Answer Key Scientific Inquiry
1. Describe what you see on one of the web cams.
Answer: Answers will vary. For example, a complete answer could include: “On the polar bear live camera there are two smaller bears wrestling in the water and a larger bear swimming around on one side. The big bear occasionally dives onto a large rubber ball, pushing it underwater.”
2. Formulate a question that can be explored using scientific observation and experiment.
Answer: Answers will vary. For example, a complete answer could include: “At what time of day are polar bears most likely to actively play?”
3. Give an example of a non-scientific question.
Answer: Answers will vary. For example, a complete answer could include: “Which is the best flavor of ice cream, chocolate, or strawberry?”
4. Why is this question not scientific?
Answer: Science cannot make moral or aesthetic decisions.
5. If you drop a paper airplane and a bowling ball from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa which object will hit the ground first?
Answer: From practical experience the paper airplane will take more time flying around in the wind before it gently falls to the ground.
6. Does your answer invalidate the theory of gravity?
Answer: No, but it shows that some other force might also contribute to this scenario.
7. Provide a scientific hypothesis as to why the paper airplane might travel at a slower speed.
Answer: The speed depends not only on gravity; air resistance, drag, and surface area must also be considered.
8. Give an example in everyday language where the use of “fact” is different from scientific facts.
Answer: Answers will vary. For example, a complete answer could include: “I would like my children to learn the facts of life.
9. Give an example in everyday language where the use of “law” is different from scientific laws.
Answer: Answers will vary. For example, a complete answer could include: “Driving over 70 miles per hour is against the law.
10. Give an example in everyday language where the use of “theory” is different from scientific theories.
Answer: Answers will vary. For example, a complete answer could include: “I have a theory that every time I leave my umbrella at home it will rain.
11. Discuss whether the following hypotheses are scientific: A) All sheep are white; B) There is life on Mars; C) Dogs make better pets than cats; D) the Sun always rises in the East.
Answer: Hypothesis A is falsifiable and therefore scientific. All we have to do is find one sheep that is not white (black for example). Hypothesis B is non-scientific because there is no way to show beyond a doubt that there is not life on Mars. Hypothesis C is also non-scientific because it is a matter of subjective preference whether one prefers dogs or cats as pets. Hypothesis D is scientific because it is falsifiable. If the Sun were to rise in the North one day, for example, the hypothesis would be false.
12. In the NASA fruit fly experiment, where is the control group?
Answer: The control group is kept in identical containers in the lab on the ground.
13. What is the purpose of the control group of fruit flies?
Answer: The purpose of the control group is to serve as a comparison to the flies in space.
14. Give another example of important scientific research that is often dismissed as “just a theory.”
Answer: Examples of scientific discoveries that are often dismissed as “just a theory” are biological evolution, the big bang origin of the universe, and global climate change.
15. Is the hypothesis that reindeer can fly falsifiable?
Answer: No, there is no way we can prove that reindeer cannot magically fly.
16. Is there a place in our society for the idea that reindeer can fly?
Answer: Yes, the idea that reindeer can fly has a place in the fantasy of childhood.
17. Consider estimates for the parameters in the Drake equation and enter them into the correct field as follows: R=10, Fp=0.5, Ne=2, Fl=1, Fi=0.01, Fc=0.01, L=10,000. What does the Drake equation estimate as the number of communicative civilizations?
Answer: Using the given estimates for the parameters, the Drake equation calculates the presence of one other civilization that could establish contact.
18. Can you think of another experiment that you could do with a Twinkie? Describe the test.
Answer: Answers will vary. For example, a complete answer could include: “Conduct a pressure test. See how the Twinkie reacts to changes in pressure. Measure the length and circumference of two Twinkies at sea level. Leave one control subject (Twinkie 1) at sea level and take the test subject (Twinkie 2) in your backpack on a hike up to the base camp of Mt. Everest. Re-measure the Twinkie at regular intervals of altitude change.
 

Study Questions Scientific Inquiry
1. Describe what you see on one of the web cams.



2. Formulate a question that can be explored using scientific observation and experiment.



3. Give an example of a non-scientific question.



4. Why is this question not scientific?



5. If you drop a paper airplane and a bowling ball from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa which object will hit the ground first?



6. Does your answer invalidate the theory of gravity?



7. Provide a scientific hypothesis as to why the paper airplane might travel at a slower speed.



8. Give an example in everyday language where the use of “fact” is different from scientific facts.



9. Give an example in everyday language where the use of “law” is different from scientific laws.



10. Give an example in everyday language where the use of “theory” is different from scientific theories.



11. Discuss whether the following hypotheses are scientific: A) All sheep are white; B) There is life on Mars; C) Dogs make better pets than cats; D) the Sun always rises in the East.



12. In the NASA fruit fly experiment, where is the control group?



13. What is the purpose of the control group of fruit flies?



14. Give another example of important scientific research that is often dismissed as “just a theory.”



15. Is the hypothesis that reindeer can fly falsifiable?



16. Is there a place in our society for the idea that reindeer can fly?



17. Consider estimates for the parameters in the Drake equation and enter them into the correct field as follows: R=10, Fp=0.5, Ne=2, Fl=1, Fi=0.01, Fc=0.01, L=10,000. What does the Drake equation estimate as the number of communicative civilizations?



18. Can you think of another experiment that you could do with a Twinkie? Describe the test.



 

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