Course SC1130
Practice activity 1 09/25/14
The scientific method
Redi Experiment:
The Redi experiment disproved the spontaneous generation of maggots on meat through careful experimentation.
The scientific method:
1. Observation: The first step I did was look at a picture and make an observation. I observed different types of meat that had flies and/or maggots on them.
2. Ask a question: The second strep was to ask a question while observing the picture. I asked “how long the meat has been sitting out to create maggots?”, and “where did the maggots come from?” There were other possible questions that were given such as “do maggots come from flies?”, and “if I keep the flies away from the meat by covering it, will maggots still appear?”
3. Develop a hypothesis: The third step was to develop a hypothesis. I said that maggots develop in rotten meat, which then attracts flies.
4. Make a prediction: The fourth step is to make a prediction of what will happen by using statements such as if/then. My prediction was that if maggots appear in rotten meat, then keeping the meat covered will keep the meat fresh stopping flies and maggots.
5. Performing an experiment: The fifth step is to test the hypothesis by performing an experiment. I did this by finding the independent and dependent variable.
a. Independent variable: What you think may be the cause of whatever it is that you are testing for in an experiment for example temperature.
b. Dependent variable: What you are observing,