Agree or Disagree?When cows fall asleep standing up, it is easy (and fun!) to sneak up next to them and tip them over.Birds eating rice thrown at weddings swell up and die (even burst).Animals exposed to radioactive waste mutate and turn into other types of animals.

Agree or Disagree?Earthworms come up onto the sidewalks after heavy rain to avoid being drowned in their underground tunnels.People licking toads have hallucinations.Lennon wrote better music than Tchaikovsky.Heaven is not in our solar system, but it is somewhere in the universe.

Science involvesUsing and extending the sensesObserving and collectingProbing and testingDeductive hypothesis testing Inductive search for patternsBuilding increasingly accurate explanations based on evidence

Mendeleev and the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements

Fleming and the serendipitous discovery of the first antibiotic

Goodall and the willingness to break with convention

The Scientific MethodThere is simply no fixed set of steps that scientists always follow, no one path that leads them unerringly to scientific knowledge.

The Scientific Method

Question or Problem 2) HypothesizePredict Consequences 4) Experiment5) Interpret Experimental Results

ExperimentsAn experiment is a test used to determine if there is evidence to support a hypothesis

What is a hypothesis?A hypothesis is a guess or prediction about a phenomenon.Hypotheses can be stated as positive or negative.The null hypothesis predicts that there will be NO difference between experimental groups.

Write your own hypothesisWrite your prediction for the outcome of the radish seed experimentYou should also provide a REASONwhy do you think the experiment will turn out the way it will?

What is a theory?A theory is an explanation that has a very large amount of evidence to support it.A fact is an observation about nature. A theory is an explanation. So a theory can never become a fact.

Experiment TitlesUsually, experiments are titled in a format like this: The Effect of _______ on _________Sample title: The Effect of Light on Growth of Radish seeds

Experimental variablesThe ONE factor that you cause to be different between experimental groups is the MANIPULATED variable (also called INDEPENDENT variable).Sample: In the radish seed experiment, the manipulated variable isAmount of Light

Experimental variablesThe factor that you measure as the outcome of the experiment is called the RESPONDING variable (also called DEPENDENT variable)In the radish seed experiment, the responding variable is ___________.The responding variable is LENGTH of STEM, measured in millimeters.

ConstantsAll other factors in the experiment must be controlled so they are the same for all groups.Examples of constants in radish seed experiment:Type of Petri dishtype of seedNumber of seedpaper towelWater, Locationtemperature

Measure the responding variableDraw a data table for recording radish plant sizesDateLightDark

Writing an experiment descriptionTitleHypothesisShort description of procedureIdentify control and experimental groups.Name the manipulated, responding variablesIdentify five constants

MeasurementsObtain a flexible plastic ruler and measure the length of the radish seeds today in millimeters.Record your data and your partners data in the data table.

Fact, Hypothesis, Law, TheoryFact = a stated observationHypothesis = a proposition that may be investigatedLaw or Principle = a description of observable phenomenaTheory = an explanation based on extensive evidence

Big QuestionsWhat is LIFE?How can we tell things that are alive from things that were alive or were never alive?

OBSERVING LIFE and NONLIFEWe now need to practice making observations of things and determining if they are alive, once alive, or never alive.This activity will allow you to practice writing CAREFUL and THOROUGH descriptions of what you see.

Life or Nonlife?Watch the short video clip of the Rover Spirit which is explored the planet Mars.

Life or Nonlife?Imagine that you have two soil samples returned from somewhere on Earth. Your job is to examine them, write a complete description of the objects you see, and determine whether objects are ALIVE, ONCE ALIVE or NEVER ALIVE

Observing soil samplesI will place soil samples on your desk: today you will examine soil from a DESERT.Observe a part of each sample in a half Petri dishUse a microscope and a magnifying glass.

Observing soil samplesEach person should write careful descriptions of soil samplesUse as many adjectives as you canDescribe size, shape, color of particlesExplain WHY you think each object you see is alive, once alive or never alive

Observing soil samplesYou will be able to add to your observations tomorrow.TODAY< before you leave, please add clean spring water (with no chlorine) to the DESERT SOIL only.Add water until the cup is half full.Water sometimes activates dormant living things.

Soil samples: Day Two

Observe forest soil and desert soil again, adding to your descriptions of the objects you see in the soil. Make small drawings of any objects you see in the soil.Make note of any changes you see in the samples today.(Use a pipette to add a few drops of desert water to the Petri dish, so you can look at it under the microscopeThen you will turn in your written observations on Friday.

Observing plant growth:Take bean and pea seeds and put them in containers of soil under our light source. Water them consistently. Each day in class, take note of any changes that you observe.

The Borderlands of ScienceShermer, (2001)Normal ScienceEmpirical claimsVast body of evidenceBorderland ScienceEmpirical workGrowing body of evidencePseudoscienceFake science disguised as normal scienceLacks evidence

10 different areas of inquiry:AcupunctureAstrologyBig BangBig FootChiropractic

HeliocentrismHypnosisNeurophysiology of Brain FunctionPunctuated EquilibriumSearch for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

The Borderlands of ScienceShermer, (2001)Heliocentrism, .9Neurophysiology of Brain Function, .8Punctuated equilibrium, .7 normal scienceSETI, Hypnosis, .5Chiropractic, .4 borderland scienceAcupuncture, .3Astrology, Big Foot, .1 pseudoscience