Written Assignment 1 Rodey
Scientific Method
Sarah Rodey
Concept of Biology 101 7981
November 1, 2014
All experiments start with an observation, in this experiment the observation that the scientist have made is that drinking coffee or the intake of caffeine can reduce the risk of diabetes. From this observation comes about a hypothesis, which is drinking coffee due to the caffeine will reduce the risk of diabetes. To test this hypothesis the scientist conduct an experiment. The experiment is to give one group of “11 mice water and another group of 10 mice with diluted black coffee (coffee: water 1:1) as drinking fluids for five weeks” (American Chemical Society, 2010). The control group for this experiment is the 11 mice that where given water to drink. The treatment group is the other 10 mice that were given the diluter black coffee to drink. The independent variable is the coffee given to the 10 mice and the dependent variable is whether or not the coffee prevents diabetes. At the end of each week all mice were had their blood glucose tested. “At the end of the five weeks the mice that were given water had an increase of their blood glucose and the 10 mice that were given coffee had a 30% decrease in blood glucose.” (American Chemical Society, 2010). The conclusion in the experiment is that coffee can reduce the risk of diabetes. The scientist used mice because “among the many advantages to using the mouse as a model organism, the most important is their striking similarity to humans in anatomy, physiology, and genetics. Over 95% of the mouse genome is similar to our own, making mouse genetic research particularly applicable to human disease” (The Jackson Laboratory, 2014). It is unknown if the sample size was large enough because there could be other factors involved like hereditary genes (if the mice inherit diabetes then the coffee will not prevent it). There could be a bias in this experiment due to the fact that the coffee was supplied as a gift, the scientist could be
Sarah Rodey
Concept of Biology 101 7981
November 1, 2014
All experiments start with an observation, in this experiment the observation that the scientist have made is that drinking coffee or the intake of caffeine can reduce the risk of diabetes. From this observation comes about a hypothesis, which is drinking coffee due to the caffeine will reduce the risk of diabetes. To test this hypothesis the scientist conduct an experiment. The experiment is to give one group of “11 mice water and another group of 10 mice with diluted black coffee (coffee: water 1:1) as drinking fluids for five weeks” (American Chemical Society, 2010). The control group for this experiment is the 11 mice that where given water to drink. The treatment group is the other 10 mice that were given the diluter black coffee to drink. The independent variable is the coffee given to the 10 mice and the dependent variable is whether or not the coffee prevents diabetes. At the end of each week all mice were had their blood glucose tested. “At the end of the five weeks the mice that were given water had an increase of their blood glucose and the 10 mice that were given coffee had a 30% decrease in blood glucose.” (American Chemical Society, 2010). The conclusion in the experiment is that coffee can reduce the risk of diabetes. The scientist used mice because “among the many advantages to using the mouse as a model organism, the most important is their striking similarity to humans in anatomy, physiology, and genetics. Over 95% of the mouse genome is similar to our own, making mouse genetic research particularly applicable to human disease” (The Jackson Laboratory, 2014). It is unknown if the sample size was large enough because there could be other factors involved like hereditary genes (if the mice inherit diabetes then the coffee will not prevent it). There could be a bias in this experiment due to the fact that the coffee was supplied as a gift, the scientist could be
References: American Chemical Society. (2010, June 10). New evidence that drinking coffee may reduce the risk of diabetes. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 3, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100609111316.htm National Diabetes Statistics Report. (2014, June 10). Statistics about diabetes. Retrieved from http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/ The Jackson Laboratory. (2014). Advantages of the mouse as a model organism. Retrieved from http://research.jax.org/mousegenetics/advantages/advantages-of-mouse.html