As a follow-up to our discussion about technology earlier this week, I first let Nicole examine authentic stone tools. Then, continuing our discussion on the nature of science from yesterday, Nicole and I discussed what makes an explanation "scientific," including the necessity of empirical evidence and independent verification. She then made observations and inferences about a couple of different fossils. We then spent some time on optical and auditory illusions to help Nicole understand that science depends on observations made by imperfect human senses, thus the importance of communication between scientists, examining different perspectives, and independent verification. We then spent some time on identifying independent, dependent, and controlled variables in an experiment - Nicole was a natural at this! Finally, Nicole learned about control groups and the placebo effect, including a video.