BIO 122 CHAPTER 3

SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Part II
DOA PENERANG HATI
CHAPTER TOPICS
1 Introduction
2 Hierarchy of Biological Organization
3 Scientific Methods
4 Chemical Bonds and Water
5 Biological Molecules
6 Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells
7
Plasma Membrane and Transport of
Molecules
DISCOVERY SCIENCE
Logic used: Inductive reasoning
Starts from specific observations to broader
generalizations and theories
Also called: “bottom up” approach
HYPOTHESIS – BASED SCIENCE

Logic used: Deductive reasoning

Starts from general theory to a more specific
observation.
Also called “top-down “ approach
STEPS IN SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
Can you name all 7 steps of them?
STEPS IN SCIENTIFIC METHOD
OBSERVATION

QUESTION

FORMULATE A HYPOTHESIS ou r
e s i g n y
d
How to iment?
EXPERIMENT exper

COLLECT AND ANALYZE RESULTS

CONCLUSION

COMMUNICATE THE RESULTS

EXPERIMENT

1. Procedure:
A procedure to test the hypothesis
The methods you used to run the
experiment
2. Materials:
List of things you used in the
experiment (instruments,
chemicals, biological materials,
etc)
EXPERIMENT
3. Variables:
Is the parameter used as measurement of something in
research
A factor that are subjected to change in an experiment
A factor that can cause an observable change during
experiment
Types of variables:
Independent Variables?
Dependent Variables?
Controlled Variable?
INDEPENDENT VARIABLES
Independent variables are the variables that are
manipulated by the experimenter in order to
determine what effect they may have on behavior.

The experimenter varies the independent variable(s)

from one condition to another in the experiment.

By applying this factor(s) to one condition and not

another, the experimenter compares the effect of the
independent variable on the behavior of interest
DEPENDENT VARIABLES

The dependent or response variable is the

variable whose behaviour is to be measured
as a result of an experiment.

Ideally, the dependent variable should be

reliable, sensitive, easy to measure, and
distributed in a way that conforms to the
assumptions of a statistical model.
CONTROLLED VARIABLES
Controlled variables are the one that is not allowed to
be change and is expected to remain the same
The things that are kept constant (the same) in the
experiment
Also called constant variables
Which one is controlled, independent and
dependent variables?
Does a new medicine cure AIDS?

Independent variable:
The new medicine
Dependent variable:
How it affects patients
Control variable:
1. Use the same amount of medicine on everyone
2. Test only some specific people
3. Test only some people with specific age etc
EXPERIMENT
4. Experimental group vs Control group:
Experimental group:

Control group:

ALL EXPERIMENTS SHOULD HAVE A

CONTROL GROUP!
EXPERIMENT
5. Testing your prediction
• A prediction must be tested through :
Actual experiment (experimental group):
e.g: Experimental group fed with carrot
Control experiment (Control group):
Positive control: Control group 1 supplied with
Vitamin A
Negative control: Control group 2 do not fed
with carrot nor Vitamin A
EXPERIMENT
6. Trials – How many trials?
Trials refer to replicate groups that are exposed to
the same conditions in an experiment.
E.g: John is going to test each sugar variable 3
times.
STEPS IN SCIENTIFIC METHOD
OBSERVATION

QUESTION

a n d
FORMULATE A HYPOTHESIS ec t
o l l ts?
o c s u l
t
w ze r e
EXPERIMENT o
H a ly
an

COLLECT AND ANALYZE RESULTS

CONCLUSION

COMMUNICATE THE RESULTS

COLLECT AND ANALYZE
RESULTS
1. Experimental analysis:
• Could be done after the data collection
• Problems in analyzing data:
• Equipment's error
• Sampling error: cannot examine every subject
in a big population. Only study a sample /
subset of them to represent the whole
population
Collected Analyze the Interpret the
data data data
COLLECT AND ANALYZE RESULTS

2. Sample size (How big should your sample size

be?):
• How big is the sample size to represent the actual
population?
Use larger sample size: # 30 – 100
Apply statistical analysis (eg: ANOVA test, t-test,
correlation test in 95% confident interval)
Select typical samples and each sample must be
replicated (2 or 3 times)
 COLLECT AND ANALYZE RESULTS

3. Reporting results:
Present report according to the analyzed data and results.

Report must contain introduction, literature review,

description of methods, results, discussion and
conclusion, references

Publish findings in scientific journals or present to

audience. Get comments and suggestions for improving
the report
UNITS OF MEASUREMENT

SI: The International System of Units

International agreement specifying a particular choice of
seven metric units for scientific measurements
Is the modern form of the metric system and is generally a
system of units of measurement devised around seven
base units.
It is the world’s most widely used system of measurement
both in everyday commerce and in science.
UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
The International System of Units (SI) defines
seven units of measure as a basic set from which
all other SI units are derived.
SI BASE UNITS

These SI base units and their physical quantities are:

Length : Metre (m)
Mass : kilogram (kg)
Time : Second (s)
Electrical current : Ampere (A)
Temperature : Kelvin (K)
Luminous intensity : Candela (cd)
Amount of substance : Mole (mol)
 UNIT CONVERSION (SI PREFIX)
NAME SYMBOL FACTOR NUMERICAL VALUE
T 1012 1 000 000 000 000
G 109 1 000 000 000
M
K 103 1 000
h 102 100
da 101 10
d 10-1 0.1
c 10-2 0.01
m 10-3 0.001
μ 10-6 0.000 001
n
p 10-12 0.000 000 000 001
NAME SYMBOL FACTOR NUMERICAL VALUE
Tera T 1012 1 000 000 000 000
Giga G 109 1 000 000 000
Mega M
Kilo K 103 1 000
Hecto h 102 100
Deca da 101 10
Desi d 10-1 0.1
Centi c 10-2 0.01
Milli m 10-3 0.001
Micro μ 10-6 0.000 001
Nano n
Pico p 10-12 0.000 000 000 001
UNIT CONVERSION (SI PREFIX)
A prefix name attaches directly to the name of a unit,
and a prefix symbol attaches directly to the symbol for a
unit
E.g: one kilometer, 1km is equal to one thousand
meters, 1000m or 103m

Unit
10 m = 1000m = 1 kilometer = 1 km
3

SI prefix Name of a Prefix

unit symbol
UNIT CONVERSION
Length (km, m, cm, mm, µm, nm)

Mass (kg, g, mg, µg)

Volume (L, mL, µL, cm3, mm3)

Temperature (°C, °F)

UNITS OF MEASUREMENT - LENGTH
• Length is the distance between two points. The SI base unit for length
is the meter.
1 m = 100 (102) centimeter (cm)
1 cm = 0.01(10-2) m
1 mm = 0.001 (10-3) m

• Microscopic measurement:
1mm = 10-3 m = 1/1000 m
1µm = 10-6 m = 1/1 000 000 m
1nm = 10-9 m = 1/1000 000 000 m
1 Ǻ = 10-10 m
UNITS OF MEASUREMENT - MASS

Mass is the amount of matter that makes up an object.

A golf ball and a ping pong ball are the same size, but the
golf ball has a lot more matter in it. So the golf ball will
have more mass.
The SI unit for mass is kilogram.
1mg = 0.001 (10-3)g
1ng = 10-3mg or 10-6g
1µg = 10-3ng or 10-6mg or 10-9g
UNITS OF MEASUREMENT - MASS

We will use a triple beam balance scale to measure mass.

Gravity pulls equally on both sides of a balance scale, so you will get
the same mass no matter what planet you are on.
DON’T GET CONFUSED WITH WEIGHT!!

Weight is a measure of the force of gravity on an object.

Your weight can change depending on the force of gravity. The
gravity will change depending on the planet you are on.
The SI unit for weight is the Newton (N).

Mass VS Weight
UNITS OF MEASUREMENT -
TEMPERATURE
Three temperature use: K (Kelvin), oC (degrees Celsius),
and oF (degrees Fahrenheit).
Two temperature scales are common use on
thermometer-water boil, water freeze.
Kelvin is an SI unit.
UNITS OF MEASUREMENT - TEMPERATURE

The relationship between the Kelvin temperature, Tk, Fahrenheit, tF

, and the Celsius temperature, tc, is :

F and K has no direct relationship. So, need to convert °F to °C first,

then to K
SI DERIVED UNIT
Are obtained from these equations and the seven
SI base units.
E.g:
Area
Volume
Liquid volume
SI DERIVED UNIT - LIQUID VOLUME
When the metric system was created, they decided that 1 cm 3 of
water would equal 1 millilitre of water and the 1 mL of water will
have a mass of one gram.
1cm3 water =1 ml of water = 1 gram

We can use water displacement to

find the volume of objects that are
not boxed shaped.
SI DERIVED UNIT - LIQUID VOLUME

So what would be the mass of 50 mL of

water be?

So what would be the mass of 1 litre of

water be?
Exercise
1 7 cm = mm
2 3,450 mm = cm
3 45 m = cm
4 10,946 m = km
5 18,300 cm = m
6 75.3 km = m
7 64.9 cm = mm
8 0.127 L = mL
9 981 cm3 = L
10 2.65 m3 = cm3
Exercise
1 7 cm = 70 mm
2 3,450 mm = 345 cm
3 45 m = 4500 cm
4 10,946 m = 10.946 km
5 18,300 cm = 183 m
6 75.3 km = 75300 m
7 64.9 cm = 649 mm
8 0.127 L = 127 mL
9 981 cm3 = 0.981 L
10 2.65 m3 = 2650000 cm3
Exercise

What is question and hypothesis of Leticia’s experiment?

REFERENCES

Campbell (10th ed) BIOLOGY: Chapter 1 (1.3 &

1.4)
Tsukamoto, et. Al. J. Biol. Chem. 2005,
280:35164-35171.
Chen, et. Al. Nature. 2012, 490 (11 October
2012): 278 – 282
https://explorable.com/scientific-control-group