BIO 131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: An Oak Tree, Gametophyte, Carbon Sink

• School: Miami University
• Department: Biology
• Course: BIO 131
• Professor: Shinjini Goswami

Document Summary

Meeting with discussion group d on fridays at 11:40-12:35 room 320. Science: a method for understanding the natural world in an unbiased way and the body of structured information that results from using that method. Fact: something that is believed to be true through observation and measurement. In s(cid:272)ie(cid:374)(cid:272)e, do(cid:374)"t thi(cid:374)k of a fact as so(cid:373)ethi(cid:374)g that (cid:862)is(cid:863) true, (cid:271)ut so(cid:373)ethi(cid:374)g that is (cid:862)pro(cid:271)a(cid:271)ly(cid:863) true. Hypothesis: it has to be testable: (cid:862)a(cid:272)(cid:272)ept(cid:863) or (cid:862)reje(cid:272)t(cid:863) (cid:271)ased o(cid:374) data fro(cid:373) observation and experimentation. Theory: i(cid:374) (cid:862)s(cid:272)ie(cid:374)(cid:272)e(cid:863), conceptual framework based on many observations, used to explain observations and predict new ones. Scientific method is the guidelines that science follows. Characteristics of scientific method: unbiased, typically, quantitative but can be qualitative, use proper experimental design to test hypotheses, statistics used to analyze data (95% usually sufficient to convince, 99% is better, Never 100%: replication, replication, replication, peer review before publication. Proof is never a good word to use!!!!