Transcript

JANET SUMNER

Hello, and welcome to Basic science: understanding numbers. I'm Janet Sumner from The Open University. Over the next four weeks, you will gain a better appreciation and understanding of numbers, and how they're used in science.

Numbers are everywhere in our lives and, more than ever before, it's important to understand them. They're used in everything from news reports of climate change and banking crisis, to real science experiments, such as in the sister course, Understanding Experiments. This course isn't about maths, so you won't have to carry out any complicated calculations. But you will be introduced to some of the more common concepts, such as how large numbers are represented, how to work out an average or area, and how to read a graph. We'll also show you why you don't need to understand fractions, and warn you about the percent button on calculators.

OK, here we go. In week one, you learn about some basic concepts for numbers, including the way scientists write very big or very small numbers. You'll also cover units of measurement, like kilogrammes, metres, and litres, and how they came about. This week starts with a video about bottled water consumption. It's a short, documentary-style video from the Open University, which uses numbers in a similar way to news programmes and other documentaries.

I hope you'll enjoy the next four weeks, and don't forget to get stuck into the discussions. You'll find people on there with all levels of expertise. I'll be back to catch up with you next week.