HELP! Michael needs to be reminded of scientific values!
Mr. Michael: "I quickly weighed the rat but I didn't write down its mass-- so I guessed it was maybe 200 grams. Then I injected the hormone into the rat but I forgot the proper dose so I just injected maybe 50 microliters. Then I took a break and the rat escaped because I neglected to lock the cage." What advice would you give Mr Michael?
Be careful!!!
Owen counted 98 ants around a small tree.
This is called an
observation (quantitative observation)
An environmental scientist might work with this type of scientist to see if lizards are slowly moving north as the US gets warmer.
a zoologist (vertebrate zoologist)
An environmental scientist wants to know if there are laws against PFAS pollution in Maine, or what law could be created to prevent PFAS pollution.
a lawyer (attorney)
Harley: "Wow, I'm so interested in hearing about your ant experiment!"
Jacob: "Yes! It was totally fascinating to find out what the ants like to eat! I can't wait to learn more about their behavior!"
What value are they displaying?
curiosity
"I didn't bother weighing the rat or measuring the proper amount of hormone solution to inject. I injected a little into the rat." How can Mr Michael improve?
Be quantitative; measure the exact amount of solution in microliters.
Owen made a smart guess that the ants were eating the fruit in the tree. His smart guess is called a
hypothesis
An environmental scientist might work with this type of scientist to check if there is PFAS (chemical pollution) in Sebago Lake.
a chemist [analytical chemist]
An environmental scientist wonders what the economic impact of pollution in the Androscoggin River is? What are the impacts to the tourism and housing and fishing industries? Whom should he/she consult?
an economist
Harley measured 5 grams of fruit and set it out for the ants for 48 hours. Then she counted the exact number of ants that visited the fruit over a 60 minute period. She noted that the air temperature was 23 degrees Celsius and the humidity was 78%. She caught 20 ants and measured their mass in milligrams.
Harley is good at being_____________
"Well, the hormone solution worked on 2 rats and neither of them died. So tomorrow I'm ready to inject humans with the hormone." Mr Michael needs your advice!!!!
Don't jump to conclusions! (Test it in LOTS of rats before testing it in humans!)
Jacob wanted to test Owen's hypothesis about the ants eating the fruit in the tree, so he pulled all the fruit off 2 branches of the tree, and left the fruit on the other 2 branches of the tree. Then 2 days later, he counted all the ants on the branches without fruit; then he counted the ants on the branches with fruit; and then he compared the numbers. Since he compared a control group to an experimental group, this is a controlled ____________
experiment
ecologist
An environmental scientist wonders how to balance VALUES like freedom with concern for public health and human life. What field of philosophy might he or she read about in order to make ETHICAL decisions?
ethics
Owen was impressed by Jacob;s experiment, but he wanted to verify the results, so what should he do (after looking at jacob's data)?
Owen should REPEAT (REPLICATE) the experiment to see if he gets the same results.
Michael is secretly getting money from a drug company to show that their hormone solution is safe and effective. He has a MAJOR conflict of interest. What advice would you give him?
Be objective, not biased.
After Jacob completed his experiment, he graphed his data, wrote an introduction, wrote about his procedures, and wrote a conclusion and sent his article to a science journal to be published. In other words he ________________ his results.
communicated or published
An environmental scientist wants to know which invasive plant species are in Maine.
botanist
An environmental scientist wonders how to design effective ads or billboards that will influence people to recycle more. What type of social scientist could he/she consult?
psychologist
Owen repeated the experiment and counted about the same number of ants that Jacob observed. But he caught 20 ants and realized they were actually 2 separate species of ants. This illustrates that Jacob's conclusions were ________________ and subject to ______________.
Jacob's results were TENTATIVE and subject to REVISION.
No, I didn't bother checking their data, I just took their word for it. What advice do you have?
Be skeptical; demand to inspect the evidence.
Owen wanted to test his hypothesis that these ants like fruit, so he set out 2 cups:
1 cup had fruit and the 2nd cup was empty.
Then 2 days later he counted how many ants were visiting each cup.
The fruit cup is the ________ group and the empty cup is the ___________ group.
fruit cup is experimental group and
empty cup is the control group.
An environmental scientist wants to know about the shape of the floor of the ocean to figure out how fast a glacier will slide from the coast into the ocean.
a geologist or oceanographer
What type of social scientist might an environmental scientist work with to encourage low-income Latino communities to protect themselves from air pollution? Hint: What social science studies SOCIETY?
sociologist
Harley pointed out that Owen only examined 20 ants. Owen replied, "Right, I only found 2 species of ants, but based on my small sample size, we don't know if there are actually 3 or even 4 species of ants involved. To find out, we really need more research in which we examine 100 ants." Owen is wise to admit________
admit what he doesn't know.