Scientific Method and Water Quality Vs

INSTRUCTIONS:
• On your own and without assistance, complete this Lab 1 Answer Form electronically and submit it via the Assignments Folder by the date listed on your Course Schedule (under Syllabus).
• To conduct your laboratory exercises, use the Laboratory Manual that is available in the WebTycho classroom (Reserved Reading or provided by your instructor) or at the eScience Labs Student Portal. Laboratory exercises on your CD may not be updated.
• Save your Lab 1 Answer Form in the following format: LastName_Lab1 (e.g., Smith_Lab1).
• You should submit your document in a Word (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) for best compatibility.

Exercise 1: Data Interpretation
Table 1: Water Quality vs. Fish Population
Dissolved Oxygen 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Number of Fish Observed 0 1 3 10 12 13 15 10 12 13

1. What patterns do you observe based on the information in Table 1? There is more of a fish population in areas where there is more dissolved oxygen.

2. Develop a hypothesis relating to the amount of dissolved oxygen measured in the water sample and the number of fish observed in the body of water. If there’s more dissolved oxygen then there will be more fish.

3. What would your experimental approach be to test this hypothesis? I would go and check different ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams to track the amount of fish per dissolved oxygen levels. I would then compare the results to my hypothesis.

4. What are the independent and dependent variables? The independent variables would be the dissolved oxygen and the dependent variables would be the number of fish observed.

5. What would be your control? No control is used in this experiment.

6. What type of graph would be appropriate for this data set? Why? Bar graph, because there is no relationship between each area observed.

7. Graph the data from Table 1: Water Quality vs. Fish Population (found at the beginning of this exercise). You may use Excel, then “Insert” the graph, or use another drawing program. You may also draw it neatly by hand and scan your drawing. If you choose this option, you must insert the scanned jpg image here.

8. Interpret the data from the graph made in Question 7.

Exercise 2: Testable Observations

Determine which of the following observations (A-J) could lead to a testable hypothesis.
For those that are testable:
Write a hypothesis and null hypothesis
What would be your experimental approach?
What are the dependent and independent variables?
What is your control?
How will you collect your data?
How will you present your data (charts, graphs, types)?
How will you analyze your data? 1. When a plant is placed on a window sill, it grows three inches faster per day than when it is placed on a coffee table in the middle of the living room. 2. The teller at the bank with brown hair and brown eyes and is taller than the other tellers. 3. When Sally eats healthy foods and exercises regularly, her blood pressure is 10 points lower than when she does not exercise and eats unhealthy foods.

4. The Italian restaurant across the street closes at 9 pm but the one two blocks away closes at
10 pm.