Author: Biology Junction Team

Scientist Brochure Webquest

 

Famous Scientists Webquest

Introduction

     The government needs a brilliant scientist to head its new department: The Scientific Masters of Applied Research and Technology (SMART). Using an amazing new technology, you can actually become another person with injections of their DNA! (This is “science fiction”!) You will be going on a job interview for this most prestigious job! You need to prepare for the interview by compiling an awesome brochure for your resume. After all interviews have been completed, the class will display the scientists who will potentially become the new National Director of SMART!

The Task

You are to create a brochure with information about your scientist. Below is a list of information you should include in the brochure:

  • educational background
  • previous job experience
  • special interests, hobbies
  • contributions to the scientific world
  • organization memberships
  • special honors awarded

Resources

     You may use internet resources as well as library resources to gather information about your men and women scientists.  Below is a list of helpful websites to use for your research:

The Process

     FIRST, you will choose one of the following scientific fields to research:

  • Biology

  • Environmental science

  • Zoology

NEXT, choose one scientist to research.  Print or write out the resume and complete the       information about your scientist.

BIOLOGISTS
Alice Catherine Evans
Stephen Jay Gould
Rosalind Franklin
Barbara McClintock
Lynn Harper
Myra Adele Logan
Angella Ferguson
Gertrude B. Elion

ZOOLOGISTS/ ENVIRONMENTALISTS
Rachel Carson
Aldo Leopold
Margaret Morse Nice
Dian Fossey
Jane Goodall
Eugenie Clark

    THEN, using the resume worksheet, complete the information as described below to assist you in completing your bibliography.

  • Name: (The name of the scientist you researched)

  • Country of Birth: (Where the scientist was born)

  • Date of Birth/Date of Death: (birthday and date deceased if applicable)

  • Education: (List the names of colleges attended and majors studied during college)

  • Job Experience: (List relevant job experience)

  • Awards Received: (What awards has your scientist received?)

  • Contributions to the Scientific World: (What has your scientist done help the world be a better place?)

  • Interests/Hobbies: (Scientists have other interests; list them if you can find what else they may be interested in)

  • Miscellaneous: (You may add any other interesting information to your biography such as books your scientist has written, memberships to scientific societies, etc.

    Finally, create a brochure (flyer) using the information from your scientist’s resume.  Be creative with the brochure and include pictures.

     How to make a brochure in Publisher

BACK

Scientific Method Solution

Scientific Method Solution

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Scientific Method Notes: Questions, Evidence, and Scientific Inquiry

Biology Foundations and Lab Skills Teaching Resources · High school biology; AP extensions where noted.

Biologists investigate questions using observations, comparisons, experiments, models, and existing data. A classroom sequence can help organize work, but research does not always follow one fixed list of steps. Scientists revisit ideas when evidence, methods, or questions change.

Learning goals and prerequisites

Students will distinguish an observation, hypothesis, prediction, and conclusion; identify what evidence could challenge an explanation; and recognize both experimental and observational research. No prior laboratory experience is required. Materials: paper and the example below.

Terms with a biological example

  • Observation: a recorded feature or measurement. “Seedlings beside the window are taller” describes a pattern; it does not yet explain its cause.
  • Question: a focused problem that evidence could help answer. “How does daily light duration affect seedling height after ten days?” is more testable than “Which plant is best?”
  • Hypothesis: a proposed explanation. For example, differences in light exposure may contribute to the height difference. Other explanations remain possible.
  • Prediction: an expected observation under specified conditions if an explanation is useful. State what would be measured, when, and compared with what. A predicted direction requires a biological reason; less light does not always mean a shorter seedling.
  • Evidence: observations analyzed in relation to the question, with attention to uncertainty and alternative explanations.
  • Conclusion: a statement explaining what the evidence supports and where the inference stops.

Plan a fair comparison

In a simple experiment, change the selected factor and keep other relevant conditions comparable. Define the response before collecting data. Use independent experimental units, repeat the comparison where practical, and assign treatments fairly. Measuring one plant ten times improves information about that plant; it does not create ten independent plants.

In an observational study, a researcher may measure variables without assigning a treatment. A relationship between two variables alone does not establish that one caused the other. Confounding factors and the sampling method matter.

Work through the example

  1. List two possible explanations for the window-side pattern.
  2. Choose one question and define how height will be measured.
  3. Describe a comparison that separates light duration from water supply as far as the classroom setup allows.
  4. Explain why several plants under each condition are more useful than a single plant per condition.
  5. Write a result that would make you reconsider your explanation.

Check understanding

Must a hypothesis be correct? No. It must be open to examination with evidence. An unsupported prediction can still lead to useful learning. Does a hypothesis turn into a law after enough experiments? No. Hypotheses, theories, and laws serve different roles; they are not levels on a ladder. Must all biology involve a controlled experiment? No. Field observations and comparisons can also provide evidence.

Teaching note: Ask students to justify revisions rather than reward a predicted result. For AP extension, discuss random assignment, independent replication, and the difference between evidence for a pattern and evidence for a mechanism.

Related teaching resources

Sources and further reading

Scientific Method & Blood Flow

 

Scientific Method & Blood

 

INTRODUCTION:

In this lab you will learn to form a hypothesis, conduct experiments around that hypothesis, and collect and analyze data. One of the most important characteristics of modern science is its quantitative approach to solving problems. One of the first scientists to use quantitative methods was William Harvey, who discovered that blood circulated through the body. At the time Harvey began his work, anatomists believed that the liver produced blood from the food that the body consumed. The blood was then carried by veins to the heart, purified in the lungs, and then pumped to the various organs of the body, where it was consumed. Harvey measured that the left ventricle of the heart held roughly 100 ml of blood. He also measured that the heart beats an average of 64 times per minute.

QUESTION 1:

From the information above, and assuming that 1 ml of blood weighs 1 g, how much blood would the body need to produce per hour in ( g/hr.) to replace the blood consumed by the organs? _______g/hr.

Harvey hypothesized that the same blood must circulate continuously throughout the body.

MATERIALS:

Watch with second hand, or clock

PROCEDURE:

  1. While sitting quietly at your desk, find the pulse in your wrist and count the beats for one minute. You and your lab partner can do this on yourselves, or each other. Record the names of both subjects and their beats per minute heart rate on DATA TABLE 1 as sample 1.
  2. Repeat step 1 two more times for each subject. Record the data in the appropriate place on DATA TABLE 1.
  3. Calculate the average pulse rate for each subject and record the results on DATA TABLE 1.

How do you think standing or holding your breath will affect your pulse rate? ______________________________________________________

QUESTION 2:

Choose one of these activities and formulate a hypothesis about its effect on pulse rate. What is the independent variable? What is the dependent variable?

Hypothesis _______________________________________________

Independent Variable _______________________________________

Dependent Variable ________________________________________

  1. Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 for each subject, this time with the subjects standing or holding their breath. Record your data and calculations in the appropriate DATA TABLE

 

 

DATA TABLE 1: Resting heart rate
NUMBER OF BEATS PER MINUTE AVERAGE NUMBER OF
BEATS PER MINUTE
SUBJECT sample 1 sample 2 sample 3

 

 

 

DATA TABLE 2: Heart rate standing
NUMBER OF BEATS PER MINUTE AVERAGE NUMBER OF
BEATS PER MINUTE
SUBJECT sample 1 sample 2 sample 3

 

 

 

DATA TABLE 3: Heart rate holding breath
NUMBER OF BEATS PER MINUTE AVERAGE NUMBER OF
BEATS PER MINUTE
SUBJECT sample 1 sample 2 sample 3

 

Conclusion:  Compare your data from step 4 with your data from step 3.

1. How do your results in step 4 compare with the hypothesis you made?

 

2. What measurement did you use as a control in this investigation?

 

3. What are some possible sources of error in this experiment?

Scientific Method puzzle

Scientific Method

Find each term and then define it on the back of the paper.

 

 

Y N B E L F U N I J M H T N M
H O E N B G W N C G W N Q S Y
A I R X H Y P O T H E S I S C
C T E A P L K J V D V L Y R O
H A A L U E Q G N I O F E C N
A V X D B P R E X R S P G F C
R R C E B A P I T O E H S F L
T E G T R E I N M A H T I K U
I S E S D R O R T E A Y S A S
E B K N V C O A A B N Q Y V I
I O I Q T V B R L V K T L P O
S X Q R F L L E S H J S A P N
B I T N E D N E P E D X N V B
Q O N I Y K Z H E L Q Z A J P
T E S T I N G H P A R G N R O

 

 

 

ANALYSIS CHART CONCLUSION
CONTROL DATA DEPENDENT
ERRORS EXPERIMENT GRAPH
HYPOTHESIS INDEPENDENT OBSERVATION
REPEATABLE TABLE TESTING
VARIABLE

 

 

 

 

Solution