Laboratory Investigation # 1
Investigating Science
Description of the Lab
To test your understanding of the scientific method and to gain some experience with graphing.
Outline of Investigation
Suggestion: Go over the process of the scientific method. An example over this
process would help. It would be useful to do look over the data and graph to see where
the students with have problems.
1. The Scientific Methods
Laboratory Materials and Equipment for Student Use
Preparation of laboratory Materials and Reagents
NONE
Questions for Lab #1 Investigating Science
Use the knowledge you acquired in this lab exercise, along with information from your
textbook, to answer the following questions.
1. What is a scientific hypothesis? What makes this different from a scientific theory?
A hypothesis is a question or statement derived from observation of a natural event,
2. Why is being observant key to being a good scientist?
3. Distinguish between an independent variable and a dependent variable. Explain why
an experiment may have more than one dependent variable but only one independent
variable.
The x-axis represents the independent variable or time, when taking the same
4. F.F. Blackman, an English plant physiologist, ran an experiment in which he
measured the rate of photosynthesis in unicellular green alga in different intensities of
light. He presented the data in graph form.
5. Men from outer space hypothesized that Americans are taller than 6 feet. To support
their hypothesis, they came to Earth and obtained specimens from basketball courts
throughout the United States. What’s wrong with this experiment? We say this is a
biased experiment? What does bias mean in this context?
6. On a local news program, the reporters ran an experiment to test the effectiveness of
various types of shade screens for automobiles. In a dark blue car they put a circular
shade screen made of non-reflective material. In a yellow car they put a reflective
type shade screen. After one hour they measured the temperature in both vehicles.
The two vehicles were side by side in a car lot. The one with the reflective shade
screen was cooler than the one with the circular shade screen. Therefore they
concluded that reflective shade screens are more effective. What’s wrong with this
experiment?
7. List the steps of the scientific method in the correct order.
Taken from textbook page16.