Research IWelcome to the next 4 years of your life

Year I Program Overview:

• Review the scientific method• Practice science processing skills• Write a formal proposal, which becomes the basis for the Year II

research project

What the Research Program Is

• Chance to “do” actual research• Chance to sharpen problem-solving skills• Possible advantage on college application

What the Research Program Isn’t

• Same old science fair stuff• Highly structured• Study hall for the “real” courses• Play time

What’s the Teacher’s Role?

• Organize course• Set deadlines; assess quality of work• Facilitate, facilitate, facilitate

What’s the Student’s Role?

• Manage time well• Keep organized notebook for the class• Meet deadlines• Tap in to curiosity• Generate your own ideas• Think critically

Unit 1: The Start of ResearchPart 1: Science Processing Skills

Unit 1 Learning Objectives

• Review stages of the scientific method• Identify resources that can be used to create research ideas• Generate a list of possible research topics • Write research ideas into testable questions• Identify safety and ethical issues to your research projects

Goals of Science

• Scientific theories: well-tested, widely accepted related hypotheses

*may be revised with new info• Scientific laws/law of nature: well-tested, widely accepted

descriptions of what is found repeatedly in nature *cannot be broken• Models: simulation of a natural system

Theory vs Law

Features of Scientific Processes• Curiosity• Creativity• Critical thinking• Skepticism• Reproducibility• Peer review

The Scientific Method

• An organized, logical approach to solving a problem/ answer a question. • A list of stages that guides problem solving.

Steps of Scientific Method1. Observation of a natural event a. Use of all/some of the senses (sight, taste, touch, hearing, smell)2. Ask question- only 1 at a time3. Form testable hypothesis/prediction a. null hypothesis: prediction that there is no relationship between variables4. Conduct an experiment to test hypothesis a. independent variable: factor manipulated in experiment b. dependent variable: factor reacting to independent variable

Elements of the Experiment c. control: group lacks tested variable (provides basis for comparison) 5. Collect and interpret data generated from experiment6. Conclusion: → hypothesis is accepted or → hypothesis is rejected and new hypothesis is generated7. Disseminate results a. Peer review validates results

Types of Data

• Qualitative: descriptions about characteristics that cannot be counted• Quantitative: numbers generated by counting/measuring

Results of Science

• Tentative/frontier science: results that are not yet reliable (new findings)• Reliable science: accepted by scientific consensus• Unreliable science: rejected by scientific consensus (usually

because results were not reproducible)

Unreliable Science

• Non-random sampling• Biased data selection• Small test populations• Cannot be reproduced

Limits of Science1. Scientists cannot prove or disprove anything

absolutely2. Scientists are not totally free of bias3. Natural systems involve too many variables to

control4. Statistical sampling is often used to estimate

measurements (think: probability)5. Cannot be applied to ethical questions

Scientific Method Practice

• You want to determine the effects of a certain fertilizer on the growth of orchids grown in a greenhouse. Materials that are available to you include: greenhouse, 100 orchid plants, water, fertilizer, and soil. You want to know if the orchids will grow best with a weak concentration of fertilizer, a medium concentration of fertilizer, or a high concentration of fertilizer. • What’s the question being investigated? Which concentration of fertilizer optimizes orchid growth?

Practice (cont’d)

• Research indicates that orchids are sensitive to different concentrations of chemicals found in fertilizers.• Possible hypothesis Orchids will grow best with a medium concentration of fertilizer.

And now for the experiment…100 plants will be divided into 4 groups: 25 will receive water without fertilizer

25 will receive 4 mL/L fertilized water

25 will receive 12 mL/L fertilized water

25 will receive 38 mL/L fertilized water

Which is the control group for this experiment?The 25 orchids receiving plain water

Which is the experimental group for this experiment?The 75 orchids receiving various concentrations of fertilizer

The results are in…

Group 1 (Control Group): Grew to an average height of 15 cm.

Group 2 (4mL/L.): Grew to an average height of 35 cm.

Group 3 (16mL/L): Grew to an average height of 28 cm.

Group 4 (38mL/L): Grew to an average height of 10 cm.

Is the hypothesis supported or refuted by the experiment results?RefutedHow could this experiment been improved?Repetition

What variables must be kept constant?All plants must receive the same amount of fluid each day.All plants are grown in pots of equal size. All plants are grown at the same temperature. All plants receive the same amount of sunlight.

Why must variables be kept constant?If more than one variable is changed at the same time, the scientist will not know which variable is responsible for the observed results.

Importance of Sample Size and Repetition• Results obtained by testing a large number of individuals would

be more accurate than if only a few individuals had been tested• Experiments should be repeated to see if the same results are

obtained each time. This gives validity to the test results.

Unit 1: The Start of ResearchPart 2: Research Process

Finding a Research Topic

What do I want to learn?• Entity: the subject of the research project

Finding a Research Topic (cont’d)

• www.TED.com

• www.popsci.com

• www.scientificamerican.com

Finding a Research Topic

• dsc.discovery.com/tvshows/ mythbusters

• www.scistarter.com

• search “Citizen Science”

Once a Topic is Chosen

• Refine the question you want to answer

-stay away from “why” questions (too broad, not testable)• Identify specific variables• Consider the tools needed to

conduct research

• Identify possible safety and ethical issues.