SCIENTIFIC METHOD Experimental Design

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SCIENTIFIC METHOD(Experimental Design)

• PowerPoint Example

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• Scientific Method Research
• Project Pollutant Impacts and
• Environmental Modeling
• by
• Cristina Carbajo
• Environmental Biology
• Tennessee Technological University
• Cookeville, TN 38505-0001

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OBSERVATIONS

• What happens to pollutants when they are
  introduced into the environment?
• How are living systems affected by the release of
  certain pollutants?
• Is there a relationship between pollution and
  environmental models?

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HYPOTHESISIf a pollutant is released into a
living system, then its effects will be traceable
in the vegetation through environmental modeling.
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CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

• Determine an area of pollutant discharge
  (point-source pollution) into a living system.
  Select the vegetation to be studied.
• Verify that the living system and experimental
  vegetation is in a location available for
  monitoring and study.
• Verify that no other pollutants are present, or
  that other pollutants act independently of the
  experimental pollutant.
• Conduct research on the given system to determine
  properties before the area was contaminated. In
  an equal and similar environment, monitor the
  same vegetation and its progress in the absence
  of given pollutant.
• Over a period of several months, and ideally
  several years, trace the pollutant and track its
  concentration.
• Observe effects on the given vegetation to be
  studied.
• Repeat the experiment over several years, and in
  different seasons. (ie results may vary in the
  heat of summer or the cold of winter)

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COLLECT INTERPRET DATA

• Areas of interest to monitor growth rate,
  height, mass, vitality, lifespan, reproduction
  Collect data several times a year, and repeat
  experiment Distinguish differences in results
  through the different seasons

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CONCLUSIONS

• Determine if positive, negative, or no noticeable
  effects of the pollutant.
• Draw conclusions based on the relationship
  between amount of pollutant and the effects on
  the vegetation.