursued only strengthened his convictions. Darwin slowly amassed overwhelming evidence in favor of evolution in
the 20 years after his voyage.
All of his observations and musings eventually coalesced into the tour de force that was On the Origin of
Species, published in 1859 when Darwin was 50 years old. The 500-page book sold out immediately, and Darwin
would go on to produce six editions, each time adding to and refining his arguments.
In non-technical language, the book laid out a simple argument for how the wide array of Earth’s species
came to be. It was based on two ideas: that species can change gradually over time, and that all species face
difficulties brought on by their surroundings. From these basic observations, it stands to reason that those species
best adapted to their environments will survive and those that fall short will die out.
Though Darwin’s theory was logically sound and backed up by reams of evidence, his ideas faced sharp
criticisms from adherents of creationism and the religious establishment around the world — just as he had feared.
Although it wouldn’t become widely accepted until the 1930s, Darwin’s theory of natural selection and his
ideas on evolution have survived largely intact. “I can’t emphasize enough how revolutionary Darwin’s theory was
and how much it changed people’s views in so short a time,” says Jerry Coyne, professor emeritus in the Department
of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago. “On the Origin of Species is absolutely thorough and
meticulously documented, and anticipated virtually all the counterarguments. There’s nothing you can really say to
go after the important aspects of Darwin’s theory.”
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To say she was ahead of her time would be an understatement. Ada Lovelace earned her place in history as
the first computer programmer — a full century before today’s computers emerged.
She couldn’t have done it without British mathematician, inventor and engineer Charles Babbage. Their
collaboration started in the early 1830s, when Lovelace was just 17 and still known by her maiden name of Byron.
(She was the only legitimate child of poet Lord Byron.) Babbage had drawn up plans for an elaborate machine he
called the Difference Engine — essentially, a giant mechanical calculator. In the middle of his work on it, the
teenage Lovelace met Babbage at a party.
There, he showed off an incomplete prototype of his machine. According to a family friend who was there:
“While other visitors gazed at the working of this beautiful instrument with the sort of expression. . . that some
savages are said to have shown on first seeing a looking-glass or hearing a gun. . . Miss Byron, young as she was,
understood its working, and saw the great beauty of the invention.”
It was mathematical obsession at first sight. The two struck up a working relationship and eventual close
friendship that would last until Lovelace’s death in 1852, when she was only 36. Babbage abandoned his Difference
Engine to brainstorm a new Analytical Engine — in theory, capable of more complex number crunching — but it
was Lovelace who saw that engine’s true potential.
The Analytical Engine was more than a calculator — its intricate mechanisms and the fact that the user fed
it commands via a punch card meant the engine could perform nearly any mathematical task ordered. Lovelace even
wrote instructions for solving a complex math problem, should the machine ever see the light of day. Many
historians would later deem those instructions the first computer program, and Lovelace the first programmer. While
she led a raucous life of gambling and scandal, it’s her work in “poetical science,” as she called it, which defines her
legacy.
In the words of Babbage himself, Lovelace was an “enchantress who has thrown her magical spell around
the most abstract of Sciences and has grasped it with a force which few masculine intellects . . . could have exerted
over it.”
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As evolution became better understood and, more recently, genetic analysis changed how we classify and
organize living things, many of Linnaeus’ other ideas have been supplanted. But his naming system, so simple and
adaptable, remains.
“It doesn’t matter to the tree in the forest if it has a name,” Knapp says. “But by giving it a name, we can
discuss it. Linnaeus gave us a system so we could talk about the natural world.”
IV. ELABORATE
CRADLES OF EARLY SCIENCE
Meso-American Civilization
∙ consists of four culture namely: Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and Inca
∙ the manufacture of rubber ball in the ball game tlachti
∙ a game played by Meso-American civilizations from earliest times
∙ among the plants originated in Meso-America are corn, papaya, avocado and cocoa
∙ All Meso-American peoples shared the calendric and astronomical information of the heavens as a critical part
of their sculpture, art and architecture
∙ The Mesoamerican contribution to the high civilization of the world was their creation of the calendrical systems
and sophisticated writing as a direct result of their need to be in harmony with the celestial cycles
Mesoamerica
- includes the entire area of Central America from Southern Mexico up to the border of South America
- It consist of four culture namely: Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and Inca
- All Mesoamerican peoples shared the calendric and astronomical information of the heavens as a critical
part of their sculpture, art and architecture.
- The Mesoamerican contribution to the high civilization of the world was their creation of the calendrical
systems and sophisticated writings as a direct result of their need to be in harmony with the celestial cycles
2. Maya civilization – it is one of the famous civilizations that lasted for c. 2000 years. These people are known
for their works in astronomy. Some of their contributions are:
a. Mayans believe that stars and constellations, the planets and the moon were living beings who interacted
with the cycles, natural and social middle or physical world
b. Mayan architects build large, elaborate places and pyramid shaped temples for astronomical observation
like Chicken Itza in Mexico
c. The Mayans are known for using two complicated calendar systems (260-day calendar and the 365-day
calendar)
d. They build hydraulics system and looms for weaving cloth and devised a rainbow of glittery paint
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e. They are also believed to be the first people to produce rubber products
f. Mayan knew how to make paper and had a pictorial script known as Mayan Hieroglyphics which made
them famous as one of the world’s first civilization to have a writing system
g. Mayan Hieroglyphics – this allowed Maya to record all knowledge on long strips of paper, which they
folded harmonica-style into books
h. Dresden Codex – one of the rescued Maya books, which is believed to be produced in 10th century and
contains predictions of solar eclipses for centuries and a table of predicted positions of Venus and bears
testimony to the advanced knowledge of Mayan civilization of Astronomy
i. They also used advanced numbering system that included the concept of zero which is the greatest
scientific achievement of Maya
3. Inca civilization – it is also famous in Mesoamerica. The Incas made advanced scientific ideas considering
their limitations as an old civilization. Some of their contributions are:
a. Incas are famous for roads paved with stones
b. Incan engineer designed the Temple of the Sun in Cuzco (the capital city) which is a complex structure that
was strong enough to survive for centuries of earthquakes and hard weather
c. They developed improved methods or terracing farming and irrigation system and technique for storing
water for their crops to grow in all types of land
d. They also developed the calendar with 12 months to mark their religious festivals and prepare them for
planting season
e. They created the first suspension bridge
f. Incan scholars developed a record keeping system that used colored, knotted string known as Quipu which
might have been used for accounting, keeping statistics and to record dates and events
g. Inca textiles since cloth was one of the specially prized artistic achievements
4. Aztec civilization – has also made substantial contributions to science and technology and to the society as a
whole. Some of their contributions are:
a. Mandatory education
b. Chocolates
c. Astispasmodic medication
d. Chinampa
e. Aztec calendar
f. Invention of the canoe
2. China
a. Silk road, a great trade route linking China to other Roman Empire where it allowed transport and
exchange of goods in these regions
b. Acupuncture, a family procedure involving stimulation of points in the body using a variety of techniques
that has been most often studied scientifically involves penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic
needles that are manipulated by the hands or electrical stimulation
c. Chinese civilization is also known for invention of plough, wheelbarrow and propeller; design for
different model of bridges
d. Invented the firs seismological detector and developed a dry dock facility
e. Chinese also made significant records on supernovas, lunar and solar eclipses and comets which were
carefully recorded and preserved to understand better heavenly bodies and their effects to out world
∙ He explained that there are many conscious and unconscious factors that can influence behaviour and
emotions
∙ He argued that personality is a product of three conflicting elements
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*The Psyche go*
1) Id: Instincts
2) Ego: Reality
3) Superego: Morality
∙ Psychoanalysis is a method of explaining and treating mental and emotional problems by having the patient
talk about dreams, feelings, memories, etc.
∙ Freud’s method of psychoanalysis focused on human sexuality and the evil nature of man
∙ Freud believed that children are born with a libido – a sexual (pleasure) urge. There are number of stages of
childhood, during which the child seeks pleasure from a different**
o Psychosexual Stages
I. Oral – mouth-sucking, swallowing, etc. (Ego develops)
II. Anal – The anus – withholding or expelling faeces
III. Phallic – The penis or clitoris masturbation (Superego develops)
IV. Latent – Little or no sexual motivation present
V. Genital - The penis or vagina – sexual intercourse
2. African
a. Used three types of calendars: lunar, solar, and stellar or a combination of the three
b. Metallurgy was also known in the African regions
c. Labombo Bone – oldest known mathematical artifact which may have been a tool for multiplication,
division and simple mathematical computation
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- The 20th century gave birth to radio, the first car to run with engine power. The first man went to space in a
rocket. It was also the beginning of communication, electronic and computer era.
V. EVALUATION
Activity 1
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f. Galileo Galilei:__________________________________________________________________________
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g. Ada Lovelace:__________________________________________________________________________
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h. Pythagoras:____________________________________________________________________________
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i. Carl Linnaeus:__________________________________________________________________________
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j. Rosalind Franklin:_______________________________________________________________________
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2. Do you think thought experiment is still useful in science in the present time? Justify by answering it in 5
sentences only. Use the space provided below. (20 points)
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3. Do you think the Church should intervene in scientific activities? Justify by answering it in 5 sentences only.
Use the space provided below. (20 points)
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Activity 2
ILLUSTRATION. In the space provided below, rewrite the Baybayin alphabet, an old writing system that was used
in the Philippines, then write your name using this type of writing. (20 points)
Activity 3
ILLUSTRATION. Review the history of science and technology and make a timeline highlighting the major
discoveries and developments in science. Use the space provided below. (20 points)
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Rubrics for Essay Writing:
TRAITS 4 3 2 1
Focus and There is one clear, There is one clear, There is one topic. The topic and main
Detail well-focused topic. well-focused topic. Main Main ideas are ideas are not clear.
Main ideas are clear ideas are clear but are somewhat clear.
and are well not well supported by
supported by detailed information.
detailed and
accurate
information
Organization The introduction is The introduction states The introduction states There is no clear
inviting, states the the main topic and the main topic. A introduction, structure
main topic, and provides an overview of conclusion is included. or conclusion.
provides an the paper. A conclusion
overview of the is included.
paper. Information
is relevant and
presented in a
logical order. The
conclusion is
strong.
Voice The author’s The author’s purpose of The author’s purpose The author’s purpose
purpose of writing writing is somewhat of writing is somewhat of writing is unclear.
is very clear, and clear, and there is some clear, and there is
there is strong evidence of attention to some evidence of
evidence of audience. The author’s attention to audience.
attention to knowledge and/or The author’s
audience. The experience with the topic knowledge and/or
author’s extensive is/are evident. experience with the
knowledge and/or topic is/are limited.
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experience with the
topic is/are evident.
Word Choice The author uses The author uses vivid The author uses words The writer uses a
vivid words and words and phrases. The that communicate limited vocabulary.
phrases. The choice choice and placement of clearly, but the writing Jargon and clichés
and placement of words is inaccurate at lacks variety. may be present and
words seems times and/or seems detract from the
accurate, natural, overdone. meaning.
and not forced.
Sentence, All sentences are Most sentences are well Most sentences are Sentences sound
Structure, well constructed constructed and have well constructed, but awkward, are
Grammar, and have varied varied structure and they have a similar destructively
Mechanics, structure and length. The author makes structure and/or length. repetitive, or are
and Spelling length. The author a few errors in grammar, The author makes difficult to
makes no errors in mechanics, and/or several errors in understand. The
grammar, spelling, but they do not grammar, mechanics, author makes
mechanics, and/or interfere with and/or spelling that numerous errors in
spelling. understanding. interfere with grammar, mechanics,
understanding. and/or spelling that
interfere with
understanding.
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