SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
Objectives for Exam #1:
1. Describe different aspects of a moss community and describe various moss structures.
2. Distinguish between observations and inferences.
3. Provide examples of how technology, society, and the characteristics of individual
researchers can impact scientific inquiry.
Objective for Portfolio #1:
Reflect on personal understandings of science.
Scientific inquiry refers to the process of how scientists acquire knowledge. This activity
incorporates some of the aspects of scientific inquiry. From lecture, fill in the general steps of the
scientific process.
Part I: Previous Knowledge and Note-taking
1. Scientists spend many years learning the information acquired by previous generations of
researchers. You will be acquiring some of this knowledge from videos in lab. Take detailed
notes on the video “The Moss Community.”
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2. Now, check your notes by seeing if you can answer the following questions.
How are mosses structured to trap water?
Besides moss, what are three different types of
organisms found in moss communities?
What is the name we commonly use for
Tardigrades?
How do organisms like water bears and rotifers
survive dry seasons?
If you had trouble finding this information in your notes, the note-taking section of the syllabus
may be of assistance in improving note-taking skills.
Part II: Observation and Inference
1. Observations are sensory information taken in about a particular phenomenon. An
individual’s ability to observe is impacted by sensory abilities (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and
smell) as well as brain processing abilities (interconnectedness of brain cells). In five minutes,
record as many observations as you can about the moss in the tray at your table.
Moss Observations
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2. Research consists of a cycle of careful observations (what is actually seen or experienced),
inferences (what is thought to be happening based on observations and prior knowledge), and
questions that lead to an understanding of the natural world. Did you just write down
observations, or did begin to make inferences (tentative conclusions)? For example, you may
have observed that some parts of the moss are greener than others, but you may have
inferred that some parts of the moss were healthier than others. Provide two examples of
inferences based on your observations.
Inference #1
Inference #2
3. In science, researchers try to distinguish between their observations and their inferences. Why
is this important?
4. Prior knowledge and experiences impact what we actually observe. Examine the optical
illusions in the folder at your table (answers are on the back of the illusions). Once you know
what is “hidden” in the illusion, do you now see the illusion differently? ___________ Is it easier
for you to figure out other illusions once you understand one or two of them? __________
5. Once you learn new information (such as in a university class), it impacts what you can
observe, the questions you are likely to ask, and all other steps of the research process. This
can be very important in science as research is a process of building on previous knowledge.
However, what can be the drawback of everyone learning similar material in similar ways?
6. Let’s see if new information can impact how you view the moss at your table. Read the
passage below and look at the “Moss Life Cycle” handout. Which part of the moss plant
contains the spores? ___________________________ Can you find this spore-containing
structure on the moss at your table? _______
Throughout the term we will be examining the life cycles of different organisms. A life cycle is a sequence of
events that take place in an organism’s life (such as fertilization, birth/emergence, growth, reproduction,
aging, death). Moss plants have a life cycle that is very different than a human life cycle. The green “leafy”
parts of a moss that we primarily see is called a gametophyte (“gamete-plant”). Gamete means sex cells,
and gametes contain half of the amount of genetic material as other cells. Gametes in humans are sperm or
eggs, and when a sperm and egg come together they make a cell with a full amount of genetic material,
which we humans have in most cells of our body. Moss are different, most of their cells have only half the
genetic information, and occasionally some of those gametes come together to form several stalk-like
sporophytes, which have the full amount of genetic material. Sporophytes produce spores, the next
generation of moss plant. Once spores are released and if they have the right environmental conditions, they
send out tiny root-like structures called protonemata, which will eventually become the gametopyte.
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Part III: Technology and Science
1. What new technology, that has become widespread since the 1980s, has had a major impact
on science (and many other aspects of our lives)? _________________________________
2. Microscopes have been around since the late 1600s, and are continuing to improve our ability
to see incredibly small objects. Much of moss structure, such as the gametes and spores, and
the organisms living in the moss (as seen in the video) are too small to see without the aid of a
microscope. You will be using a microscope to make observations of moss. Moss has been
placed in round plastic dishes under the microscopes at your table. Turn on the lamp at the
table, and look at the sample under the microscope. The magnification knob is on the top of
microscope, the focus knob is on the side. Record your observations.
Microscope Moss Observations
When finished, turn off the lamp and leave the plastic dish and moss under the microscope.
3. Microscope technology dramatically changed what scientists could observe and as a result
changed the questions asked, and the research projects conducted over time. As discussed in
lecture, society can also impact science. How?
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Technology not only can make new research possible, it can make new research necessary.
Scientists have been very interested in growing plants in low-gravity conditions as a source of food
and oxygen for astronauts aboard long-term space missions. In 1997, NASA conducted an
experiment with moss aboard space shuttle Columbia. A follow-up experiment was aboard
Columbia in 2003 when the shuttle disintegrated on re-entry, and some of the moss samples
actually survived within the debris. Read through the experiment below and on the handout
provided and fill in what data analysis revealed.
Observation: Plants on previous space missions tended to exhibit strange growth patterns in lowgravity, making them difficult to grow in sufficient quantities for food or oxygen use. It is unclear
how gravity is causing these changes in the plants.
Previous Knowledge: Moss plants contain single cells that are gravitropic, meaning individual cells
can sense gravity and then either grow toward it or away from it. This would make it easier to
study the response of cells to changes in gravity. Moss cells typically grow away from gravity and
towards light.
Question: How does moss grow in low-gravity conditions?
Research Design: Study moss spores developing protonemata under low-gravity conditions
aboard a space shuttle mission.
Data Collection: Photograph and measure growth, and microscopically analyze changes within
cells.
4. Data Analysis: From the handout provided, what did the researchers find?
5. New Questions: This week’s assigned on-line readings include a section discussing five
aspects of scientific inquiry, including that science is a blend of logic and imagination. We
often associate logic with science, but not imagination. Using your imagination, come up with
two questions related to moss (or moss communities) in low-gravity conditions.
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Part IV: Nature of Science Survey and Reflection (for Portfolio #1)
Skill: Reflect on personal understandings of science.
Assignment:
1. Complete the nature of science survey on the next page individually. Fill in the entire “Your
Answer” column, even if you have to guess. Once you have completed the survey, the correct
answers and an explanation of each answer will be available on-line at the BI 102 website:
http://science.oregonstate.edu/bi10x/
2. Write a paragraph reflection on what you have learned about the nature of science. Include
what you have learned about the nature of science and what you may still find confusing about
the nature of science. If you have not learned anything about the nature of science, or do not
find any of the characteristics to be confusing, include this information in your reflection.
3. The paragraph reflection can be written on the back of the survey or on a separate sheet of
paper.
Assessment:
This assignment is worth 3.0 points: 1.0 point for completing the survey, and 2.0 points for the
reflection paragraph (1.0 point for what you have learned and 1.0 point for what you may still find
confusing about the nature of science).
Portfolio assignments represent your individual skills.
Do not submit an assignment that is a duplication of any other individual’s work
(see syllabus for additional information on academic honesty)
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Nature of Science Survey
(Include this page along with your paragraph reflection in portfolio #1)
Answer “T” (True) or “F” (False)
(Modified from the work of Steven M. Dickhaus)
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Your
Answer
Statement
Science can prove anything, solve any problem, or answer any
question.
Different scientists may get different solutions to the same
problem.
Science is primarily concerned with understanding how the natural
world works.
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Science can be done poorly.
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Science is primarily a method for inventing new devices.
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Scientists have solved most of the major mysteries of nature.
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Science can study things and events that happened in the past,
even if there was no one there to observe the event.
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Most engineers and medical doctors are also practicing scientists.
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Scientists often try to disprove their own ideas.
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Scientists can believe in God or a supernatural being and still do
good science.
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Any research based on logic and reasoning is scientific.
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Science can be influenced by race, gender, nationality, or religion
of the scientist.
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Science involves dealing with many uncertainties.
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Scientific concepts and discoveries can cause new problems for
people.
Something that is "proven scientifically" is considered by scientists
as being a fact, and therefore no longer subject to change.
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Science requires a great deal of creative activity.
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Disagreement between scientists is one of the weaknesses of
science.
(Check your answers at: http://science.oregonstate.edu/bi10x/)
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Correct
Answer
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