Discovery and the Scientific Method (Week 1 of 2) – Make Up Module

Go to Lab Unit 2 – Week 2 

Pre-Lab

Complete the following before you come to lab: 

Click to get Pre-Lab Assignment

• Read the lab 2 unit (pp. 13-15, pp. 18-21), and Appendix E (pp. 222).
• View the following:
  • How Science Works Interactive – Use this resource to learn about the process of science and to build your Experimental Design Project (see last bullet for project information). Choose “Standard” and then “Intro” once in the interactive. 
  • Experimental design interactive – Click on “Start Interactive”, then use the arrow buttons in the upper left to navigate through the interactive.  Review the Steps of the Scientific Method and see how this relates to the Keystone Species Example research by Dr. Robert Paine.  Answer the provided questions in the Pre-Lab.  
• Scientific Investigation and Experimental Design Components – Read the Abstract and Methods in the following research paper.  Journal of Medical Entomology Bed Bug study, concerning habitat color preference.

Experimental Design Project Information – overview

• Design Project Description
• Experimental Design Timeline
• General Lab Report Rubric for Progress Report – focus on written Methods and Results that will be turned in for the Progress Report due later in the semester (see Lab Schedule) 
• Final Presentation Structure
• Full Presentation Guide and Rubric (see Lab Schedule)

How to record your Presentation in Zoom and save to the cloud.  For screen sharing and recording, you may need to unlock/enable permissions from your computer preferences menu (not zoom preferences).  ALSO REMEMBER TO PROVIDE THE ZOOM PASSWORD with your Zoom link on your title slide.

In-Lab

Review the background information provided in the lab manual about Pill bugs and/or Sow bugs (types of Isopods) and the provided list and pictures of available materials.  From this information, start to think about some questions you may want to explore in your experiment and formulate a Hypothesis to record on page 21 in your lab manual.  Then design an experiment and identify all the listed experimental variables.  Careful planning is key to designing a good experiment.

Scan your completed page 21 (other pages if needed) and detailed plan for your experiment and email it to your TA.

Experiment Materials and Supply List

Below are pictures of some possible materials: (click on pictures to enlarge)

Since you are not actually in lab, you will not be able to set up your own experiments and collect the resulting data.  Instead, we will provide the following brief experimental description and data for you to graph.  Contemplate if you will include all data points or data averages when considering what type of graph would best represent/summarize the data and experiment.

Provided Pill Bug Experiment Data

To construct a proper Graph, review Lab Manual Appendix D Graphing Using Excel (p. 220 for key components), Appendix E Understanding and Representing Data.  Graphs should be produced using a graphing program, such as Excel or Google Sheets.  NCSU Student can download Microsoft Office 365 from NC State’s OIT(opens in new window)  software site) for free.  You will also need to include a written summary paragraph along with your graph.

Upload your own graph and written summary in Moodle before coming to lab next week (Lab 2 Week 2).  (5 pts)

Be prepared to share your experiment, results and graph with your TA /class once you are back in class.  

Post-Lab

• Complete the questions 1-4 on page 27-28 of the lab manual. Scan and upload your completed lab manual questions to the Moodle lab site and start your Initial Experimental Design Project planning.
• What can you conclude about Pill Bugs/Sow bugs from the graph you constructed? 

Additional Information