Name: _____________________________________________
Chapter 1 Assignments #1
Please complete the scientific method, key terms and viruses assignment.
Scientific Method In Action
After reading about the scientific method, please
completer the following assignment:
The Strange Case of BeriBeri
In 1887 a strange nerve disease attacked the people in the
Dutch East Indies. The disease was beriberi. Symptoms of
the disease included weakness and loss of appetite,
victims often died of heart failure. Scientists thought the
disease might be caused by bacteria. They injected
chickens with bacteria from the blood of patients with
beriberi. The injected chickens became sick. However, so
did a group of chickens that were not injected with bacteria.
One of the scientists, Dr. Eijkman, designed a new experiment based on his own
observations. Before the experiment, all the chickens had eaten whole-grain rice, but
during the experiment, the chickens were fed polished rice. Dr. Eijkman researched this
interesting case and found that polished rice lacked thiamine, a vitamin necessary for
good health.
1. State the question or problem that Dr. Eijkman investigated.
2. What was the original hypothesis?
3. What was the manipulated (independent) variable and the responding (dependent)
variable?
4. Write a statement that summarizes the results of the experiment.
5. How would Dr. Eijkman test his new hypothesis?
How Penicillin Was Discovered
In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming was studying Staphylococcus bacteria growing in
culture dishes. He noticed that a mold called Penicillium was also growing in some of
the dishes. A clear area existed around the mold because all the bacteria that had
grown in this area had died. In the culture dishes without the mold, no clear areas were
present.
Fleming hypothesized that the mold must be producing a chemical that killed the
bacteria. He decided to isolate this substance and test it to see if it would kill bacteria.
Fleming transferred the mold to a nutrient broth solution. This solution contained all the
materials the mold needed to grow. After the mold grew, he removed it from the nutrient
broth and then added the broth to a culture of bacteria. He observed that the bacteria in
the culture died. Fleming's experiments were later used to develop antibiotics. .
6. State the question or problem that Fleming investigated.
7. What was Fleming's hypothesis?
8. How was the hypothesis tested?
9. Write a statement that summarizes the results of the experiment.
10. This experiment lead to the development of what major medical advancement?
Key Terms:
The following key terms for Chapter 1 are going to help you to prepare for exam #1.
Please use the back of your textbook to find and complete the definition of the key
terms for ONLY the key tern with the underline blank space.
Atom: ____________________________________________
Biosphere: all regions of Earth where organisms live.
Cell: ______________________________________________
Community: all populations of all species in a defined area.
Ecosystem: a community interacting with its environment.
Emergent property: a characteristic of a system that does not appear in any of the
system’s component parts.
Molecule: ____________________________________________
Organ: in multicelled organisms, a structure that consists of tissues engaged in a
collective task.
Organism: ________________________________________________________
Organ system: in multicelled organisms, set of interacting organs that carry out a
particular body function.
Population: group of interbreeding individuals of the same species living in a defined
area.
Species: ____________________________________________
Tissue: in multicelled organisms, specialized cells organized in a pattern that allows
them to perform a collective function.
Consumer: organism that gets energy and nutrients by feeding on tissues, wastes, or
remains of other organisms.
Development: process by which the first cell of a new multicelled organism gives rise to
a multicelled adult.
DNA: _______________________________________________
Growth: in multicelled species, an increase in the number, size, and volume of cells.
Homeostasis: process in which an organism keeps their internal conditions within
tolerable ranges by sensing and responding appropriately to change.
Control group: group of individuals identical to an experimental group except for the
independent variable under investigation.
Critical thinking: evaluating information before accepting it.
Data: ___________________________________________________________
Deductive reasoning: using a general idea to make a conclusion about a specific
case.
Dependent variable: in an experiment, a variable that is presumably affected by an
independent variable being tested.
Experiment: __________________________________________
Experimental group: in an experiment, a group of individuals who have a certain
characteristic or receive a certain treatment.
Hypothesis: ___________________________________________
Independent variable: variable that is controlled by an experimenter in order to explore
its relationship to a dependent variable.
Inductive reasoning: drawing a conclusion based on observation.
Inheritance: ____________________________________________
Nutrient: substance that an organism acquires from the environment to support growth
and survival.
Photosynthesis: process by which producers use light energy to make sugars from
carbon dioxide and water.
Producer: organism that makes its own food using energy and nonbiological raw
materials from the environment.
Reproduction: processes by which parents produce offspring.
Animal: multicelled consumer that breaks down food inside its body, develops through
a series of stages, and moves about during part or all of its life.
Archaea: group of single-celled organisms that lack a nucleus but are more closely
related to eukaryotes than to bacteria.
Bacteria:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_________________________
Fungus: single-celled or multicelled eukaryotic consumer that breaks down material
outside itself then absorbs nutrients released from the breakdown.
Plant: a multicelled, typically photosynthetic producer.
Prokaryote: single-celled organism without a nucleus.
Eukaryote: _________________________________________________
Protist: common term for a eukaryote that is not a plant, animal, or fungus.
Genus: a group of species that share a unique set of traits.
Taxon: group of organisms that share a unique set of traits.
Taxonomy: naming and classifying species in a systematic way.
Biology: ___________________________________________________
Model: analogous system used for testing hypotheses.
Prediction: statement, based on a hypothesis, about a condition that should exist if the
hypothesis is correct.
Science: ___________________________________________________
Scientific method: making, testing, and evaluating hypotheses.
Variable: in an experiment, a characteristic or event that differs among individuals or
over time.
Probability: the chance that a particular outcome of an event will occur; depends on
the total number of outcomes possible.
Sampling error: difference between results derived from testing an entire group of
events or individuals, and results derived from testing a subset of the group.
Statistically significant: refers to a result that is statistically unlikely to have occurred
by chance.
Law of nature: generalization that describes a consistent natural phenomenon but
does not propose a mechanism.
Pseudoscience: a claim, argument, or method that is presented as if it were scientific,
but is not.
Scientific theory:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________