STUDY QUESTIONS THE PROCESS OF SCIENCE

By the end of this section you need to be able to do or answer the following:

Explain how science is an ongoing-process of inquiry.
What are the basic steps involved in a scientific inquiry?
Distinguish between a scientific and a non-scientific question and hypothesis.
How are models used in science? What is their value to science?
Explain the following: dependent variable, independent variable, experimental group, control group, mean, variance, standard deviation, hypothesis, theory, prediction, sample size, replicates, extrapolation, interpolation
Be able to calculate basic statistics for a data set, to graph data, and to make and evaluate predictions based on graphs.
Be able to critically evaluate a statement or article in terms of its scientific validity (e.g., source of information, experimental design, etc.)
Explain the relationship between mass, volume, and density.
Explain Boyle's law (i.e., the relationship between pressure and volume of a gas).
A mother refuses to let her child attend the same third grade class with a child known to have AIDS until doctors can assure her 100% that there is no way her child could contract AIDS from the other child in a classroom setting. Is it possible for doctors or other scientists to assure anyone that something is the absolute truth? Explain.
Explain why each of the scientists describe below is doing poor or invalid science.

A psychiatrist develops a means for analyzing individuals' personalities from physical measurements and three-way photographs. He then claims that no one other than himself has the ability to make the analysis.
An experimenter hypothesized that if A is true then B must follow. He does an experiment and learned that C (not B) is the outcome, but continues to argue that A must be true.
A botanist hypothesizes that high levels of magnesium will make con sweeter. He plants some corn, gives it lots of magnesium, and finds that the corn does taste sweet. He reports that he has proven his hypothesis.