Selection 5: The Scientific Method: Organized Common Sense
(biology)

1. A biologist is rarely happy just to describe a curious event, such as the disappearance of a tadpole's tail as the young frog becomes an adult. Scientists instead want to learn what causes the event. To investigate the natural world in the most organized way, scientists use the scientific method. They:



1. Ask a question or identify a problem to be solved based on observations of the natural world.



2. Propose a hypothesis, a possible answer to the question or a potential solution to the problem.



3. Make a prediction of what they will observe in a specific situation if the hypothesis is correct.



4. Test the prediction by performing an experiment.



2. If the hypothesis predicts the results correctly, the scientist makes other predictions based on the same hypothesis and tests them. Scientific research requires logic, analytical skills, and perseverance. Only after researchers create and test several likely hypotheses and find one that consistently predicts what they see in nature will they tentatively accept a hypothesis as correct.
3. While the steps of the scientific method may sound very regimented, they are really little more than an organized commonsense approach—one you use regularly in your own life. Let's say that one evening, you observe that your desk lamp stops working:
1. You would pose a question (step I): "What made my desk lamp go out?"
2. And you would probably create a hypothesis (step 2): "Maybe the light bulb burned out."
3. Next you would make a prediction (step 3): "If the bulb burned out, then when I replace it with a working bulb, the lamp should light."
4. Finally, you would perform an experiment (step 4): You would remove a bulb from a floor lamp that works, screw it into your desk lamp, and watch the result. When you performed the test, you would include what scientists call a control, a check that all factors of the experiment are the same except for the one in question. Here, the control is the borrowed bulb that works in the floor lamp.
If the borrowed bulb fails to work in the desk lamp, you could conclude, based on your control, that a burned-out bulb is not the problem. You would next discard the faulty-bulb hypothesis and ask new questions: "Is the lamp itself broken? Is something wrong with the wiring to the wall socket?" You could then make new hypotheses, new predictions, and perform new tests until you discovered why your lamp went out.
4. While an orderly approach to exploring nature, the scientific method is by no means rigid, rote, or unimaginative in practice. Once a scientist has observed a curious phenomenon, it takes creativity to dream up a clear, testable hypothesis. It also lakes logic, talent, experience, imagination, and intuition to follow through with cleverly designed experiments and alternative hypotheses. Finally, it takes an ability to communicate clearly through writing and speaking to share results with others.
5. No tool is more powerful for understanding the natural world than the scientific method, although it does not apply, however, to matters of religion, politics, culture, ethics, or art. These valuable ways of approaching the world and its problems proceed along different lines of inquiry and experience. Nevertheless, many of the world's current problems have underlying biological bases, and thus they mainly demand biological solutions.

Source: John Postlethwait, Janet Hopson, and Ruth Veres. Biology! Bringing Science to Life. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1993, pp. 16-17.

Comprehension Questions

Directions: Questions 1-5 are objective questions that are based on the information in the selection. Answer them by clicking on the correct answer. You may refer to the selection as you answer the questions.

1	Which word describes the scientific method?
	A)	regimented
	B)	logical
	C)	rigid
	D)	unimaginative
2	The scientific method does not include which of the following steps?
	A)	asking a question or identifying a problem
	B)	proposing a hypothesis
	C)	making a prediction
	D)	publishing the results of the experiment
3	The scientific method is important because
	A)	little is known about the natural world.
	B)	it allows scientists to investigate the natural world in the most organized way.
	C)	it can be applied to politics as well as science.
	D)	it teaches scientists to communicate clearly.
4	Once a hypothesis predicts results correctly, the scientist
	A)	is free to identify new problems in the natural world.
	B)	makes predictions about other problems.
	C)	makes other predictions based on the same hypothesis and tests them.
	D)	publishes the results.
5	A scientist should possess which of the following attributes?
	A)	analytical skills
	B)	the ability to communicate clearly
	C)	perseverance
	D)	all of the above

Vocabulary Questions

6	"A biologist is rarely happy just to describe a curious event, such as the disappearance of a tadpole's tail as the young frog becomes an adult." The movie received a great deal of publicity because it was a curious blend of science fiction and comedy. curious
	A)	having a sense of wonder
	B)	unpredictable
	C)	attracting attention because of strangeness, novelty, or unexpectedness
	D)	causing disgust due to vileness or repulsiveness
7	"If the hypothesis predicts the results correctly, the scientist makes other predictions based on the same hypothesis and tests them." Medical researchers have a new hypothesis about a possible treatment for muscular dystrophy, and they are in the process of designing an experiment to test it. hypothesis
	A)	lucky hunch
	B)	set of data collected in an organized way
	C)	scientific experiment preformed under strictly controlled conditions
	D)	tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical consequences
8	"Scientific research requires logic, analytical skills, and perseverance." Inventor Thomas Edison, famous for his perseverance, tested hundreds of materials before finding one that would work as a filament in incandescent light bulbs. perseverance
	A)	determination
	B)	creativity
	C)	intelligence
	D)	inspiration
9	"While the steps of the scientific method may sound very regimented, they are really little more than organized common sense approach—one you use regularly in your own life." The programs in most drug treatment centers tend to be very regimented. regimented
	A)	rigidly organized
	B)	military in nature
	C)	difficult to perform or carry out
	D)	widely-accepted
10	"While an orderly approach to exploring nature, the scientific method is by no means rigid, rote, or unimaginative in practice." Carl gave a rote recitation of Lincoln's Gettysburg address; it was clear that he did not understand the words he had memorized. rote
	A)	giving the appearance of being boring
	B)	tending to be time-consuming
	C)	ikely to cause strong reaction
	D)	seemingly uninfluenced by the mind or emotions

Applied Reading Skills Questions

Directions: Questions 11-15 test your ability to apply certain reading skills. Answer each question by clicking on the correct answer. You may refer to the selection as you answer the questions.

11	In the third paragraph a comparison is made between
	A)	a faulty desk lamp and a desk lamp that works.
	B)	organized common sense and the scientific method.
	C)	experiments and controls.
	D)	a burned out light bulb and a desk lamp that does not work.
12	According to information in the selection, the next-to-the-last step in the scientific method is
	A)	asking a question.
	B)	identifying a problem.
	C)	proposing a hypothesis.
	D)	making a prediction.
13	The author wrote this selection primarily to
	A)	explain the scientific method and when it should be used.
	B)	show how simple it is to apply the scientific method.
	C)	encourage everyone to use the scientific method.
	D)	suggest a way of improving the scientific method.
14	Which of the following statements best represents the main idea of the entire selection?
	A)	The scientific method requires creativity, logic, talent, imagination, and intuition.
	B)	Many of the world's current problems have underlying biological bases, and thus they mainly demand biological solutions.
	C)	To investigate the natural world in the most organized way, scientists use a powerful tool known as the scientific method.
	D)	While an orderly approach to exploring nature, the scientific method is by no means rigid, rote, or unimaginative in practice.
15	Given the information given in the selection, which of the following is reasonable inference?
	A)	Creating a hypothesis is the most important step in the scientific method.
	B)	The same type of reasoning used in the scientific method can be applied to certain types of situations in everyday life.
	C)	The scientific method does not apply to matters of religion, politics, culture, ethics, or art.
	D)	It is possible to apply the scientific method without performing an experiment.