Blackworms Flashcards

1
Q

3 things both null and alternative hypotheses have in common (3 things that should be included when writing them)

A
  1. Name or organism (common and latin)
  2. Name of variable being manipulated (independent variable)
  3. Which response will be measured (dependent variable)
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2
Q

what does a null hypothesis state?

A

states that there will be no effect of the treatment on the organism

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3
Q

what does an alternative hypothesis state?

A

states that there will be an effect of the treatment on the organism (NOT increase or decrease, effect or no effect)

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4
Q

which axis is the X axis, what do you plat on it?

A

is used to plot the independent variable(treatments); horizontal axis

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5
Q

which axis is the Y axis, what do you plat on it?

A

is used to plot the dependent (response) variable; vertical axis

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6
Q

how should both the x and y axis be labelled?

A

with units of measurement

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7
Q

what should a figure caption include?

A
  1. Species under investigation (common and latin)
  2. Independent variable
  3. Dependent variable (response)
  4. State what the bars indicate (95% confidence intervals of the mean)
  5. Provide the sample size (n=10)
  6. type (Figure, graph, table etc.) and number with period eg. Figure 1.
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8
Q

what is the independent variable?

A

-the variable that is being manipulated

Eg in blackworm lab: the chemical exposure

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9
Q

what is the dependent variable?

A

the response that will be measured

Eg in blackworm lab → the blackworms pulse rate after chemical exposure

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10
Q

what are the 4 types of errors you may encounter in an experiment?

A
  1. Random error
  2. systematic error
  3. Biological variation
  4. Human error
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11
Q

what is a random error?
give an example
how can this be minimized?

A
  • caused by unknown or unpredictable conditions in the experiment
  • Eg instrument error, differences in biological variation
  • How to minimize: collect more data; Errors and statistical analysis could be reduced by having a larger sample size
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12
Q

what is a systematic error?
give an example
how can this be minimized?

A
  • an error in the experimental design that skews the results in the same direction each time
  • Eg inconsistencies in set up or procedure
  • How to minimize: cannot be corrected for statistically because all values are skewed in the same direction; May need to redo part or all of experiment; experiment should be designed carefully
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13
Q

what is a biological variation?
give an example
how can this be minimized?

A
  • is any difference between individual organisms in a population caused either by genetic differences or environmental factors. Factors can be reflected in physical appearance, metabolism, behaviour or other measurable characters.
  • Eg. humans metabolize caffeine at different rates
  • How to minimize: collect more data to capture the range in variation through statistical analysis; Perhaps pick organisms that are uniform
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14
Q

what is human error?
give an example
how can this be minimized?

A
  • occurs when an experimenter makes an error in carrying out a procedure or experiment. Could become systemic if it happened in every recording
  • Eg. experimenter adds wrong concentration of a chemical to solution
  • How to minimize: prepare for experiment ahead of time and carefully follow procedure; May need to redo part of the experiment. All errors should be noted as they may influence your results
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15
Q

what is continuous data?

A

data that can be analyzed by calculating measures of central tendency
ie. trends of typical values of data

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16
Q

what is central tendency?

A

a middle value or typical value of data

17
Q

what is a 95% confidence interval? what does it allow us to compare?

A
  • its the range for which the TRUE mean for the population will occur 95% of the time
  • Allows us to compare the 2 groups and see if there is a difference between them, and then relate this conclusion back to our two hypotheses
18
Q

what does it mean if the 95% confidence intervals of two sample means OVERLAP?

A

it means we are less than 95% sure that these two groups reflect a true difference, and therefore we FAIL TO REJECT our null hypothesis

19
Q

what does it mean if the 95% confidence intervals of two sample means DO NOT OVERLAP?

A

it means we are 95% sure that these groups reflect a true difference, and therefore we REJECT our null hypothesis and PROVIDE SUPPORT for our alternative hypothesis

20
Q

In examples where there are more than 2 sample groups to compare, when do we reject/fail to reject out null hypothesis?

A
  • if at least one of the treatment groups DOES NOT OVERLAP with the control, than we REJECT our null hypothesis and PROVIDE SUPPORT for our alternative hypothesis
  • if both overlap we fail to reject our null hypothesis
21
Q

what 3 things are needed in a conclusion statement for graph interpretation?

A
  1. Include an observation of overlap, or lack of overlap, between the 95% CI of control and treatment groups
  2. A statement of whether this led the experimenter to reject the null hypothesis (and therefore support the alternative hypothesis) or fail to reject the null hypothesis
  3. A restatement of the supported hypothesis
    eg. 95% CI of blackworms treated with caffeine at 5mM did not overlap with the 95% CI of the treatment group, therefore we reject our null hypothesis and support our alternative hypothesis. Exposure to caffeine has an effect on the pulse rate (bpm) of blackworms.
22
Q

what are blackworms?
what type of circulatory system do they have?
where do they live?

A
  • Small, annelid worms
  • Live in shallow freshwater habitats
  • Have a closed circulatory system
23
Q

what are the blood vessels in a blackworm, what kind of blood do they carry?

A
  • dorsal blood vessel that carries oxygenated blood from posterior end to anterior (Oxygen absorbed into capillaries at posterior end of body)
  • ventral blood vessel that carries deoxygenated blood from body to posterior end
  • Capillaries which join the dorsal vessel
24
Q

do blackworms have a heart, how do blackworms pump their blood?

A
  • no heart
  • Have a dorsal blood vessel which has muscular walls and runs the length of the body, these muscles contact and move blood forward towards head
  • capillaries join the dorsal and ventral vessels
  • non-contractile ventral vessel that returns blood to the tail end by pressure of deoxygenated blood moving into it
25
Q

where should pulse rate reading be done in the blackworms body? why?

A
  • reading should be done from middle of blackworms body
  • not all of the pulsations travel the whole length of the body, meaning that the pulse rate will be higher at the posterior end, and lower at the anterior end, and therefore needs to be counted from the same spot every time
26
Q

what 4 equations are needed to be able to graph the data from an experiment?

A
  1. mean
  2. variance
  3. standard deviation
  4. 95% C.I.
27
Q

in the 4 equations needed what do the following stand for:

  1. x (with a line over it) =
  2. s2 (squared) =
  3. s =
  4. C.I. =
  5. backwards 3 =
  6. x =
  7. n =
A
  1. mean
  2. variance
  3. standard deviation
  4. confidence interval
  5. sum of (whatever)
  6. number of specific rep
  7. number of observations
28
Q

what is the purpose of a results section? what should it include? what should it not include?

A

to report experimental findings using tables, figures and written text.
includes:
1. description of the tables/figures (refers to in text)
2. should identify important trends (ie. lowest mean pulse rate of blackworms was X group at XXbpm +- XX(95% CI). next lowest in Y group at YYbpm +- YY, etc)
3. integrated data values (mean and 95% CI) in description of trends
does NOT include:
1. interpretation of results
2. discussion on why it was preformed
3. any expectations or opinions

29
Q

what is the purpose of the discussion section? what should it include? (only 3 parts of partial discussion write up that we did)

A

is to interpret results and draw conclusions using the data analyzed
includes:
1. interpret findings (ie. did confidence intervals overlap or not) and either reject or fail to reject null hypothesis and restatement of hypothesis (whichever one is supported)
2. identify potential sources of error//ways to improve experimental design
3. potential future experiments/questions