Solved by a verified expert:Week 1 discussion
The Scientific Method Tutorial
Course Outcomes:
recognize and explain how the scientific method is used to
solve problems
make observations and discriminate between scientific and
pseudoscientific explanations
Click on Course Content, Science Learning Center, The
Scientific Method Tutorial, Button 4: The Scientific Method
Work through the entire Scientific Method Tutorial, then
pick one (1) of the following 3 options:
Option 1: Stating a Good Hypothesis
Read step 2: The hypothesis
Answer the following questions:
What is a hypothesis?
How is a hypothesis different from a theory in science?
Describe an example of how you may use the scientific method
in your daily life and state a good hypothesis for that example.
Which hypothesis did you first pick in the “Recognizing
a good hypothesis” activity in the scientific method tutorial? Why? If
any, which mistake(s) did you make when picking a hypothesis?
Include “Hypothesis” in the title of your post.
Option 2: Designing a Good Experiment
Read Step 3: Testing a Hypothesis
Answer the following questions:
What is a control and why is it an important part of an
experiment? Provide an example of a control.
What is the difference between the control and controlled
variables?
Why is it important that scientists are aware of the
controlled variables in an experiment?
What are independent and dependent variables? Provide an
example of each.
What did you learn from the “jelly bean” activity
about sample size in experiments?
Include “Experimental Design” in the title of your
post.
Option 3: Writing a Good Conclusion
Read Step 5: Stating Conclusions
Answer the following questions about the “E.coli kills
cancer” article:
Which conclusions did the scientists make from the described
experiments?
Which information about the experiments do you believe is
missing in the article?
Where would you look to find this missing information?
Is the title of the article accurate? Why or why not?
Do you believe this is science or pseudoscience? Explain
your answer.
Include “Conclusion” in the title of your post.
Week 2 discussion
Molecules of Life in Food
Course Outcome:
use knowledge of biological principles and the scientific
method to ask relevant questions, develop hypotheses, design and conduct
experiments, interpret results, and draw conclusions
Let us take a closer look at what we eat! Pick one food (or
drink) and think about it in terms of molecules and atoms by answering the
following questions:
Which plant and/or animal species is this food item made of?
(if might be more than one for processed food items, check the list of
ingredients).
State a hypothesis about which micro (vitamins and minerals)
and macromolecules (proteins, carbohydrates, fats) this item contain. Remember,
a hypothesis is an educated guess or prediction of results.
After stating a hypothesis, do a web-search to find reliable
scientific information about which nutrients this food item contains. Include a
brief summary of your results.
Does your results support the hypothesis? Why or why not?
Pick one of the macromolecules (molecules of life) in this
food and briefly describe the chemical structure. What are the building blocks?
What is the role of this macromolecule in our body?
Pick one of the elements found in this macromolecule.
Determine its atomic mass, atomic number, as well as number of protons,
electrons and neutrons.
Include the name of the food you pick in the title of your
post. You may need to use resources in addition to the course module and text
book. Please ask if you need help with web and library search. Make sure you
include references to your information resources. Give your answer a subject
title that reflects the content.
Week 3 discussion
Science or Pseudoscience?
Use critical thinking, what you have learned in the OLI
course modules, and a web-search to determine whether or not the following
examples are Science or Pseudoscience.
Pick one of the examples below, try to locate a published
peer-reviewed scholarly article that supports the claim, make a reference to
something you read in the OLI course modules, and summarize your conclusion in
250- 400 words. Your conclusion must be supported by at least one reliable
information source in addition to the OLI course material. Please cite this
source at the end of your response.
If there are other examples you would like to investigate
instead of the four provided, please send me a message so that I can approve it
first.
You may find this article useful: Science and Pseudoscience
in Adult Nutrition Research and
Practice:http://www.csicop.org/si/show/science_and_pseudoscience_in_adult_nutrition_research_and_practice/
1. Green coffee
supplements burn fat:
http://www.greencoffeepremium.com/images/study1-greencoffee.pdf
2. The blood type
diet improves your health: http://www.dadamo.com/program_welcome2.htm
3. The Atkins
Diet will help you lose weight quickly:
http://www.atkins.com/Program/Overview.aspx
4. Talking to
your plants make them grow faster: http://organicgardening.about.com/b/2009/06/23/its-true-you-really-should-talk-to-your-plants-especially-if-youre-a-woman.htm
Give your post a title that describes your example
Week 4 discussion
Cancer Treatment
weigh evidence and make decisions based on strengths and
limitations of scientific knowledge
use knowledge of biological principles to ask relevant
questions and draw conclusions
Explain cancer based on what you have learned about mitosis.
Research one drug that is used to treat cancer and explain
how this drug works. Does this drug’s mode of action and side effects have
anything to do with mitosis? And if so, which phase of the cell cycle is
affected? What specifically does this drug do inside the cell?
Include the name of the drug in the title of your post. Use
a web search engine to find reliable information and as always include your
references.
Fun Mitosis and Meiosis Video: Mitosis vs. Meiosis Rap
Battle-ASAP Science
Week 5 discussion
Dominant and Recessive Traits
If you have not already done so, you may want to check out
these videos about Punnett Squares:
Learn Biology: How to Draw a Punnett Square
Gregor Mendel’s Punnett Square
Complete this Mendelian Activity (click on “Go to Animation” and
then the Play button for each step of the activity, you can skip the pea
example with two traits) before preparing your response to this conference
topic.
What are recessive traits?
What are dominant traits?
Describe one recessive OR one dominant human trait.
Do you, your (biological) parents, grandparents and/or kids
have this recessive/dominant trait?
What is your phenotype for this trait? What is your likely
genotype for this trait?
Show how you came to your conclusions using a Punnett Square
(you can copy this table, or use the Insert table button in the text editor).
Include the trait in the title of your post. Use the text
book and/or your favorite search engine/library to find information, include
references.
Optional: Still struggling to understand Punnett Squares?
Try these:
Chicken and lemming breeding:
http://www2.edc.org/weblabs/Punnett/punnettsquares.html (I needed to open this
in Internet Explorer-did not work in Chrome).
Detached and attached earlobes: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Life/genetics_puzzle.html
Week 6 discussion
Tree of Life
Course Outcomes:
make observations and discriminate between scientific and
pseudoscientific explanations
weigh evidence and make decisions based on strengths and
limitations of scientific knowledge
use knowledge of biological principles to ask relevant
questions, interpret results, and draw conclusions
Go to the Tree of Life web-site. Look around and pick one
species that you find interesting (living or extinct). Consider watching the
“Tree of Life Web Project” video (11 min) at www.esciencelabs.com under Kingdoms of Life
Write 1-2 paragraphs about this species answering the
following questions:
Try your best to find out which kingdom, phylum, class,
order, family and/or genus this species belong to.
Who is this species
closely related to? Ancestors? Were you surprised by any of its evolutionary relationships?
Which features does this species share with closely related
species? What makes it unique?
Which environmental factors do you think have been important
in the evolution of this species?
Is this information based on scientific evidence or
pseudoscience?
Depending on the species you chose you may find information
directly in the Tree of life web-page, from a list of links to information
about this species, or you may have to do a web-search yourself. As always,
include references.
Week 7 discussion
The Web of Life
Course Objective:
use knowledge of biological principles to ask relevant
questions and draw conclusions
Search the web to find a specific example that illustrates
how changes in the population of one species affects populations of other
species in the same ecosystem.
Discuss the cause(s) for change in populations (human
activities involved?), label the species involved (producers, herbivores etc)
and describe their interspecific interactions.
As always, include references.
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