No walls in nature
Branches are drawers we made. Real problems open them all.
One big problem
Climate change is a real-world problem. It is in the news, but is it a physics problem, a chemistry problem or a biology problem?
Which branch alone can explain it?
What this lesson covers
The idea
Physics, chemistry, biology and earth science are divisions made only to organise knowledge; the natural world has no such boundaries, and real-world problems need ideas from several disciplines together.
One big problem
Climate change is a real-world problem. It is in the news, but is it a physics problem, a chemistry problem or a biology problem?
Which branch alone can explain it?
- Only physics
- Only biology
- It needs several branches together
Join the branches
Tap each branch. See what it adds to the problem.
Drawers, not walls
Physics, chemistry, biology and earth science are divisions made only to organise knowledge. The natural world has no such boundaries, and real-world problems need ideas from several disciplines together.
Developing medicines and designing sustainable technologies also need ideas from many branches at once. Science also connects with mathematics, technology, arts and social sciences.
- Branch | What it adds to climate change
- Physics | how CO₂ traps heat
- Chemistry | burning fuels makes CO₂
- Biology | plants take in CO₂
- Earth science | air, oceans and ice respond
Notes
Physics, chemistry, biology and earth science are divisions made only to organise knowledge. Nature has no boundaries, and real problems need several disciplines together.
Check yourself
Why do we divide science into physics, chemistry, biology and earth science?
A team wants to design a sustainable technology (for example, a cleaner way to make electricity). Whose ideas will they probably need?
In our climate-change map, how many different branches were needed to understand the problem?
Answer: 4
All four: physics, chemistry, biology and earth science.
- To organise knowledge; nature itself has no such boundaries — correct. Yes. The divisions are our own.
- Because nature keeps each branch separate. Nature has no walls between branches.
- Because a problem can only use one branch. Real problems often need several together.
- Ideas from several branches, working together — correct. Yes. Real problems cross boundaries.
- Only the physics teacher’s ideas. Physics helps, but the problem also needs chemistry, earth science and more.
- None; it is only technology. Technology is built using science from many branches.