Biology Assignment

Tyrone Hayes–Scientific Method

Answer all the questions posed here and compose a one page subjective review of Tyrone Hayes and his research… Identify and define the following terms regarding scientific method; prediction, falsifiable hypothesis, hypothesis, null hypothesis, independent variable, dependent variable, standardized variables, test sample, control sample, quantitative data, qualitative data, conclusionTest yourself with the following example:            Tyrone Hayes was collecting Northern Leopard Frogs in freshwater systems to examine the health of the population.  It had been noticed that the population numbers had been falling and investigators wanted to find out why.  Tyrone dissected some of the frogs and noticed that many of the males had deformed testis!  Female eggs were growing in areas where there should be sperm!  Since frogs develop and reproduce in water, Tyrone wondered if something in the water could be interfering with the normal development of the male frogs.  He tested the water system where the frogs had been collected and discovered that the area was contaminated with atrazine, possible run-off the from nearby agricultural fields.  He wondered if the atrazine could somehow be causing the mis-development of the male frogs testis.What is the prediction that Tyrone might have made?  What would the deductive reasoning statement look like?  What could Tyrone do for his experiment?Tyrone took some frogs and allowed them to reproduce and develop in regular freshwater.  He took another group of frogs and added atrazine to the water in which they then reproduce and developed. Can you identify the test sample and the control sample?  What is the independent variable?  Dependent variable?  Standardized variables?  What kind of data would Tyrone have at the end of his experiment?Tyrone saw that frogs that had been raised in the atrazine exposed water displayed the same kinds of developmental defects that he had seen in the male frogs that he had collected from the streams near the agricultural areas in his original investigation into reduction of the frog population. The frogs that had been raised in the regular freshwater did not have any signs of the defects. What might Tyrone’s conclusion be?  What was his hypothesis?  What was the null hypothesis?  Which was validated in this experiment?  What other information would be included in Tyrone’s conclusion?  Why would this experiment be of interest to humans?  What does the atrazine have to do with Tyrone’s original question regarding the reduction in the frog population?  What is atrazine?  What is it used for and why might it be suspected of causing developmental defects in frogs?  What is your opinion of Tyrone Hayes research?  Give me a subjective review after viewing the links below and maybe using this as a starting point for more investigation.Use this link to a short video of Tyrone discussing his experiment:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgVg4bfMJ4sUse this link to see the current EPA guidelines regarding atrazine:           http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/atrazine/atrazine_update.htm#amphibian