Blast from the Past- Scientific Inquiry

​Blast from the Past

By Shannon Gillis

1| Scientific Method
2| Biochemistry
3| Cells

1. Making Observations

2. Asking Scientific Questions

3. Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

4. Analyzing and Interpreting Data

5. Constructing explanations

The unit on Scientific Inquiry centered around the idea that we are surrounded by natural phenomena that can be explored using science. We worked to review and improve our skills in the following areas:

Unit 1 - Scientific Inquiry

Asking Questions

We spent a lot of time working on how to ask scientific questions and learned that different questions can be asked to investigate different scientific concepts.

Rigor 1: Googleable- "What is climate change?"
Rigor 2: Predictive- "When will flooding affect coastal communities?"
Rigor 3: Investigating Variables- "How does temperature change affect coral reefs?"
Rigor 4: Argumentative- "Should solar energy replace fossil fuels for energy?"

Multiple Choice

What is a hypothetical question that investigates how changing one variable would affect the phenomenon observing?

• What is Global Warming?

• When will the global glaciers all melt?

• How does increasing the burning of fossil fuels affect glacier size?

• Should we limit the amount of carbon emissions to help reduce global warming?

Open Ended

Many students chose the argumentative question "Should we limit the amount of carbon emissions to help reduce global warming?" Although there is a variable in the question, "carbon emissions", why would it not a testable questions and instead considered an argumentative question?

Multiple Choice

Similarly, there was confusion about which of the follow was classified as a clarifying question? Which option is asking a question that has one answer that could be found using a simple search engine?

• What is Global Warming?

• When will the global glaciers all melt?

• How do I convince people that climate change is due to human activity?

• Should we limit the amount of carbon emissions to help reduce global warming?

Let's look at the other options...

"When will the global glaciers all melt?" would be considered a rigor 2 or predictive question that doesn't have an exact answer because we can not travel into the future.
"How do I convince people that climate change is due to human activity?" would also be a predictive question because we don't have an exact answer to this question.
"Should we limit the amount of carbon emissions to help reduce global warming?" would be an argumentative question because there are two sides or opinions that are going against each other.

Multiple Choice

There was also confusion about the following question.

A student makes a claim that the Lyell Glacier changed in size between 1901 and 2011 because there was a rise in global temperatures. Which question, when investigated, includes a factor that caused the initial rise in global temperatures?

• How did planting more trees impact global temperatures?

• What effect did changes in glacial ice have on global temperatures?

• Which season most affected global temperatures?

• How did the burning of fossil fuels affect global temperatures?

Open Ended

Why do you think so many students chose option 2: What effect did changes in glacial ice have on global temperatures?

Multiple Select

Does the melting of glaciers affect global temperatures? (select all that apply)

• No, increasing global temperatures affect the melting of glaciers.

• No, melting glaciers affect sea level not global temperatures.

• No, melting glaciers do not affect global temperatures.

• Yes, I still think that melting glaciers affect global temperatures.

​Many questions referred to these two graphs...

Identify the Independent and Dependent Variables for each graph and explaining the trends and patterns is VERY IMPORTANT!

Part of investigating scientific phenomena involves identifying patterns and trends in data.

Draw

Circle the independent variable for each graph. It is the variable that the investigator CAN NOT CHANGE or MANIPULATE. It is usually plotted along the X-AXIS!

Draw

Circle the Dependent variable for each graph. It is the variable that is collected as DATA by the investigator and will DEPEND or CHANGE based on the independent variable.

Although there will most likely not be a questions specifically asking ayou to convert a measurement from one unit to another. I is very likely you will see a questions where the correct answer is a conversion and not the unit you are expecting.

​

For this question from the exam "How much did the Sea level change from 1980 to 2000?" you would expect the answer to be in the unit mm, since that is what the y-axis data is measured in.

According the the graph, the sea level changed 45mm. Unfortunately, that is not one of the options available for an answer.

Multiple Choice

How much did the Sea level change from 1980 to 2000?

Which option is equal to 45mm? When converting to cm, move the decimal one to the left.

• 45g

• 4.5mm

• 45ml

• 4.5cm

Many questions referred to this experiment to test your ability to plan and conduct an investigation.

​

Planning and Carrying out Investigations

Bob had a hydrangea plant that produced blue flowers. He moved his plant to a different container and the next time the plant flowered, they were pink! He tested the soils and found that the pH or acidity of the soil in one pot was higher than the other.

Multiple Choice

What is the independent variable for this investigation (something the investigator would be in direct control of when running the experiment)?

• Flower Color

• Flower Size

• Time

• pH (acidity)

Multiple Choice

What is the dependent variable for this investigation (the data that is being collected and is dependent on the pH)?

• Flower Color

• Flower Size

• Time

• pH (acidity)

Multiple Choice

Bob had a hydrangea plant that produced blue flowers. He moved his plant to a different container and the next time the plant flowered, they were pink! He tested the soils and found that the pH or acidity of the soil in one pot was higher than the other.

What is a directional hypothesis that specifies what happens to a dependent variable when an independent variable is manipulated.

• If the color of the hydrangea changes, the the soil will become more acidic.

• How does the pH of soil affect the color of a hydrangea flower?

• If the acidity of the soil increases, then the hydrangea flower will get larger.

• If the acidity of the soil increases, then the color of the flower will change to pink.