January 12th

Chapter 1 + 2 Turn your clicker on, please! (If you don t have a clicker today will be one of the four days you can miss before it counts against you)

Previously .
We talked about
Textbook, clicker, lab manual, Springboard Signed syllabus page Characteristics of scientists Course is divided into four units What are our exams like?

What are your exams like?

Approximately 60 80 multiple choice questions NOT straight definition questions Taken in CBT Center Should take 60 minutes you have 90. Taken during a test window (Thur at noon to Fri at 3pm) Know when the CBT is open and closed! Check wait times! You will not immediately know the results I have to see how the class did first. You can review your exams in my office after class (the exams are hard. You should be reading each chapter, and studying 2 hours for every hour in class)

Science - Latin = to know

Science is
a body of knowledge. a way of knowing - a process of inquiry and learning. a pathway to discover and understand world around us. empirical. a human endeavor.

Pages 2 -3

How is Science a different way of knowing?

Science is empirical. Empirical knowledge is based on experimentation and observation. Empirical results can be tested again and again and corrected as needed. Scientists use the scientific method to produce empirical results. Other ways of knowing historical, ethical, political, religious.
Page 7

First Clicker Question!

Power it up! Wait for the question Press the corresponding key Press send

Science and the implications of science impact my daily life.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree

Scientists
Are curious Ask questions about how the world works Seek answers
Does the radiation released by cell phones cause brain tumors? Are anti-bacterial hand soaps better than regular soap? Do large doses of vitamin C reduce the likelihood of getting a cold?

How do you know that is true?

The single question that underlies scientific thinking

the importance of questioning the truth of many scientific claims you see on merchandise packages or read in the newspaper or on the internet.

Can we trust the packaging claims that companies make?

clinical drug trials and evidence CEO says: people are really not scientifically minded enough to be able to understand a clinical study.

The most important questions in biology:

What is the chemical and physical basis for life and its maintenance? How do organisms use genetic information to build themselves and to reproduce?

The most important questions in biology:

What are the diverse forms that life on earth takes and how has that diversity arisen? How do organisms interact with each other and with their environment?

Scientific Literacy
how to think scientifically how to use the knowledge we gain to make wise decisions increasingly important in our lives literacy in matters of biology is especially essential

Biological Literacy
The ability to: 1. use the process of scientific inquiry to think creatively about real-world issues, 2. communicate those thoughts to others, and 3. integrate them into your decisionmaking.

1.3 The scientific method is a powerful approach to understanding the world.

If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change
Dalai Lama, 2005

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/4588289/The-Vatican-claims-Darwins-theor

Understanding How the World Works

Someone wonders about why something is the way it is and then decides to try to find out the answer. This process of examination and discovery is called the scientific method.

The Scientific Method

Observe a phenomenon Propose an explanation for it Test the proposed explanation through a series of experiments Accurate & valid,
or

Revised or alternative explanations proposed

Which answer below does not exemplify knowledge gained through empirical testing?
1. Sugar tastes sweet. 2. The sky looks blue during the daytime. 3. I can smell freshly popped popcorn from a distance. 4. A rabbit s foot can bring good luck.

Which answer below does not exemplify knowledge gained through empirical testing?
1. Sugar tastes sweet. 2. The sky looks blue during the daytime. 3. I can smell freshly popped popcorn from a distance. 4. A rabbit s foot can bring good luck.

What should you do when something you believe in turns out to be wrong?
This may be the most important feature of the scientific method: it tells us when we should change our minds.

1.5 Step 1: Make observations.

Look for interesting patterns or cause-andeffect relationships.

Does taking echinacea reduce the intensity or duration of the common cold?

Which question below can be addressed by using the scientific method?

1. How do salmon migrate great distances yet return to spawn and die in the stream/river of their birth? 2. Do antibacterial soaps kill more bacteria then soap alone? 3. Do all living creatures have a soul? 4. Choices 1 and 2 are correct.

Which question below can be addressed by using the scientific method?

1. How do salmon migrate great distances yet return to spawn and die in the stream/river of their birth? 2. Do antibacterial soaps kill more bacteria then soap alone? 3. Do all living creatures have a soul? 4. Choices 1 and 2 are correct.

1.6 Step 2: Formulate a hypothesis.

A proposed explanation for observed phenomena

Which statement or question below is a hypothesis for the validity of eyewitness testimony?
1. Is eyewitness testimony always correct? 2. Eyewitness testimony is always correct. 3. If eyewitness testimony is always correct, then DNA and physical evidence should support the story of the eyewitness. 4. None of the above.

Which statement or question below is a hypothesis for the validity of eyewitness testimony?
1. Is eyewitness testimony always correct? 2. Eyewitness testimony is always correct. 3. If eyewitness testimony is always correct, then DNA and physical evidence should support the story of the eyewitness. 4. None of the above. 1 is a question and the correct answer 2 is a hypothesis
3 is a prediction based on that hypothesis

To be most useful, a hypothesis must accomplish two things: 1. It must clearly establish mutually exclusive alternative explanations for a phenomenon. 2. It must generate testable predictions.

1.7 Step 3: Devise a testable prediction.

Suggest that under certain conditions we will make certain observations.

Devising a Testable Prediction from a Hypothesis

Keep in mind any one of several possible explanations could be true.

Devising a Testable Prediction from a Hypothesis

The goal is to: Propose a situation that will give a particular outcome if your hypothesis is true but that will give a different outcome if your hypothesis is not true.

Hypothesis: Echinacea reduces the duration and severity of the symptoms of the common cold.

Which prediction below follows from the hypothesis that ibuprofen decreases inflammation?
1. If a patient suffers from a fever, then taking ibuprofen will reduce the fever. 2. If a patient sprains their ankle, then taking ibuprofen can decrease the swelling. 3. If a patient suffers from a cut or scrape, then taking ibuprofen can be used to relieve the pain. 4. If a patient suffers from nausea, then taking ibuprofen will relieve the nausea.

Which prediction below follows from the hypothesis that ibuprofen decreases inflammation?
1. If a patient suffers from a fever, then taking ibuprofen will reduce the fever. 2. If a patient sprains their ankle, then taking ibuprofen can decrease the swelling. 3. If a patient suffers from a cut or scrape, then taking ibuprofen can be used to relieve the pain. 4. If a patient suffers from nausea, then taking ibuprofen will relieve the nausea.

1.8 Step 4: Conduct a critical experiment.

an experiment that makes it possible to decisively determine whether a particular hypothesis is correct

1.9 Step 5: Draw conclusions, make revisions.

Trial and error

Does echinacea help prevent the common cold?

Hypothesis: Echinacea reduces the duration and severity of the symptoms of the common cold.

1.10 When do hypotheses become theories?

Two distinct levels of understanding that scientists use in describing our knowledge about natural phenomena

Hypotheses and Theories

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon.
a good hypothesis leads to testable predictions.

Hypotheses and Theories

A theory is a hypothesis for natural phenomena that is exceptionally wellsupported by the data.
a hypothesis that has withstood the test of time and is unlikely to be altered by any new evidence

Take-home message 1.10

Theories are hypotheses that have been so strongly supported by empirical observation that the scientific community views them as very unlikely to be altered by new evidence.

Elements Common to Most Experiments

1. Treatment any experimental condition applied to individuals 2. Experimental group a group of individuals who are exposed to a particular treatment 3. Control group a group of individuals who are treated identically to the experimental group with the one exception: they are not exposed to the treatment 4. Variables characteristics of your experimental system that are subject to change

Clever Hans

Experimental Designs
Blind experimental design
The experimental subjects do not know which treatment (if any) they are receiving.

Double-blind experimental design

Neither the experimental subjects nor the experimenter knows which treatment the subject is receiving.

If you wanted to test if antibacterial soap worked better than regular soap, which answer has the strongest experimental design?
1. Have people in the experiment wash with antibacterial soap first and later with regular soap and compare. 2. Have two groups of people wash with either antibacterial soap or regular soap and compare. 3. Have two groups of people wash with either antibacterial or regular soap, without knowing which type of soap is being used, and compare. 4. Have two groups of people wash with either antibacterial or regular soap, with neither the researchers nor the groups knowing which type of soap is being used, and compare.

If you wanted to test if antibacterial soap worked better than regular soap, which answer has the strongest experimental design?
1. Have people in the experiment wash with antibacterial soap first and later with regular soap and compare. 2. Have two groups of people wash with either antibacterial soap or regular soap and compare. 3. Have two groups of people wash with either antibacterial or regular soap, without knowing which type of soap is being used, and compare. 4. Have two groups of people wash with either antibacterial or regular soap, with neither the researchers nor the groups knowing which type of soap is being used, and compare.

Making Wise Decisions About Concrete Things

Does having access to a textbook help a student to perform better in a biology class?
Students who had access to a textbook scored an average of 81% 8% on their exams while those who did not scored an average of 76% 7%.

What is the average range of scores for students who do not use textbooks while studying?

1. 2. 3. 4.

90 to 100% 95% 5565% 65%

What is the average range of scores for students who do not use textbooks while studying?

1. 2. 3. 4.

90 to 100% 95% 5565% 65%

1. Pseudoscience: individuals make scientific-sounding claims that are not supported by trustworthy, methodical scientific studies. 2. Anecdotal observations: based on only one or a few observations, people conclude that there is or is not a link between two things.

Four out of five dentists surveyed recommend sugarless gum for their patients who chew gum.
How do they know what they know? Maybe the statement is factually true, but the general relationship it implies may not be.

Anecdotal Observations
do not include a sufficiently large and representative set of observations of the world data are more reliable than anecdotes

Science is a way to call the bluff of those who only pretend to knowledge. It is a bulwark against mysticism, against superstition, against religion misapplied to where it has no business being. If we re true to its values, it can tell us when we re being lied to. Carl Sagan

Can Animals Be Superstitious?

Before Tuesday. . .
Log on to Biologywithtechnology.com Make sure that you can view the syllabus and clicker registration guide. Register your clicker Watch the videos about eyewitness testimony Make a comment on the today s post.
What would you like to hear about in a Biology class? Can animals be superstitious? Did you get your clicker registered? Please use your real name and UA email.