biob161-experimental-process (1)

BIOB 161N Lab 3: MYSTERY BOXES Adapted with permission from Ruth Greyraven (Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, CA MYSTERY BOXES Revised for Fall 2023 Methods: Before starting this week’s exercise, review Lab sections on Metric Measurements and Evaluating Data in Biology. Required Materials:  Two shoeboxes or similar-sized containers that are not see-through and have lids  Tape  Friend who will gather a few miscellaneous items for you and assist you with this exercise Task 1: Mystery Observation I Invite your friend over and prep them on this task. 1. Ask a friend to gather about a dozen small items commonly found in a house, garage, or office and place them in a shoebox or similar-sized closed-view contain and tape it shut, working in another room from you so that you are completely blind to what items they place in the container. Ask them to include some items that are metal (either magnetic or non-ferrous depending on their preference) and other items that are made of a variety of other materials (some hard, some soft, etc.). The identity of the objects inside the box is a complete mystery to you. They represent the unknowns that scientists seek to better understand through their observations. When research goes smoothly, we improve our understanding of how the world works but our understanding will never be complete. If you are careful in the observations and measurements you make in this exercise, you may end up at the point where you are quite certain you have a good understanding of what is in the box. When we do this exercise with my in-person students, we never open the boxes. To fully understand how a researcher’s understanding is never complete, no matter how much confidence they may have in their observations, I would you not to let yourself ever look in the box! 2. Brainstorm some ideas for gathering information about the objects hidden inside the box. You are encouraged to use a scale, strong magnet, listening device, measuring ruler, and any other tools you may have access to that will help you gather as much sensory information as possible about the objects in the box. You will record the actions you take, describe the observable phenomena that 1

BIOB 161N Lab 3: MYSTERY BOXES Adapted with permission from Ruth Greyraven (Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, CA resulted from those actions, and draw conclusions from the results. 3. Record the investigatory process (including the container number) in the observation sheet provided. (Mystery Observation I). An important part of the lab goal is for you to be able to distinguish between method (what you did), results (facts you observed), and conclusions (inferences drawn from results). 4. Identify each recorded observation as quantitative or qualitative, by making a checkmark or X in the column on the worksheet. 5. From your observational findings, draw an overall conclusion as to the identity of the objects in the container. This should be a named object, not just a recap of your description. You will also be asked to state how confident you are in your conclusions and explain why. 2 Investigating Black Boxes Safely: Use caution when shaking and rattling your box. You could accidentally strike yourself or a neighbor, causing injury. Remember: when you are in a lab space, all injuries should be reported to the lab instructor or lab tech.

BIOB 161N Lab 3: MYSTERY BOXES Adapted with permission from Ruth Greyraven (Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, CA Task 1 Questions: 1. What are your guesses to the object identities? Double-click and enter response here: 2. How confident are you in your identifications (written as a percentage)? Double-click and enter response here: 4

BIOB 161N Lab 3: MYSTERY BOXES Adapted with permission from Ruth Greyraven (Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, CA Task 2: Mystery Observation II Grab your friend again – they’re going to help provide information about these mystery objects. 1. Ask your friend to provide you with a collection of “Possibilities.” These should be a variety of small objects commonly found around a house, garage, or office. The “Possibilities” items may include some objects that are identical to those in the Mystery Box. There should also be objects in the “Possibilities” collection that are not in the Mystery Box. 2. Have your friend give you an empty container identical to the Mystery Box except that this empty container can be opened. This offers you the opportunity to conduct what scientists call comparative modeling. Use the tool set, the Possibilities, the empty box, and your data collection skills to test your conclusions from Mystery Observation I. Add your Mystery Observation II conclusions to your Mystery I worksheet. 3. The last part of Mystery Observation II asks you to suggest four additional ideas for continuing the investigation into each mystery box. Note: a. Opening the box is not an option. b. Identifying the contents of the box by asking someone who claims to know is not an option. c. Your goal is to come up with four distinct new ideas, two for your first box and two for your second box. 4. Be prepared to create a unique example of the scientific method applied to problem-solving in everyday, non-specific circumstances by reviewing the steps of the scientific method:  Observation - Factual statement about an observed event.  Question - Arises from the observation. Keep it simple: Why? How?  Hypothesis - A simple statement suggesting a possible causal explanation for the observed circumstance.  Rationale -The reasons why you think the hypothesis is reasonable.  Prediction - Reformat the basic idea of the hypothesis into a clear and testable IF/THEN format. Assuming the hypothesis is true "if we change X (the independent variable), then we would expect to see Y (the predicted impact on the dependent variable)".  Test - Provide details of the actions taken to carry out the test of the hypothesis.  Result - Describe the outcome of the test.  Conclusion - Was the hypothesis supported by results? How strong was support or rejection? Discussion = Is there a likelihood of error in the process? Confounding variables? 5

BIOB 161N Lab 3: MYSTERY BOXES Adapted with permission from Ruth Greyraven (Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, CA How the assignment of investigating the Mystery Boxes follows the scientific method: 1. Observation 2. Question 3. Hypothesis 4. Rationale 5. Prediction 6. Test 7. Results 8. Conclusion 9. Discussion 7

BIOB 161N Lab 3: MYSTERY BOXES Adapted with permission from Ruth Greyraven (Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, CA Task 2 Questions: 1. Which two objects in the Possibilities Box are most similar to the traits you described for this box? Double-click and enter response here: 2. Did comparative modeling change the confidence level of your conclusions? Explain. Double-click and enter response here: 3. Suggest two investigatory approaches not yet used that could help you test your ideas. Double-click and enter response here: 8