What is Life worksheet

University of Phoenix Material

What Is Life?

Part I: Media Relevancy

Read each statement.
Write a 100-word summary explaining how the chosen media piece supports the statement. Include reference citations.

1. Find a media piece—article, video, presentation, song, or other—that recognizes the fundamental concepts of chemistry in biology. Include the link or reference citation for the piece and describe how it helped you better understand how fundamental concepts of chemistry affect biology.

2. Find a media piece—article, video, presentation, song, or other—that describes the energy metabolism of cells. Include the link or reference citation for the piece and describe how it helped you better understand the energy metabolism of cells.

3. Find a media piece—article, video, presentation, song, or other—that compares the structures and functions of different cell types. Include the link or reference citation for the piece and describe how it helped you better compare structures and functions of different cell types.

4. Find a media piece—article, video, presentation, song, or other—related to the scientific method, creating hypotheses, or designing experiments. Include the link or reference citation for the piece and describe how it helped you better understand how the scientific method is used to create hypotheses and experiments.

Part II: Applying Science to Everyday Life
Recently, Earl attended a picnic at his daughter’s school. The picnic was a potluck, and the food was served outdoors. Contributions included hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, potato chips, potato salad, coleslaw, apple pie, and vanilla ice cream. Within 24 hours of the picnic, several attendees developed symptoms of food poisoning. Of the 50 people who attended the picnic, only 30 people became ill. Every person at the picnic ate something, but not every person had an opportunity to sample each item. Earl noticed that the potato salad he started to eat was warm. He also noticed that his hamburger was somewhat pink in the middle and not fully cooked. Earl wonders if eating the hamburgers or the potato salad could be responsible for making some attendees ill. Earl has begun to apply the scientific method to this common problem. Complete each of the following tasks in 200 to 300 words. 1. How would the scientific method help Earl create an experiment to determine which food sources made people sick? Earl could utilize the scientific method by first using the observation method by collecting the known information. More than half of the consumers became ill after eating warm potato salad and slightly pink hamburgers outside. The prediction step in the scientific method to determine the kind of food that most likely led to food poisoning. Which would be the potato salad left out the fridge and the undercooked hamburgers. With this information, he could draw valid conclusions based on his predictions and hypothesis. Also with this information could extend the study’s findings from the specific sets of conditions like the warm temperatures outside and which participants were used. It was observed that only half of the consumers got sick and not everyone at ate every single item could affect his results. The experiment he could conduct that he could see what the people who got sick ate and what the people who didn’t ate. He could hence make a general statement about the implications of the food consume and the results seen. He could maybe have proposed results of sometime prior hypothesis or modification of it under new conditions. This will bring him near to the beginning of the scientific method. For example, food poisoning was as a result of poorly cooked food.

2. Describe the steps of the scientific method Earl utilized. The steps that Earl utilized go hand in hand with the scientific method. Earl at first predicted that the cause of food poisoning could be as a result of poorly cooked food. This was from his personal experience as he noticed that his potato salad was warm from being outdoors and his hamburger was slightly pink .He used the observation step to collect data from them to test his assumption through the restricted problem he has identified. He found out that not everyone fell ill and not everyone had a chance to sample everything. After gathering the results, he analyzed the responses from the respondents he concluded from their responses and his own personal experience that the attendees who fell ill were the ones that consumed the undercooked hamburgers and warm potato salad. After this Earl will summarize and statistically analyze the data extracted from the various attendees followed by evaluation of results and drawing of conclusions regarding the causes of food poisoning. Finally, it will be prudent for Earl to communicate his findings to the school in some form of medium such as a written report, PowerPoint or a diagram. This will provide further training on food safety and food handling.

3. Describe the remaining steps Earl will use if he decides to use the scientific method to determine what made the people sick. The remaining steps that Earl will use in the scientific method to make people sick would have to be the experimental stage. Since only a little over half of the attendees fell ill and not everyone had a chance to sample everything, Earl will interview all the attendees to compare what the attendees who didn’t get sick consumed versus what attendees that fell ill consumed. Earl can then compare the results using a Venn diagram noting the differences and similarities. By using this method he can then pinpoint exactly which food items made some of the attendees at the potluck sick, either confirming his hypothesis or ruling it out. Another step Earl could take is to research all the food that was brought to the picnic and the safe and unsafe temperatures they should or should not be consumed. For example researching the temperature a hamburger has to be cooked at to be rid of bacteria. From his research and observations he could draw additional conclusions on when exactly did the food become unsafe to eat. Earl will also have to take note of the outside temperature the day of the potluck. Was it overcast? Or was is it noon in August when the sun is the hottest and highest?