CER Practice - Ig Nobel

CER Practice - Ig Nobel

Claim - Evidence - Reasoning​

CER​

Claim - the answer to the research question

Evidence - data and observations that support the claim

Reasoning - the scientific principle that describes why the evidence supports the claim

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Michael L Smith won an Ig Nobel Prize for determining the most painful body part to receive a honey bee sting.​

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2015

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Research Question:

Which part of the body does a honey bee sting hurt the most?​

Multiple Choice

Mr. Smith stung himself with honey bees. On a scale of 1-10, he noticed stings at the nostril and upper lip had an average pain rating of 9 and 8.7, respectively.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

The nostril is the most painful location for a honey bee sting. The upper lip is the 2nd most painful.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

Measured neural activity show increased sensitivity at thumb, tongue, lips, and digits

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

Pain is more intense at locations with thinner skin.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Dr. Unger won the Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine for finding no correlation between knuckle cracking and arthritis.

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2009

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Research Question:

Does knuckle cracking lead to arthritis of the fingers?

Multiple Choice

Knuckle cracking does not lead to arthritis of the fingers.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

It is possible that there is an osteoarthritis preventative therapeutic benefit from the exercise effect on joint lubrication resulting from habitual knuckle cracking.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

For 50 years, the author deliberately cracked knuckles on his left hand twice a day but did not do the same to his right hand. At the end of 50 years, the hands were compared. There was no arthritis in either hand, and no apparent difference between hands.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

A group of scientists won an Ig Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering that white horses are more "horse-fly proof."​

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2015

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Research Question:

What is the effect of horse color on horsefly attraction?

Multiple Choice

Brown test surfaces trapped 21 horseflies while white test surfaces attracted 1 horsefly.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

Horseflies are attracted to higher polarization of light reflected from dark surfaces. Since white animals reflect light with lower polarization, fewer horseflies are attracted to white horses.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

Horseflies are less attracted to white horses than dark horses.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

Brown horses stay 2.2x longer in horsefly-free shady forest than white horses.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

Black horse models trapped 25.5x more horseflies than white horse models.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

A group of scientists won an Ig Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering that all animals above 3kg finish peeing at roughly the same time.

2015

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Research Question:

What is the effect of body size on urination flow/time?

Multiple Choice

Duration of urination does not change with body size.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

Urination time is highly sensitive to urethral cross-section. Larger animals have larger bladders, but they also have larger urethral cross-sections, resulting in a greater flow rate. Thus, larger bladders are offset by greater flow rates.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

Scientists observed 32 animals across six orders of magnitude of body mass (from 0.03 to 8000 kg.) Despite this wide range in mass, urination time remained constant for all animals heavier than 3kg.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

A group of scientists won an Ig Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a way to extract vanilla from cow dung.​

2007

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Research Question:

How can livestock excrement be disposed of efficiently and safely?

Multiple Choice

Cow feces can be used to produce vanilla extract.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

By heating up cow dung under different pressures and using liquid chromatography for analysis, scientists were able to extract vanillic acid and vanillin from cow dung. Vanillic acid and vanillin could not be extracted from tiger dung using the same process.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

Multiple Choice

Vanilla can be produced from a bipolymer known as lignin, which is found in wood pulp. Cows, which are herbivores, have lignin in their excrement, Carnivores, like tigers, do not.

• Claim

• Evidence

• Reasoning

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