Scientific Thinking

Your best pathway to understanding the world

Lectures by Mark Manteuffel, St. Louis Community College
 Learning Goals
• Describe what science is.
• Describe the scientific method.
• Describe key aspects of well-designed
experiments.
• Describe how the scientific method can be
used to help make wise decisions.
• Describe the major themes in biology.
 What is science?

Scientists:
 Are curious
 Ask questions about how the world works
 Seek answers
• Does the radiation released by cell phones
cause brain tumors?
• Are anti-bacterial hand soaps better than
regular soap?
• Do large doses of vitamin C reduce the
likelihood of getting a cold?
 What is biology?
• Biology is the study of living things.
• The most important questions in biology:
 What is the chemical and physical basis for
life and its maintenance?
 How do organisms use genetic information to
build themselves and to reproduce?
 What are the diverse forms that life on earth
takes and how has that diversity arisen?
 How do organisms interact with each other
and with their environment?
 Scientific Literacy
A general, fact-based understanding of
the basics of biology and other sciences.
 how to think scientifically
 how to use the knowledge we gain to make
wise decisions
 increasingly important in our lives
 literacy in matters of biology is especially
essential
 Understanding How the World Works

 Someone wonders about

why something is the way
it is and then decides to
try to find out the answer.

 This process of
examination and discovery
is called the scientific
method.
 The Scientific Method
 Observe a phenomenon

 Propose an explanation for it  Hypothesis

 Test the proposed explanation through a

series of experiments
↓
Accurate & valid,
or…
Revised or alternative explanations proposed
 “Scientific Method”

• This term sounds like a rigid process to follow,

much like following a recipe.
• In practice, however, the scientific method is
not one single method that is always rigidly
followed from start to finish.
• Rather, it is an adaptable process that includes
many different methods.
 Hypothesis
Based on observations, we can develop a hypothesis
(plural: hypotheses), a proposed explanation for
observed phenomena.
1.It must clearly establish mutually exclusive alternative
explanations for a phenomenon. That is, it must be clear
that if the proposed explanation is not supported by
evidence or further observations, a different hypothesis is a
more likely explanation.
2. It must generate testable predictions.  This characteristic
is important because we can only evaluate the validity of a
hypothesis by putting it to the test.
Which statement or question below
is a hypothesis for the validity of
eyewitness testimony?
1. Is eyewitness testimony always
correct?
2. Eyewitness testimony is always correct.
3. If eyewitness testimony is always
correct, then DNA and physical
evidence should support the story of
the eyewitness.
4. None of the above.
 The Null Hypothesis
 A hypothesis that states a lack of relationship
between two factors.
A negative statement that proposes that there
is no relationship between two factors
 These hypotheses are equally valid but are easier
to disprove.
 If a null hypothesis is rejected, then an
alternative hypothesis is considered true.
 It is impossible to prove a hypothesis is
absolutely and permanently true.
Null and Alternative Hypotheses
Echinacea reduces the duration and severity
of the symptoms of the common cold.

Or as a null hypothesis:
Echinacea has no effect on the duration or
severity of the symptoms of the common
cold.
Null and Alternative Hypotheses
Estrogens in sewage runoff turn fish into
hermaphrodites.

Or as a null hypothesis:
Estrogens in sewage runoff have no effect in
turning fish into hermaphrodites.
Null and Alternative Hypotheses
Hair that is shaved grows back coarser and
darker.

Or as a null hypothesis:
There is no difference in the coarseness or
color of hair that is shaved relative to hair
that is not shaved.
 Hypotheses and Theories
A theory is a hypothesis for natural phenomena
that is exceptionally well-supported by the data.
• a hypothesis that has withstood the test of time and
is unlikely to be altered by any new evidence
• Theories in science also tend to be broader in
scope than hypotheses.
• In biology, two of the most important theories are (1)
cell theory: that all organisms are composed of cells
and all cells come from preexisting cells, and (2) the
theory of evolution by natural selection: that species
can change over time and are all related to each
other through common ancestry.
 Elements Common
to Most Experiments
1. Treatment
• any experimental condition applied to individuals.
2. Experimental group
• a group of individuals who are exposed to a
particular treatment
3. Control group
• a group of individuals who are treated identically to
the experimental group with the one exception: they
are not exposed to the treatment
4. Variables
• characteristics of your experimental system that are
subject to change
 Controlling Variables
 the most important feature of a good
experiment
 the attempt to minimize any differences
between a control group and an
experimental group other than the
treatment itself
 that way, any differences in the outcomes
we observe between the groups are most
likely due to the treatment.
 Experimental Designs
 Blind experimental design
• The experimental subjects do not know which
treatment (if any) they are receiving.

 Double-blind experimental design

• Neither the experimental subjects nor the
experimenter knows which treatment the
subject is receiving.
How to Prevent Being Taken in or Fooled by
False Claims

 Identifytwo types of “scientific evidence”

that frequently are cited in the popular
media and are responsible for people
erroneously believing that links between
two things exist, when in fact they do not.
1. Pseudoscience: individuals make
scientific-sounding claims that are not
supported by trustworthy, methodical
scientific studies.

2. Anecdotal observations: based on only

one or a few observations, people
conclude that there is or is not a link
between two things.
There are limits to what science can
do.

 The scientific method will never prove or

disprove the existence of God.

 Understand elegance?

 What is beauty?
 Two Unifying Themes in Biology
 Hierarchical organization
 Life is organized on many levels within individual
organisms, including atoms, cells, tissues, and
organs. And in the larger world, organisms
themselves are organized into many levels:
populations, communities, and ecosystems within the
biosphere.
 The power of evolution
 Evolution, the change in genetic characteristics of
individuals within populations over time, accounts for
the diversity of organisms, but also explains the unity
among them.
 What makes something alive?
All living organisms share five basic
characteristics.
• Both complex and organized
• Respond to stimuli
• Maintain homeostasis
• Acquire energy and nutrients from the
environment
• Grow and reproduce
 Levels of Organization of Matter

Atoms and molecules

→ cells → tissues →
organs → organ
systems → organisms
→ populations →
communities →
ecosystems →
biosphere
 How Do Scientists Categorize the
Diversity of Life?
• The domains and kingdoms of life
– Organisms can be grouped into three major
categories, called domains.
• Bacteria
• Archaea
• Eukarya