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.
Written Assignment 1-
Trace the Scientific Method in a Primary Scientific Article
Addresses course outcomes 1 and 4:
recognize and explain how the scientific method is used to
solve problems
weigh evidence and make decisions based on strengths and
limitations of scientific knowledge and the scientific method
Before starting this assignment you might want to revisit
the Scientific Method Tutorial in the Science Learning Center under the Content
area.
The original peer-reviewed research article that the above
article discusses can be found in the Content area. You may want to look at the
peer-reviewed scholarly article for more detail (not required).
* Yamauchi et al. (2010). Coffee and caffeine ameliorate
hyperglycemia, fatty liver, and inflammatory adipocytokine expression in
spontaneously diabetic KK-Ay mice. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry,
58 (9), 5597-5603. May 12, PMID: 20405946, ISSN: 1520-5118.
Researchers recently investigated (see summary in New
Evidence That Drinking Coffee May Reduce the Risk of Diabetes) in laboratory mice whether or not coffee
prevented the development of high blood sugar (hyperglycemia). The mice used in
this experiment have a mutation that makes them become diabetic.
Answer the questions below based on the information given in
the following paragraph.
A group of 11 mice was given water, and another group of 10
mice was supplied with diluted black coffee (coffee:water 1:1) as drinking
fluids for five weeks. The composition of the diets and living conditions were
similar for both groups of mice. Blood glucose was monitored weekly for all mice.
After five weeks, there was no change in average body weight between groups.
Results indicated that blood glucose concentrations increased significantly in
the mice that drank water compared with those that were supplied with coffee.
Finally, blood glucose concentration in the coffee group exhibited a 30 percent
decrease compared with that in the water group. In the original paper, the
investigators acknowledged that the coffee for the experiment was supplied as a
gift from a corporation.
1. Identify and describe the steps of the scientific method.
Which observations do you think the scientists made leading up to this research
study? Given your understanding of the experimental design, formulate a
specific hypothesis that is being tested in this experiment. Describe the
experimental design including control and treatment group(s), and dependent and
independent variables. Summarize the results and the conclusion (50 points)
2. Criticize the research described. Things to consider:
Were the test subjects and treatments relevant and appropriate? Was the sample
size large enough? Were the methods used appropriate? Can you think of a
potential bias in a research study like this? What are the limitations of the
conclusions made in this research study? Address at least two of these
questions in your critique of the research study (20 points).
3. Discuss the relevance of this type of research, both for
the world in general and for you personally (20 points).
4. Write answers in your own words with proper grammar and
spelling (10 points)
Avoid plagiarism
It is very important to write with your own words. If you do
copy one or two sentences directly (use sparingly), use quotation marks
(“) around the copied text. All information sources need to be included in
the reference list and as in-text references. Plagiarism will be reported to
the proper UMUC authority. Guidance on how to avoid plagiarism can be found
here: UMUC’s How to Avoid Plagiarism
Submission
Submit in assignment folder by due date stated in the course
schedule.
Written Assignment
2-Biology and Technology in the Real World
Addresses course outcomes 2 and 3:
use knowledge of biological principles to ask relevant
questions about the natural world
make observations and discriminate between scientific and pseudoscientific
explanations
1. Select one of the topics listed below.
2. Find at least two information sources related to the
topic. You can find assistance with searching for articles at the UMUC Library
Subject Guides at http://libguides.umuc.edu/science.
3. Write a 750-1500 word paper, excluding references and
title page. You must read the information sources that you find and summarize
the information in your own words, addressing each of the questions and
expectations for your chosen topic. Extensive quotes from the article are
discouraged. Use APA style for citing references, see
http://www.umuc.edu/library/guides/apa.html.
4. Post your assignment to your Assignments folder by the
due date listed in the course schedule.
Topics (select one)
a) Genetically modified organisms (GMOs). What is the
purpose genetic engineering of crop plants and domestic animals? Briefly
explain how GMOs are created. What foods in your supermarket contain GMOs? Are
foods that contain GMOs safe for human consumption? What types of regulations
exist for these foods? Clearly explain your reasoning for each answer.
b) Stem cells. Your friend had a spinal cord injury after a
bad car accident. The medical team has decided that he is a good candidate for
a clinical trial using stem cell therapy. Your friend has not had a biology
course since high school, so you decide to write him a letter sharing your
knowledge of stem cells. Include in your letter a description of the biology of
stem cells and how these cells are unique from other cells. Contrast the
different types of stem cells, including pros and cons of each. Explain how
stems cells are can be used to treat diseases and injury, with special focus on
spinal cord injuries. Conclude with your own opinion.
c) Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) and tar sands (oil
sands). With society’s dependence on
nonrenewable fossil fuels, the oil & gas industry is turning to the use of
hydraulic fracturing and tar (oil) sands to extract natural gas and oil
respectively. A friend asks you
“What’s all this controversy in the news about fracking and tar
sands?” Briefly explain to your
friend how hydraulic fracturing and tar (oil) sands are used to obtain these
fossil fuels. Then, in more detail, describe the environmental problems that
may result from these processes and why they are controversial. Issues that may
be addressed involves, but are not limited to, water, air and soil pollution,
effects on human health, effects on other species and natural ecosystems.
Finally, give your opinions on possible solutions to these environmental
problems, with your reasoning backed by the references that you studied.
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