Science isn't a fixed pile of facts — it's an ongoing process that changes as new evidence emerges. Scientists build models and theories based on the best available evidence, but when new evidence contradicts an old idea, scientists update or replace that idea. This is a strength of science, not a weakness — being willing to change conclusions when evidence demands it is what makes scientific knowledge more reliable over time. Different cultures and perspectives have also contributed to and shaped scientific knowledge throughout history — including First Nations Australians, who developed sophisticated understanding of astronomy, land management, and the natural world long before Western science arrived.
Example
For centuries, many scientists believed the continents had always been in their current positions. When evidence emerged — like matching fossils and rock layers on continents now separated by oceans — the theory of plate tectonics was developed to explain how continents actually drift over time.
Key terms
Scientific model:
A representation of an idea or process, built from evidence, that can be updated as new evidence emerges.
Perspective:
A particular viewpoint or way of understanding something, shaped by culture, history or experience.
Questions
1. Scientific knowledge:
Never changes once decided
Can change as new evidence emerges
Is always 100% complete
Ignores evidence
2. When new evidence contradicts an old scientific idea, scientists should:
Ignore the new evidence
Update or replace the old idea
Hide the new evidence
Refuse to look at it
3. Being willing to change conclusions based on evidence is:
A weakness of science
A strength of science
Irrelevant to science
Against the rules of science
4. A scientific model is:
A fixed, unchangeable fact
A representation built from evidence that can be updated
A random guess
A type of rock
5. Different cultures have:
Never contributed to science
Contributed to and shaped scientific knowledge
Always agreed on everything
Had no effect on science
6. First Nations Australians developed sophisticated understanding of:
Nothing scientific
Astronomy, land management and the natural world
Only modern technology
Foreign countries only
7. A perspective is:
A fixed fact
A particular viewpoint shaped by culture or experience
Always wrong
The same for everyone
8. Scientists once believed continents never moved. What changed this idea?
A guess with no evidence
New evidence like matching fossils and rock layers on separated continents
Nothing, the idea never changed
A vote among scientists
9. The theory that replaced the idea of fixed continents is called:
Evolution
Plate tectonics
Gravity
Particle theory
10. Why is updating scientific ideas based on new evidence considered reliable?
It means science ignores facts
It means conclusions are based on the best current evidence, not stubborn belief
It means scientists never agree
It has nothing to do with reliability
11. Considering cultural perspectives in the history of science mainly helps us:
Ignore non-Western contributions
Recognise a fuller, more accurate history of scientific knowledge
Dismiss all scientific knowledge
Avoid learning about other cultures
12. A scientific idea that has been very well tested and supported by lots of evidence is generally considered:
Still open to being questioned and refined if strong new evidence appears
Permanently fixed and beyond any future question
Automatically wrong
Irrelevant
13. Which best shows science "growing" over time?
Ideas never changing at all
Old models being refined or replaced as understanding improves
Facts disappearing randomly
Scientists ignoring new discoveries
14. Why might different cultures historically develop different scientific understandings of the same natural phenomena?
Because nature behaves differently for each culture
Because of different tools, contexts, needs and observations available to each
Because only one culture has ever done science
Because science is entirely random
15. A long-held scientific theory is challenged by a new, well-supported study. What is the most scientific response?
Reject the new study without reading it
Carefully evaluate the new evidence and be open to revising the theory if warranted
Immediately believe the new study with no scrutiny
Ignore both and do nothing
16. Why is it inaccurate to say "science proves things are permanently, absolutely true"?
Science is not concerned with evidence at all
Scientific conclusions are the best current explanation based on evidence, and can be revised if new evidence requires it
Science never changes
All science is guesswork with no evidence
17. Recognising First Nations astronomical knowledge (like tracking seasons through star patterns) as valid scientific knowledge shows:
That only Western science counts as real science
That scientific understanding has emerged from multiple cultures and traditions
That Indigenous knowledge is unrelated to science
That astronomy is not a science
18. Why might two scientists looking at the same evidence sometimes reach different interpretations, at least temporarily?
Evidence can be complex, and interpretation involves reasoning that can reasonably differ before further evidence resolves it
Evidence never allows for any interpretation
Only one scientist can ever be right, immediately and obviously
Science has no room for differing views ever
19. A theory that has survived a century of testing, but is still described as "our best current understanding" rather than "permanently proven," reflects:
A weakness in the theory
The nature of science as an evolving body of evidence-based knowledge
A sign the theory is definitely wrong
Scientific carelessness
20. Why does it matter for a student of science to understand that scientific knowledge changes over time?
It undermines all scientific knowledge
It builds a realistic understanding of how reliable knowledge is built and refined, not fixed and dogmatic
It means nothing in science can be trusted
It has no practical relevance
Answer key (parent copy)
1. Can change as new evidence emerges
2. Update or replace the old idea
3. A strength of science
4. A representation built from evidence that can be updated
5. Contributed to and shaped scientific knowledge
6. Astronomy, land management and the natural world
7. A particular viewpoint shaped by culture or experience
8. New evidence like matching fossils and rock layers on separated continents
9. Plate tectonics
10. It means conclusions are based on the best current evidence, not stubborn belief
11. Recognise a fuller, more accurate history of scientific knowledge
12. Still open to being questioned and refined if strong new evidence appears
13. Old models being refined or replaced as understanding improves
14. Because of different tools, contexts, needs and observations available to each
15. Carefully evaluate the new evidence and be open to revising the theory if warranted
16. Scientific conclusions are the best current explanation based on evidence, and can be revised if new evidence requires it
17. That scientific understanding has emerged from multiple cultures and traditions
18. Evidence can be complex, and interpretation involves reasoning that can reasonably differ before further evidence resolves it
19. The nature of science as an evolving body of evidence-based knowledge
20. It builds a realistic understanding of how reliable knowledge is built and refined, not fixed and dogmatic