5415 mark dabling boulevard colorado springs, co...

K E N D A L L / H U N T P U B L I S H I N G C O M P A N Y

4 0 5 0 W e s t m a r k D r i v e D u b u q u e , I o w a 5 2 0 0 2

5415 Mark Dabling Boulevard

Colorado Springs, CO 80918-3842

KH4119_Chapter Engage_001 3/18/05 2:40 PM

2

“The whole of science is nothing more than

a refinement of everyday thinking.”

Albert Einstein, Out of My Later Years, 1950

KH4119_Chapter Engage_001-013 03/16/05 2:59 PM

3

Being a ScientistWhen faced with a problem or a puzzle, how do you figure things out? You might

answer, “I think about them.” But are you aware of how you think? This biologyprogram focuses on science as one of the ways humans understand and explain theirworld. The activities throughout this program encourage you to think as a scientistdoes. This short section is titled Engage because it engages you in the type ofexperiences that you will have in this course.

Cooperating like a ScientistImagine a scientist at work. Do you see a man in a white coat working alone?

Scientists come in all shapes and sizes—men and women from all cultures—and theyrarely work in isolation. This picture shows a group of scientists working together.Usually, two or more scientists work cooperatively to make scientific breakthroughspossible. In this activity, we will look at the role that cooperation plays in science.

ACTIVITIESACTIVITIES

EngageEngage

ExplainExplain

EvaluateEvaluate

ExploreExplore

ElaborateElaborate

Cooperating like a Scientist

Communicating like a Scientist

Thinking as a Scientist Thinks

Recording Data in Your Scientific Journal

You and the Science of Biology

EngageEngage


4 ENGAGE: Cooperating like a Scientist

PROCESS AND PROCEDURES

1. Write a paragraph in response to this question: How do we do science?

2. Your teacher will assign lab partners randomly. Exchange paragraphs withyour lab partner and discuss the differences among your ideas.

3. Join another pair of lab partners as directed by your teacher so that you have ateam of 4 together at 1 table to play the radar game.

4. Choose 2 people to be “blinds” (persons wearing blindfolds) and 2 people tobe “helpers.” The people who are blinds will stay blindfolded and remainseated for this entire activity.

5. Have the 2 students who will be the blinds sit on the same side of the table.Helpers sit on the opposite side of the table. Blinds must stay seated.

6. From this point on, you must follow these rules:

Game Rules

a. Helpers may not touch any materials or the blinds. (If a blind drops something,however, helpers may retrieve the material and give it back to the blinds.)

b. Helpers may not talk. They may not talk to the teacher, their blinds, or other helpers or blinds from other teams. Helpers may not speak to answer a question even if a blind asks. Helpers pretend that they are completely mute.

c. Helpers and blinds may not use any materials other than those your teacherinstructed you to get after the blindfolds were in place.

d. Blinds may talk. They may talk to each other, to the teacher, to their helpers, and to helpers and blinds from other teams.

e. Blinds may touch the materials.

7. Obtain a clean blindfold from your teacher. Now, helpers blindfold theirblinds. Your teacher will give instructions to the helpers as soon as all theblinds in the class are blindfolded.

8. Follow the instructions given by your teacher.

9. Participate in a class discussion of your success rate with the radar activity.Answer the following questions:

a. How did you do?

b. How did you feel?

c. Why did you feel the way you did?

d. If you could change the rules of the radar game, how would you change them?

e. How does this game relate to the work that scientists do?


EXPLORE: Communicating like a Scientist 5

10. Look back at the paragraph you wrote in step 1. Write another short paragraph that explains the role that communication plays in doing science.

Communicating like a Scientist The radar game required cooperation. You will continue to develop and use

cooperation skills throughout this program. You will also develop other skills ofworking like a scientist, such as strong communication habits. One of the mostimportant jobs for a scientist is to accurately record ideas and data to share with otherscientists and the public.

Like a scientist, you will keep a scientific journal throughout this course. Theaccuracy with which you describe events in your journal is important because this willenable you to compare your observations with those of others. For example, your recordsshould provide important information about what might have caused differences ininvestigations that you and your classmates do in your classroom.

A scientific journal also helps scientists communicate with others about theirwork so that their peers and the public can review their work. Accurate record-keeping makes it possible for scientists to repeat experiments and see if they canobtain the same results. This replication process is essential for scientists and societyto trust an investigator.

Your classmates depend on you to keep accurate records of your investigations sothat your class can analyze results effectively. In addition, your teacher will evaluate yourjournal. It is important for your journal to be well organized and to represent your workthoroughly so that your teacher can give you credit for your accomplishments.

Materials

spiral notebook soft pencil (#2)blank drawing paper unknown objects


Part A Your Scientific Journal: Recording Your Thoughts and

Observations

1. Read Appendix B, Technique 1 Journals, on page 690.

2. From your reading, list the key points that you need to remember about

a. recording data,

b. responding to questions,

c. taking notes,

d. keeping track of your questions,

e. keeping track of your responsibilities, and

f. using your journal during assessment.

ExploreExplore


6 EXPLORE: Communicating like a Scientist

3. Your teacher will provide you with a rubric to help you evaluate your journaltechniques. Read and discuss the rubric with your partner. Record any questions you have about journal evaluation.

4. Participate in a class discussion about journal techniques. Think about thefollowing questions:

a. What are the differences between keeping a science journal and writing alaboratory report?

b. What do you think sounds the most interesting about keeping a sciencejournal?

c. What part of keeping a science journal sounds the most challenging?

Part B Using Drawings to Record Observations

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” This familiar saying can be true when youare recording scientific observations. In your journal, you must carefully describe theobservations that you make, and a drawing can be an excellent way to describe anobject. In this activity, you will work on the art of making careful observations. You do not need any drawing skills to be able to learn to sketch what you see.

Observing and Describing

1. You and your partner are going to work as a team. One person will be theobserver, and the other will identify an object without seeing or touching it.

2. The observer will select an object in the room without showing it to his or herpartner.

Art Terms

� Line: This can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal, broken, wavy, and so forth. Length is the most important dimension of line.

� Space: The area between, around, above, below, or within.

� Shape: Shapes can be geometric or lack a specific form. Shape is the length andwidth of an object.

� Form: There are five fundamental forms in nature: sphere, cube, cone, pyramid, andcylinder.

� Texture: The surface quality of an object. This can either be a real texture that you can feel or a visible texture that you see. It is the look and feel of the surface of anobject.

� Value: The relative lightness or darkness of areas.

� Color: Comprised of three distinct properties:

a. hue: the name of a color

b. value: the lightness (tint) or darkness (shade)

c. intensity: the quality of brightness or dullness


EXPLORE: Communicating like a Scientist 7

3. Sit back-to-back with your partner. The observer holds the selected object.

4. The observer will describe the object to his or her partner but can only describethe object with the art terms listed in the need to know box titled Art Terms.*

5. After the partner has correctly identified the object, switch roles and obtain anew, unknown object for the second observer to describe.

6. Record in your journal which 3 art terms you found most useful for describingthe object. Explain which terms you found the most difficult to use.

A Blind Drawing

In this exercise, you will work by yourself to draw an object that you can touch,but cannot see.

1. Obtain a sheet of plain paper, a soft pencil (#2), and 1 brown paper bag thatcontains an object from your teacher. Do not look in the bag!

2. With 1 hand, create a line drawing of what you feel as you trace the outline ofthe object in your bag with your fingers. Carefully feel the edges of your objectand draw its outline at the same time. Take your time and concentrate.

3. When your drawing is complete, compare it to the object in the bag. Makethis comparison by explaining 3 ways that your drawing is like the object and3 ways it is different.

4. How long did it take you to make your blind drawing? When you think abouthow long you should take to make a drawing in your science journal,remember your blind drawing. Any drawing that you make to accuratelyrecord your observations will take time and concentration as well.

Experimenting with the Pencil Line

For this task, you will use your pencil and 1 sheet of paper. You will have 3 minutes to make a variety of marks on the paper. Be imaginative and feel free toexperiment. Use the point and the side of the pencil to create lines of varying length,thickness, and shape, and to create shading effects. Your objective is to becomefamiliar with the pencil and the various effects you can create with it.

Making a Detailed Drawing

A detailed drawing records accurate information about the material. In this typeof drawing, keep your interpretation to a minimum. The goal is to draw only what isvisible and to select those details that are the most important observations to capturein a drawing.

1. Work individually to draw the object that was in your brown bag for the blinddrawing.

2. Begin by making a simple line drawing that accurately captures the basic shape,size, and proportion of the object. Add details to your line drawing using someof the effects that you developed in your pencil-line experimentation.

Figure En.1Experiment with yourpencil.

*Adapted from Stoops & Samuelson, 1983.


8 EXPLAIN: Thinking as a Scientist Thinks

3. When your drawing is complete, label it to indicate the relative size of thedrawing to the real object (for example, 1/2 actual size or 10� magnification).

4. Attach your completed drawing to a page in your journal.

Analysis

1. Answer the following questions in your journal:

a. Had you ever seen an object like the one that you just finished drawing?

b. How did your previous experience of either having seen or not having seenan object like this influence your drawing?

2. Explain whether or not you think that scientific observations are completelyobjective. Provide an example to illustrate your point of view.

Thinking as a Scientist ThinksTo think as a scientist thinks, you need to

� ask questions,

� gather information,

� use logical reasoning, and

� apply your creativity to develop predictions and explanations that make sense of the evidence that you collect.

You will practice these skills in this activity.Scientists are often inspired by an incident that happens while they are doing

something else. For example, anyone who eats or prepares meat might observe thatmaggots (immature flies) soon cover a piece of meat that is left out for too long.People once thought that maggots spontaneously came to life from the meat. In1668, however, a biologist named Francesco Redi questioned whether it was possiblefor life to come from nonliving matter. He gathered information by making carefulobservations and experimenting. Redi placed some meat under gauze and left someuncovered. He found that only the uncovered meat developed maggots. Afteranalyzing his careful observations and data, Francesco Redi reasoned that flies werelaying eggs on the uncovered meat, and that maggots came from the fly eggs, not therotting meat. In this way, Redi used scientific inquiry to explain his observations andquestions about the natural world. Scientists propose explanations based on evidence.

In this activity, imagine that something happened while you were writing in yourscience journal that caused you to ask questions. You will use this situation to learn aboutthe basic processes of science. You will collect relevant evidence and use logical reasoningto propose explanations based on that evidence. Throughout the year, you will continueto build your understandings and abilities to conduct scientific inquiries. This willcontinue until you can design and conduct your own independent investigations.

ExplainExplain


EXPLAIN: Thinking as a Scientist Thinks 9

2. Pick up 1 set of materials for you and your partner.

3. Using your colored pens, create a simple line diagram like the one that might havebeen found in the journal (see Figure En.2). Observe your termite’s behavior.

Note: Termites are soft-bodied insects and must not be pinched. Use the soft bristles

of the paintbrush or a cotton swab to block your termite and redirect it. Do not try to

pick up your termite with your fingers or push it around with the paintbrush.

4. The first step in thinking scientifically is to identify the questions you aretrying to answer. Begin this process by thinking about the questions that cometo mind as you watch your termite on the diagram. Identify 3 questions andrecord them in your journal.

5. Work with your partner to select 1 question about the termite’s behavior thatyou think you might be able to answer through experimentation.

6. In your journal, predict the answer to your question. Also, explain briefly whyyou think that your prediction may be reasonable.

7. Discuss with your partner how you will experiment and make observations tolearn more about your question. Save all test diagrams that you use, and recordyour observations in your journal. Pay attention to the amount of time you aregiven to conduct your experiment.

8. Use the information and observations that you gather to develop a possibleexplanation for what you observe and a possible answer to your question.Include any additional questions that come up while you are experimenting.

Figure En.2 A simple line diagram

Figure En.3 To move the termite without harming it, block thetermite’s path withouttouching it.

Materials (per team of 2)

set of color pens termiteblank white paper small paintbrush or cotton swab


1. Listen to or read to yourself the following scenario.

You are a scientist, and you were working

late last night. You drew a diagram in

different colors of ink, and it looked

similar to the drawing below. While you

were writing and drawing the diagram in

your journal, you nodded off.

When you awoke, you found there

was a termite in the middle of the

diagram. You watched the termite’s

response to the ink on the page, and it

made you wonder. Next, you called in

your friend, who is also a scientist.

Together you made a prediction about

what the termite was doing. Questions

about the termite and its behavior led

you to start experimenting and making

careful observations to see if your

prediction was correct.

Late One Night


10 ELABORATE: Recording Data in Your Scientific Journal

9. Be prepared to report to the class what question you tested, the results of yourexperimentation, and your explanation or additional questions.

Analysis

1. Participate in a class discussion of the questions, experiments, and ideas about termites.

2. Read the terms below and identify two additional terms that could be used todescribe the way scientists think:

explanation evidence prediction logic

3. Write a paragraph in your journal to summarize the statement, science is a way of knowing. Include the four terms from question 2 and the two terms thatyou added.

4. In your journal, explain whether you agree or disagree with each of thefollowing statements:

� Scientists observe without making any judgments; scientific observationsare objective and value free.

� If two scientists run the same experiment and have similar observations,they will develop the same explanation for the results.

Recording Data in Your Scientific Journal

Scientists communicate information and ideas through speaking and writing. Datatables and graphs are two forms of writing that help scientists report information clearlyand accurately. Because you will be designing your own investigations in this course, youalso will need to work like a scientist to design appropriate data tables and graphs.


1. In your journal, explain 3 steps that you think are most important whenmaking a data table.

2. What do you find is the hardest decision that you have to make when youconstruct a data table? Why is it difficult to decide?

3. Participate in a class discussion about how your class will make data tables toreport results clearly and accurately to each other and to your teacher.Consider the following questions:

a. What are the terms that you use to describe data?

b. Why is it important for your class to agree to use the same terms when you describe data in tables, graphs, conclusions, analysis questions, andpresentations?

ElaborateElaborate


EVALUATE: You and the Science of Biology 11

c. Why is it useful for scientists to have a particular format that is always usedwhen making data tables and graphs? What is useful about having standardformats for data in a high school biology class?

d. What table and graph formats will be standardized in your class?

4. Read Appendix B, Technique 2 Graphing, on page 692, and follow theinstructions to practice graphing.

You and the Science of BiologyImagine yourself doing one or more of the following:

� Understanding the choices a doctor offers for treatment of an illness

� Deciphering nutritional information on a food package label

� Voting on an issue involving science and technology

� Serving on a jury that has to listen to an expert describe DNA evidence

� Deciding whether or not to support the construction of a new dam

These are examples of actions that happen in the United States. Will you be oneof the people making informed decisions and choices because you have learned tothink scientifically? Or, will you be one of the people who acts and hopes for the best,despite a lack of information and understanding? By participating in this biologyprogram, you are taking a big step toward joining the first group of people.

In this course, we use six main ideas to organize your study of biology. We alsointegrate these ideas with opportunities to think about and use the methods ofscience. As a result, you can learn how to think scientifically while you learn biology.


Read A Human Approach to Biology on page 12, and identify at least 1 reason whyeach of the following is relevant:

� the study of biology now

� the study of biology in the future

Analysis

Use your experiences from the activities you have just completed and your generallife experiences to answer the following questions in your journal. After each answer,leave room to revise your response following a class discussion of the questions.

1. What role does science play in your life?

2. What role do you think science will play in your future?

3. How can science help you make decisions about yourself, your lifestyle, yourcommunity, and your planet?

4. How do the decisions that we make today influence future generations,generations that could include your children and grandchildren?

EvaluateEvaluate


12 EVALUATE: You and the Science of Biology

The scientist in the photograph above represents the

visual image many people have of scientists. While this

is one example of what doing science looks like, there

are many other examples. Think about the activities

listed at the beginning of this Evaluate Section: making

choices in the doctor’s office and voting, for example.

All of those activities can be conducted using the

methods of science.

Biology is a way of explaining by scientific processes

what living organisms do and how they do it. There are

other ways to look at life. You could describe living

things in poetry, by paintings, or in a written story.

These activities have great value and add an important

dimension to human life. These ways of describing life,

however, would not be a scientific approach. In a

scientific approach, the explanations are based on

asking questions that can be answered by gathering

information and evidence and then analyzing what we

know in a logical manner. (See the summary of the

processes of science in Figure En.4.) In this program, you

will be practicing “Science as Inquiry” when you learn

and use the processes of science.

Biology is a challenging scientific study because all

of life is very complex and shows variety and intricate

connections. Fortunately, living things also share some

very important characteristics that can be summarized

as large ideas. In this program, these large and universal

ideas are the topics of each of the six units.

This program is called BSCS Biology: A Human

Approach because we have focused your activities

around human interactions. You will experience this

human approach in several ways. You will complete

experiments that involve yourself. You will read

examples of the unifying principles that point out the

A Human Approach to Biology

• Asking questions

• Gathering information

• Proposing explanations

Figure En.4 The processes of science. Theprocesses of science help you learn more about biology.


EVALUATE: You and the Science of Biology 13

Unifying Principles of Biology

Evolution: Patterns and Products of Change in Living Systems

Homeostasis: Maintaining Dynamic Equilibrium in Living Systems

Energy, Matter, and Organization: Relationships in Living Systems

Continuity: Reproduction and Inheritance in Living Systems

Development: Growth and Differentiation in Living Systems

Ecology: Interaction and Interdependence in Living Systems

Unifying principles of biology These six big ideas are one way to organize the discipline of biology.These ideas are also the titles of the six units in BSCS Biology: A Human Approach.

connection between humans and evolution;

homeostasis; matter, energy, and organization;

continuity; development; and ecology. Also, you will

understand “Science and Humanity” when you

experience connections to biology content that point

out the following:

� Humans use technology to help solve problems.Consequently, we are able to improve our abilityto survive in the near future.

� Technology varies from culture to culture andchanges across time.

� Science takes place within a cultural andhistorical context as well as within a set ofconstraints often dictated by the culture andtime period.

� Humans can use ethical analysis to makedecisions and solve problems. This applies toboth scientific investigations and questionsbecause humans themselves conduct theseendeavors.

As you study the biology in this course, you will

learn about living systems. If you can understand how

you learn, you will further enjoy the process of learning

and be more successful at it. Scientists who study how

people learn are called cognitive psychologists. These

scientists have proposed an explanation for learning

that suggests that, in order to learn, one first must be

engaged in an idea. Then the learner must explore the

idea. Next, the learner develops an explanation of

the idea. Finally, the learner elaborates his or her

understanding and is able to evaluate what he or she

has learned.

As you look through this book, you will notice the

use of five words that start with the letter “E.” This

program uses these “E words” to organize the

instructional flow in each chapter. This instructional flow

is designed to help you construct an understanding of

each big idea in biology.

The essays for most of the program are grouped

together at the end of each unit in this book, while the

assessment opportunities are embedded within the

program. These physical placements reflect two aspects

of BSCS’s approach to science and learning. First, because

our understanding of the content changes frequently,

we designed a program that acknowledges this. The

essays provided give you a place to begin your research,

but they are intended to be only one resource of the

many resources available to you. For example, you may

supplement your research with other books, magazines,

and the Internet. A second aspect of the approach is

reflected in the embedded assessment. We think you

should have continual opportunities to evaluate your

understanding and growth, so you will notice frequent

chances to monitor your own learning.


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