Critical Thinking Activity
Spring 2013
Name- ___________________________________
Please answer the following questions. Use only the data in front of you for each questions. Do not be
vague in your answers. State you position clearly whether the question asks you to or not. Also refer to
the tips you were given in class for other pointers as you answer the questions.
I. Gigantopithecus
the fossil record shows that nine million years ago, an ape species existed that is now thought by
most scientists to be extinct. An internet site states that this genus of ape was very large and
towered over modern humans and apes and was thought to be roughly on average 9.8 feet tall
(3m). The fossils for this enormous ape were found in India, China and Vietnam, but have never
been found in the new world.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantopithecus )
Some claim that because this ape existed, it is strong evidence for the existence of Sasquatch (also
known as Bigfoot). Skeptics indicate that no fossil record has been recorded for this giant ape in North
America. However, others point-out that legends of Sasquatch exist in the historical record of many
Native Americans cultures as an alleged large, very strong and intelligent bipedal hominid. Moreover
hundreds of anecdotal reports of Sasquatch date well back to the beginning of the European
colonization of the Americas and current sightings have even placed a Sasquatch-like creature in the
Allegheny National Forest near Warren, PA. Other evidence for a Sasquatch include foot print casts,
videos and film footage, hair and blood samples. Skeptics indicate the photos and videos are often
unclear or taken too far in the distance to prove anything. More recently DNA studies were reported
that the alleged Sasquatch blood samples were taken from an unidentified hominid. They also claim that
Sasquatches derived from a cross between a female Homo sapien and a male Gigantopithecus. The
publication of these results has been problematic. The scientist behind these studies claimed that no
one in the scientific community would publish here paper because they did not want to be connected to
this controversial topic. To remedy this, she purchased a scientific journal herself and now the data is
available to the scientific community for review.
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1) Does the existence of Gigantopithecus provide strong evidence for the existence of Sasquatch in
North America.
2) Name at least 2 pieces of evidence would you need to support the existence of Sasquatch?
3) What 2 pieces of evidence in the narrative above indicate that Sasquatch is a myth?
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II.
In 2011, a newspaper article was published using the following unemployment data from
Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties. The results are shown below
(http://www.econstats.com/blsla/la_ny_un_m.htm).
2010
2010
2010
2009
2009
2009
Mar
Feb
Jan
Dec
Nov
Oct
Chautauqua County; NY - unadjusted
Cattaraugus County; NY - unadjusted
6,353
4,085
6,716
4,313
6,798
4,300
5,751
3,803
5,307
3,591
5,144
3,525
Allegany County; NY - unadjusted
2,418
2,487
2,471
2,128
2,002
1,944
The article attributes that the rise in unemployment between October 2009 and March 2010 to a mild
winter affecting seasonal employment by local ski resorts.
1)Thinking as a lay person who is not aware of the meaning of standard deviations, do you agree
with their claims?
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2)What two pieces of evidence would you need to truly evaluate their claim?
III. Does whole milk make nobody pretty fat?
In Allegany, NY the area high school decided to try to increase the amount of calcium taken in by the
students in an effort to reduce osteoporosis in later life. Between 1999 and 2010 students were
required to drink two glasses of milk at lunch and two at dinner. They reported the following data from
seniors graduating from the high schools, which they say links drinking milk to weight gain:
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1) Considering the data as a lay person (i.e. even though it does not show standard deviations),
does this data indicate that drinking milk leads to increased weight?
2) Provide two alternative explanations for the results in the graph.
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IV. MCP-1 is a chemokine, which is protein used as an indicator of some types of inflammation. It
binds to a receptor found on the surface of some white blood cells and induces their directional
migration to cause them to move into the inflammatory site. Treating macrophages with 150
M interleukin-1(a cytokine protein) induces the expression of MCP-1. However, the scientists
doing these studies state that treating the cells with acetomenophen reduces the effect.
1) Given the data below, draw a line graph that correctly represents the data.
Acetomenophen
(M)
0
25
30
35
40
45
50
Increase in Expression of MCP-1
Experiment 1 Experiment 2
Experiment 3
300
100
50
20
30
15
150
350
200
300
150
250
150
225
200
175
170
165
200
185
185
Avg
283
158
173
112
160
117
187
Std
Dev
76
52
125
80
115
90
38
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2) Thinking as a scientist, does the data support their claim?
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