07/11/2024
Science and Pseudoscience
Adriana Jazmin Pavon
Ivanna Zayde Gonzales Palacios
Maria Guadalupe Aguirre
Ariana de Garate
APA references:
● NASA. (n.d.). The scientific method and climate change: How scientists know. NASA Science. Retrieved from
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/the-scientific-method-and-climate-change-how-scientists-kno
w/
● University of West Florida. (n.d.). Introduction to environmental sciences and sustainability. In The process of
science. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.uwf.edu/envrioscience/chapter/1-2-the-process-of-science/
● U.S. Geological Survey. (n.d.). Water dowsing. Retrieved from
https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/water-dowsing
● Baird, C. (2015, April 15). How does water dowsing work? West Texas A&M University. Retrieved from
https://wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2015/04/15/how-does-water-dowsing-work/
● McGill Office for Science and Society. (n.d.). Dowsing: Dowse it work? Retrieved from
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/pseudoscience-environment/dowsing-dowse-it-work
● Southern New Hampshire University. (n.d.). What is Environmental Science?. Southern New
Hampshire University. Retrieved from
https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/stem/what-is-environmental-science
● U.S. Geological Survey. (n.d.). Water Dowsing. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved from
https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/water-dowsing
● Baird, C. (2015, April 15). How does water dowsing work?. West Texas A&M University.
Retrieved from https://wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2015/04/15/how-does-water-dowsing-work/
● No title. (n.d.). Study.com. Retrieved January 16, 2025, from
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-environmental-science-definition-and-scope-of-the-fiel
d.html
07/11/2024
07/11/2024
Activity #1 - Science and Pseudoscience
María Guadalupe Aguirre Delgado, Ivanna Zayde Gonzalez Palacios, Adriana Jazmín Pavón Rodriguez,
Ariana De Garate Martínez
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECT DOWSING
The study of the environment and solutions to Definition The practice of using tools (like rods or pendulums)
environmental problems using scientific to locate water, minerals, or other objects.
methods.
Based on principles of biology, chemistry, Basic Principles Claims that certain tools or intuition can detect
geology, and physics to understand natural unseen objects or energies.
processes.
This field employs systematic methods such Methods Intuition, using wood and sticks to try to indicate the
as observation, experimentation, and modeling direction of the materials
to study environmental phenomena. Scientists
collect data using tools like sensors and
laboratory analyses to monitor elements such
as air and water quality.
The evidence supporting environmental Evidence Evidence for dowsing is largely anecdotal, often
science is grounded in quantitative and coming from testimonials by practitioners or
empirical data collected through rigorous individuals who claim successful outcomes.
research. Examples include long-term
monitoring of CO2 levels, which reveal trends
in global warming, or satellite imagery used to
track deforestation and climate changes.
Why is it a science or
.Environmental Science is a legitimate a pseudoscience? Dowsing, the practice of using a rod or pendulum to
scientific discipline because it follows the locate underground water, minerals, or other objects,
scientific method it relies on observation, lacks scientific credibility. Studies have shown that
hypothesis testing, experimentation, and peer dowsing performs no better than random chance
review. Researchers in this field study when tested under controlled conditions. It fails to
ecosystems, climate change, pollution, and produce repeatable, reliable results, and its
sustainability using measurable data, explanations rely on unproven forces rather than
mathematical models, and controlled physics or geology. Unlike Environmental Science,
experiments. The field also evolves based on dowsing does not evolve with new evidence—it
new evidence, making it self-correcting and persists despite scientific disproof, making it
open to revision. pseudoscientific
Conclusion:
Pseudoscience is a popular belief, something “magical”, it’s based on intuition, and even
though it can work sometimes, it has no proof, there are SOME cases that “prove” it, but it’s
not a science. A science is a science because it has proof, it has tools, and it’s not occasional,
it applies most of the time.
