This subsite offers a new way to place a structure on science. The SPLATS got their name because they were conceived originally as 'splats', short and pithy statements that could be written on brightly coloured cardboard and stuck on walls, reminding students of what a segment of study is all about. There are now around 3000 of them, rather too much for the cardboard budget of most schools, and they are now seen as having a few more useful functions to perform. Most importantly, they provide a framework for teachers, or for students who wish to move on, independently, or for parents trying to help their children

Later, I invented an acronym for the project: "Science Principles, Laws, Assumptions, Theories and Something" (I still have to get the best final word, but all the best jargon acronyms are created this way). It matters little. My aim was to come up with neat statements, in 160 characters or less, outlining the big ideas of science, the key assumptions that are often left out when science is being transmitted. It is this omission to spell out the big ideas that causes people to think science is counter-intuitive.

For examples (there have been major additions, February 2008), see these starting points:

Science SPLATS (completed Feb 16, 2008)	Technology SPLATS (completed Feb 19, 2008)	Biology SPLATS
Physics SPLATS	SPLATS about earth science	SPLATS about chemistry
SPLATS about what lies beyond the Earth

A bit about me

I write, I talk, I argue. I even get paid to do it. If you are silly enough to want to know more about a cantankerous (some would say tincankerous) science-oriented monomaniac, try these links:

Science Playwiths (activities and explorations)

Some of my talks on the ABC (Mainly Ockham's Razor, ABC Radio National)

My writing activities (I write for young people, also for a more general/adult audience)

Anything else you need will follow from those links: just poke around

This file is http://members.ozemail.com.au/~macinnis/scifun/splats.htm, first created on July 24, 2004. Last recorded revision (well I get lazy and forget sometimes!) was on February 16, 2008. There was an article about these in September 2004 in EQ Australia and in Connections 58.

By the way — that e-mail address won't work unless you stick my first name on the front of it. People can manage that, spammers' harvesting systems can't. The address shown exists, but it is a spam hole that either accepts and absorbs e-mails, or bounces them.

Note: If you like my ideas, use them -- if you share my ideals, and you can see some gaps, I am happy to have suggestions for improvements.

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© The author of this work is Peter Macinnis -- macinnis@ozemail.com.au, who asserts his sole right to the product as it is packaged here, recognising that many of the ideas are common.

The format is not copyright. You are free (and encouraged) to use this as a model to do your own version. Copies of this whole file or site may be made and stored or printed for personal or educational use, and they may be shared, so long as no money changes hands. I give them away for free, and I expect you to do the same!