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This document discusses a study on the effects of a plant fertilizer called Metabo-Herb. The study found that plants grown with Metabo-Herb were on average 11 inches taller than plants grown without any supplement. However, the study did not include a control comparing Metabo-Herb to the manufacturer's claimed better alternative, Super-Grow fertilizer. Additionally, no statistical analysis was reported. Peer review may question what the study actually proves and suggest a revised study with multiple test groups is needed to properly evaluate the manufacturer's claims.

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91 views

Copy of Activity 1

This document discusses a study on the effects of a plant fertilizer called Metabo-Herb. The study found that plants grown with Metabo-Herb were on average 11 inches taller than plants grown without any supplement. However, the study did not include a control comparing Metabo-Herb to the manufacturer's claimed better alternative, Super-Grow fertilizer. Additionally, no statistical analysis was reported. Peer review may question what the study actually proves and suggest a revised study with multiple test groups is needed to properly evaluate the manufacturer's claims.

Uploaded by

stella
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Group Activity

Metabo-Herb Activity—Critical Question Sets

1. Scientific Foundation: Scientific investigations provide a scientific grounding for proposed


explanations and hypotheses.

_________________________________
Facilitator: Logan

● What specific claims do the manufactures make about their product?


That their product will make your plants grow faster than super grow

● The manufacturer doesn’t identify a biological mechanism by which their product may
promote plant growth. Explain why this information is vital for a proper evaluation of
the claims.
This information is vital because without it there is no know why or how it could be better than
other products and that the experiment could be valid

● Explain why it is important that all individuals—not just scientists—have a clear


understanding of science as a method of inquiry.

It is important because if people don’t know why a science happens they could be led into
believing something that is not true or buying something that does not work.

2. Research Design: The appropriate employment of control and experimental study groups,
selection of appropriate dependent and independent variables, and control of potential
confounding variables are vital aspects of scientific investigations.

Ashton_________________________________
Facilitator

● Identify the following components of the study:


o Control Group: Plants without any Metabo-Herb
o Experimental Group: Group with Metabo-Herb
o Dependent Variable: Height of plants
o Independent Variable: Type of fertilizer
o Controlled Variable(s): same size fields and same variety of tomatoes plants.
● Is the experiment described an appropriate test of the claims made by the manufacturer?
Explain.
Group Activity
No it is not an appropriate test as they claim that Metabo-Herb is better than Super-Grow but
they didn’t not conduct a test against Super-Grow they tested it against plants with no
supplement. Also there is other third party variables that weren’t accounted for.

● What is the purpose of a control group in an investigation?

To have something to compare to the group that was treated with the independent variable, so
you know how much plants without any supplements grow.
Group Activity
3. Data Analysis & Conclusions: Science is a method of inquiry that is based on a critical
evaluation of data.
Stella_________________________
Facilitator

● Is there any statistical analysis of the data?—Why is it important to utilize statistical


procedures to analyze data?
o There was no statistical analysis of the data because we were only given the data
of the growth of plants with Metabo-Herb and without, but no trends were really
shown. It is important to say more about the data instead of only telling us the
mean as proof that Metabo-Herb is better, but no solid claim was made.

● What conclusions can be drawn from the data?


o The conclusions that can be drawn from the data is that plants grow better with
Metabo-Herb rather than without as shown by the mean difference of 11 inches.

● Why are testimonials and anecdotal evidence of limited value to scientific investigations?
o They are of limited value to scientific investigations because they don't present
any real evidence and hearing about people's experiences doesn't prove to help
science and prove their points, it only helps in advertising. They don't disprove
that it was by chance or that the results were only achieved by Metabo-Herb.

4. Validity of Claims: A critical evaluation of scientific claims through the process of ‘peer
review’ is a hallmark of science as a method of inquiry. In this process, other scientists critically
analyze the methods and results of a study to help establish the validity of the findings.

________________miles_______________
Facilitator

● In science, before a scientific investigation is published, it must go through the process of


‘peer-review.’ In this process, other scientists who are specialists in the area of
investigation critically analyze the methods and results of a study to help establish the
validity of the findings. What characteristics are engendered to science as a method of
inquiry due to the reliance on the process?
It allows science to be trusted and reliable. We can believe the results that scientific
experiments give us because they are put through peer review and other rigorous testing.
Group Activity

● What comments/questions do you think scientists who review the work might have for
the researchers who conducted this study?
A question that reviewing scientist could have is “what does your experiment prove?” Because in
the experiment they show what happens when you use a fertilizer vs what happens when you use
nothing, not vs when you use the other fertilizer

● Briefly describe a study to test the claims made by the manufacturers in the
advertisement. Be sure to identify control group, experimental group, dependent
variable, independent variable, controlled variables.

A study that could test the claims made by the manufacturers in the advertisement could have
multiple fields in different location with different climates all growing tomatoes with metabo-
herb fertilizer and super grow fertilizer. Compare average height of tomatoe planes by finding
the mean of a random selection of plants grown with both fertilizer. In a third field in the same
locations, grow tomatoes without fertilizer and compare average height to those grown with
fertilizer. That is the control group. The experimental group is the tomatoes grown with the
different fertilizers, the independent variable is the type of fertilizer used, the dependent variable
is the mean height of each sample of tomatoes. The controlled variables are location of plants.

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