Hypotheses, laws and theories
Identify what a scientific statement does, examine its evidence and conditions, and avoid treating its name as a score for certainty.
Key knowledge
Scientific explanations account for phenomena using claims about relationships or causes, supported by empirical evidence and reasoning. New evidence can require revising an explanation.
Conditions and scope
- The supporting evidence must be relevant to the claim and its conditions.
Sources · 10
References
Sources retain their recorded scope. A source link alone does not establish verification of every statement.
- Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science, Chapter 5: Frequently Asked Questions About Evolution and the Nature of ScienceNational Academy of Sciences; National Academies PressTeaching resource
- Physics, 1.2 The Scientific MethodsOpenStax, Rice UniversityTextbook chapter
- OpenStax University Physics Volume 1 — Newton laws and inertial framesWilliam Moebs; Samuel J. Ling; Jeff Sanny — OpenStax, Rice UniversityTextbook chapterUniversity Physics Volume 1, 5.3 Newton's Second LawUniversity Physics Volume 1, 5.2 Newton's First Law
- Explanatory Dictionary: relativity principleEinstein Online, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)Reference guide
- Step by step from Newton to EinsteinGerhard Schäfer — Einstein Online, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)Teaching resource
- NGSS Appendix F: Science and Engineering Practices (2013)NGSS Lead States — Next Generation Science StandardsTeaching resource · PDF
- Myths of the nature of scienceUniversity of Waikato · Science Learning HubTeaching resource
Evidence and review
NGSS Appendix F, Practice 6: explanatory claims and empirical support; Practice 7: argument from evidence.
2026-10-10 · Evidence-based explanation as scientific practice only; this is not a single universal recipe for all research.
Foundational review
2026-10-10 · Fresh primary-source inspection of the complete compact record, including every statement, equation, quantity and material condition, followed by independent AI editorial review. This check does not certify all linked lessons or every passage of every cited publication.
Sources from other places
Agreement within this scope
Scientific explanations are evidence-based and open to revision.
Strongly supported explanations remain revisable when better evidence or reasoning becomes available.
University of Waikato · Science Learning Hub
- Myths of the nature of science New ZealandEnglish
Science proves ideas; Scientific ideas are unchanging
- Myths of the nature of science
Related articles
Hypotheses, laws, principles, and theories ↗Entry details
Permanent link to this entry ↗- Record identity
- scientific-explanations
- Revision
- reference-core.1
- Published lesson seed
- principles