Fall2011_Lab1

If you don't have the lab book yet, download the worksheet here:

How to read these notes:
 * The amount of text in these outlines do not really tell you how important it is when I write quizzes. The amount of time I spent in class talking about the concepts in the lab during my mini-lecture is the best way to determine what is going to be important for the quizzes.
 * So if I spend the most amount of time in my lecture on insulin metabolism, but I don't write much about insulin metabolism in these notes, then insulin metabolism will be really important when you study for the quiz.
 * On the other hand, if I write 5 pages about glucose metabolism in these notes, but I don't even talk about glucose metabolism during the actual lab, then glucose metabolism will never be on the quiz.

Mini-lecture outline:


 * Some science is **descriptive**. There is no experiment, it's just a description of nature. For example, I found a new animal, the //Trogywomp//, and it has wings and a beak that is 2 inches long. That's descriptive science. I didn't do any experiments.
 * **Experimental** science, on the other hand, begins with these descriptions of nature. The experiment collects evidence in an effort to explain things in nature.
 * For example, lets say you see a bird. And it's a black bird. Whoa! Descriptive science is happening! Now you can begin science.
 * Next: Create an guess or prediction about what you've know about nature.
 * You know that birds are out in nature, and you know at least one bird is black (these are your premises, or the stuff you know ahead of time).
 * You are currently looking at a black bird. Could all birds be black? Make a hypothesis!
 * Hypothesis is an educated guess. "I guess that birds are black".
 * After that: Make a prediction: maybe all birds are black? Maybe not. But this explains why the the bird you saw was black. But you could be wrong. The important thing is, this is a statement ("all birds are black") that you can now **test**(in an experiment).
 * Two possible predictions (in the form: **If** [.....] **then** [.....]):
 * If something is a bird, then it is black.
 * If something is black, then it is a bird.
 * These are not the same statements, because you would create different experiments to test them.
 * We will test the first prediction: "If something is a bird, then it is black."
 * Experiment: An experiment allows you to collect evidence to test your prediction.
 * The experiment means you have to get creative: What would happen if all birds are black? Then you shouldn't be able to find a white bird. Never. Ever.
 * By testing this statement ("If something is a bird, then it is black"), we collect evidence based on the prediction.
 * First, think up an experiment which would test whether or not all "If something is a bird, then it is black".
 * Now, think about this: Imagine what it would take to completely smash our prediction? If our prediction ("If something is a bird, then it is black") is not correct, what would happen when we run your experiment?
 * Put your answer here: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.


 * Science is "hypothesis" testing. Some steps:
 * What would happen if I do this or that? (Your prediction, or your guess, or your hypothesis)
 * Try doing an experiment to see if you are right or not (collect evidence)
 * Compare your evidence with your prediction (Show the results of your experiment)
 * Did your experiment do what you thought it would do?
 * **Yes**: Well then, you can say your evidence **supports** your hypothesis
 * But: you can't prove anything to be true in science. Bloggers and the news might use that word, but you can't 'prove' anything in science, due to the rules of logic.
 * **No**: Your evidence has **rejected**, or disproven, your hypothesis.
 * Remember the question you asked at the beginning? Well, now you know that it is wrong. It just can't be true. Congratulations!
 * Note:
 * If your find 1000 birds and they were all black, it is still possible that there are white birds out there, but you just haven't found them yet. Thus, even if you have lots of evidence that agrees with your guess ("if there is a bird, then it is going to be black"), you can't say that you've proven your statement, because an experiment is always limited by some factor or some method. And this limitation (here, we just can't collect all of the birds in the world) creates little "blind spots". The strength of your conclusion is only as strong as your evidence, and science can never collect all the evidence in nature for every experiment.
 * But: (this is not important to the lab) In some fields that are not science, like philosophy or math, you can "prove" something. But that's because these fields don't deal with the physical world, they deal with abstract ideas which can be tested based on the rules of logic. No experiments are needed, and no evidence needs to be collected.
 * Also: Hypothesis testing must follow some rules. For example, there are some things you just can't test, and therefore you can't use the scientific method of hypothesis testing to learn anything about it.
 * You can only test statements which are able to be tested and refuted. For example, you can't test the statement "If a tree falls in a forest and there is no one (or no thing) there to hear it, it doesn't make a noise".
 * In order to test this state you would have to find a tree in a forest, wait for it to fall, and then listen (or record) the sound it makes. But the statement says "if there is no one (or no thing) there to hear it..." So we would have to test it without being able to collect evidence. Since experiments require evidence, this statement is impossible to test. Therefore we can't use science to test this statement. Dag gummit.
 * Another impossible idea: "This sentence is false".
 * Also, you can read about the "Barber paradox".
 * Remember Venn diagrams? They are helpful in thinking about these logical ideas.