• Careful observation of empirical (real, observable) phenomena to help understand fundamental processes/natural laws.

• Basic patterns and processes are uniform across time and space; the forces at work today are the same as those that shaped the world in the past, and they will continue to do so in the future.

• When two explanations are reasonable, the simpler (more parsimonious) one is preferable. AKA Ockham's razor.

• Knowledge and explanations change as new evidence appears.

• Tests and experiments should be repeatable; if the same results cannot be reproduced, then the conclusions are probably incorrect.

• We rarely expect science to provide absolute proof that a theory is correct, because new evidence may always improve on our current explanations.

• Science is about testing ideas with evidence. We formulate testable statements (hypotheses) to test questions.