bad science...
what is bad science?
Bad Science is a column written by Dr. Ben Goldacre where he tells us just how the media sometimes gets it wrong when they’re talking science.
This is affectionately termed "pseudoscience" i.e. false science.
Planet Science have teamed up with Dr. Goldacre and some lovely helpful teachers to bring you "Bad Science" for the classroom: fun activities to do with your students and show them that not everything you read is "proper" science.
Dr. Ben Goldacre says:
Science is all about taking someone's idea, their hypothesis, and then looking at the experimental evidence for that. For example, the genius of Aqua Detox is, they claim the toxins come out of your feet, and the water goes brown: but we can test why the water goes brown for ourselves, with our own experiment. And I reckon your own home-made "detox" equipment will be an awful lot cheaper than their £1000 machine...
Ben Goldacre is a medical doctor and writes the "Bad Science" column in the Guardian newspaper on Saturdays: he also runs a busy website, www.badscience.net, with 200 Bad Science pieces so far, and lively discussion forums.
Check out the latest Bad Science articles and previous ones here.
activities
The following activities are available, but if you have ideas for other Bad Science activities, feel free to drop us a line here:
- Let’s Get Detoxed!
Scientific Claims in Advertising:
- The Placebo Effect!
Do you believe your teacher?
- Lost in interpretation!
Scary Medical Statistics
- Got the Bad Science bug?
Share Your Own Discoveries & Find Out More
These activities are aimed at 14-16 year olds, but there’s nothing to say you can’t try these with any age group….it’s all in the name of scientific literacy….let’s not all get hypnotised by pseudoscience!
article
"Ignorance Is The Opposite Of Bliss"
28 January 2006
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