Science Wars: Inquiry Challenge

Working with your group, determine what the best answer is. Once you have agreed on the correct answer, you must explain why you chose that answer. In order to ensure that all group members participate, you must discuss the answer until you reach an agreed upon answer and rotate who writes the answers. The class that earns the most points will win brownies!

  1. Colleen waters the plants in her greenhouse once every day. She wants to find out if the plants will grow more leaves if they are watered more often. She counts the number of leaves on each plant before she starts. She then continues to water half of each type of plant once daily, but she waters the other half of each type twice a day. What is the outcome variable in Colleen’s experiment?
  1. the type of plant being grown
  2. the amount of light the plants receive
  3. the number of leaves the plants grow
  4. the number of times the plants are watered

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. Using a new computer modeling technique, astronomers predict the location of a massive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy. In this example, how is technology helpful to the astronomers?
  1. It helps them discard inaccurate data and improve their hypothesis.
  2. It allows them to observe things they may not be able to see with their eyes.
  3. It makes it easy for them to develop new experiments and collect data.
  4. It permits them to share their results with the rest of the scientific community.

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. Christy wants to find out if the birds that visit the bird feeders in her backyard would rather build nests in birdhouses or in trees. She puts a birdhouse next to the feeder containing sunflower seeds and hangs a feeder containing cracked corn from a tree. She observes the birds’ nesting activities over the next two weeks and records her observations. Which of the following would improve Christy’s investigation?
  1. putting more food in both bird feeders
  2. putting the same kind of food in both bird feeders
  3. setting the feeders up closer to each other
  4. setting up a third bird feeder containing fruit near a bird bath

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. Coral is making a model of a water molecule using colored balls and sticks. Which of the following best describes an advantage that her ball-and-stick model has over a model drawing of a water molecule?
  1. It shows motion of the molecule’s atoms.
  2. It shows the shape of the molecule in three dimensions.
  3. It shows the size of the molecule’s atoms to scale.
  4. It shows the parts of the molecule with the correct colors.

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. A teacher is giving a demonstration to show how a metal reacts with different acids. He places a small piece of the metal in each of three beakers containing a solution of a different acid. He adds a piece of the metal to a fourth beaker that contains only water. What is the purpose of the fourth beaker?
  1. It ensures that the hypothesis will be correct.
  2. It adds an independent variable to the experiment.
  3. It provides more data to include in a lab report
  4. It is the control and serves as the basis for comparison.

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. Francesca creates a model that shows the movement of the tectonic plates of the Earth’s surface. If she wants to use the model to understand the concept of how a mountain is formed, how does that model help her?
  1. It shows all of the plates in the correct layout.
  2. It displays details that cannot be seen in a drawing.
  3. It explains in detail how mountains are formed.
  4. It speeds up a process that takes millions of years.

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. The science club at Tracy’s school is researching how temperature affects fish reproduction. They conducted a study to find out if raising the water temperature would decrease the number of bass eggs that hatched. They gathered bass eggs from a local lake and put half of them in each of ten small aquariums in the lab. Half of the aquariums were kept at room temperature, and the other half were placed in a sunny window. One student recorded that nearly 80% of the room temperature eggs hatched, while only 50% of the eggs kept in the window hatched. Another student found no difference in the hatch rate. What should their next step be?
  1. The science club should ignore the results of the second student.
  2. The science club should repeat the experiment again and compare the two sets of results.
  3. The science club should conduct an experiment with another type of fish egg.
  4. The science club should use the results to conclude that an increase in temperature decreases the hatch rate of the eggs.

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. A biologist hypothesizes that a squirrel’s body size is affected by the inclusion of a particular type of food in its diet. Which is the best method the scientist could use to prove this hypothesis?
  1. Collect data by observing the squirrels eating food in the wild.
  2. Analyze data from existing scientific studies on the different types of food.
  3. Design a controlled experiment to test different types of food.
  4. Develop a theoretical model to predict how the food type will affect body size.

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. Carol is doing a science fair project for her science class. She wants to investigate how the amount of water given to a plant affects its growth. She tests 30 plants and is careful to record how much water each plant gets. She also controls the type and amount of soil in each pot and the number of seeds in each pot. She uses 1 cup of water each day for her control group, giving 1 cup of water to ten plants and she gives 2 cups of water to ten plants, and 3 cups of water to ten plants. When it is time to present her project, she concludes that the plants getting 3 cups of water a day grew better than the control group that received 1 cup of water a day or the plants receiving 2 cups of water each day. Which additional piece of information is most important to include if someone wants to reproduce Carol’s experiment?
  1. the color of the pots
  2. the type of plants used
  3. the school she attends
  4. the type of measuring cup

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. Bernard is designing a new boat. His first step is to use a computer modeling software to create and test his design in simulated weather and wave conditions. How does Bernard benefit from using a computer-generated model instead of a full-sized boat?
  1. It is more cost-effective and safer for him to test.
  2. It allows him to observe things he could not normally see.
  3. It is easier to communicate his findings to others.
  4. It proves that his design will work in real weather conditions.

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. Two scientists are conducting similar experiments. The results of their experiments are very different. Which of the following would be best for the scientists to do next?
  1. Assume that both scientists are correct.
  2. Redo the experiments to see who is correct.
  3. Change the experiment that is incorrect.
  4. Determine that both scientists are incorrect.

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. A scientist makes a major new discovery that provides some evidence that a different approach to gene therapy might be helpful. Which of the following should happen next?
  1. Her work must be proven wrong.
  2. Her work must be published on the Internet.
  3. Her work must be repeated by other scientists.
  4. Her work should be used in treating patients.

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. Mandy wanted to see if a new, environmentally-friendly pesticide will prevent insect damage to tomato plants. After making her hypothesis, she conducts her experiment. She treats five tomato plants with traditional pesticide and five with the new pesticide. Mandy also leaves five plants untreated as a control. She makes careful notes of how she set up her experiment and then records her data about all of the plants. Why is it important for Mandy to record her procedures and data accurately?
  1. so that the hypothesis will always be correct
  2. so that society does not waste money on buying pesticides that do not work
  3. so that she can look intelligent when she presents her data
  4. so that other scientists can replicate the experiment and make sure the results are correct

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. Alex and Jennifer conducted an experiment to test reaction times in grabbing a meter stick after it is dropped. They each tested 15 friends. Alex dropped the meter stick for his friends and Jennifer dropped the meter stick for her friends while the other one timed the reactions. Jennifer’s friends reacted, on average, 0.9 seconds faster than Alex’s friends. Jennifer concluded that her friends were faster. Which of the following should she do next to check her results?
  1. Try a different reaction time experiment.
  2. Repeat the experiment as it was done the first time but using only Jennifer’s friends.
  3. Try the experiment again, this time using a ruler instead of a meter stick.
  4. Repeat the experiment and have one person drop the meter stick for all the friends tested.

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. A student conducted a microbiology experiment and put his data into a table. Based on the data he collected, he states that bacteria increased by 15 every 20 minutes. What would be the best thing for him to do next?
  1. Write a conclusion for his experiment.
  2. Design a hypothesis for the experiment.
  3. Repeat his experiment and record the missing data.
  4. Run the experiment for a longer amount of time.

Why did you choose this answer?

  1. A biologist studies all living things. A geologist studies rocks and minerals. Create a double bubble map that compares and contrasts how a biologist and a geologist would go about setting up an experiment and finding an answer to his/her problem. In the frame of reference, list other types of scientists that would use the same methods. In your summary paragraph (4-5 sentences), describe the process used by ALL scientists to understand the world around them.
  1. James hypothesis states “If you increase the height the ball is dropped from, then it will bounce higher because it gathers more energy as it falls.” Create a data table that supports James’ hypothesis.