Name :

Scientific Method: Mystery Virus Case Study Simulation

Scenario:

Instructions: Read through the different images, and then answer the questions at the end of
each section.

Overview of the Scientific Method

 1. Scientific Investigations begin with careful _________________.
2. Scientific explanations start as _________________ , good guesses about why
something happens the way it does.
3. Through ____________ and ________________, scientists work to support or
disprove a hypothesis.
4. By ________________________, scientists conclude whether they have support for
their hypothesis.
Observation: Reports

Reports:
5. Answer

Observation: Steps to Gather Further Information

6. Answer

Observation: Emerging Patterns

7. Your initial review of medical records shows that patients at the senior center and military
base are progressing from cold-like symptoms to serious _______________________.

8. The map you created of reported cases shows that no incidents of unusual illness have
occurred outside the locations already identified- _________________, _______________,
_______________.

9. Your timeline shows that unusually high rates of illness were first documented at the
_________________________.
Hypothesis: Candidate Hypotheses
10. Answer

Hypothesis: Preliminary Hypothesis

11. Answer

Hypothesis: Planning Tests

12. Military recruits are believed to be the source of a viral respiratory disease at the military
base, senior center, and high school. What evidence supports this hypothesis?

Testing and Experimentation:Tests

13. Answer
Testing and Experimentation: Experiments and Controls

14. Answer

Testing and Experimentation: Results

15. Rapid PCR Test results confirmed that patients from the military base and senior center are
infected with an acute respiratory illness called

Analysis & Conclusion: Statistical Analysis

16. Answer

Analysis & Conclusion: Bad Data

17. Answer

Analysis & Conclusion: End

 As the Director of Public Health you used the Scientific Method to investigate a disease outbreak. Your
last steps will be to:

18.

19.

and

20.