1. What drives the day-to-day work of scientists?
Investigating, understanding and developing explanations for how [the earth, the universe, systems, etc.] work.
Recipes are a formula or procedure for doing or attaining something.
A recipe for investigation is built from a scientific question.
So how do you come up with a scientific question?
Asking Scientific Questions

2. To come up with a scientific question, we must first understand the common elements that define what science is:
5 minute quiz:
What is science?
Asking Scientific Questions

3. Explain the Natural World
To come up with a scientific question, we must first understand the common elements that define what science is:
5 minute quiz:
What is science?
Ultimate Goal:
Explain the Natural World
Asking Scientific Questions

4. How an Introductory Biology book defines science:
Science: Experimental, hypothesis-driven investigation of phenomena to elucidate (1) patterns in nature and (2) the processes governing the formation, maintenance, and changing of those patterns.
Where does cause and effect fit in?
Students should record their ideas first, then they can discuss them along with the "textbook" definition of science. The purpose of this slide is to pivot that discussion to cause and effect.
Asking Scientific Questions

5. Explaining the natural world means using cause and effect!
Answering questions about cause and effect has led to most of the powerful insights offered in science
Scientists ask many different types of questions for many different purposes. Six common types of studies are hypothesis driven research, measuring specific values, measuring functions or relationships, constructing models, making observations and identifying patterns, and improving a product or process, including developing new scientific tools. Though many types of studies are used in science, scientists put a high degree of emphasis of asking scientific questions to determine cause and effect because the search for causes has led to some of the most important insights offered by science.
Asking Scientific Questions

6. Cause and effect are such important ingredients that we have come up with different names for them in different fields of study, but they are all synonyms and mean cause and effect.
Pivot to synonyms activity
Asking Scientific Questions

7. Let’s demystify scientific jargon with a synonym game so you can reduce intimidation and let your brain start being creative.
Synonyms for Cause
Synonyms for Effect
Have the students leave a blank column in the middle of their chart paper that they will fill in later.
Asking Scientific Questions

8. independent variable dependent variable x y driver responding variable
Synonyms for Cause
Synonyms for Effect
independent variable
dependent variable x y
driver
responding variable
generator
f(x)
process
pattern
agent
force
factor
actor
source
basis
Asking Scientific Questions

9. Remember English grammar? What kind of words are cause and effect?
Subject and Object
Asking Scientific Questions

10. What type of word connects subjects to direct objects in a sentence?
Verb
So let’s think of some verbs that can link all those synonyms for cause and effect
This is a third ingredient in your question
Cause, effect, and a verb!
Asking Scientific Questions

11. Synonyms for Cause Verbs Synonyms for Effect independent variablex y
driver
responding variable
generator
f(x)
process
pattern
agent
force
factor
actor
source
basis
Asking Scientific Questions

12. Synonyms for Cause Verbs Synonyms for Effect independent variable
drives
dependent variable x
generates y
driver
causes
responding variable
generator
regulates
f(x)
process
controls
pattern
agent
increases
force
decreases
factor
suppresses
actor
source
basis
Asking Scientific Questions

13. Let’s come up with some Ecology PhD thesis questions!!!!
Small Group Assignment:
Each group has been given an organism. Come up with a research question that includes this organism. The organism can be the cause or effect, your choice.
Shark, grouper, seagrass, brain coral, crab, plankton
Edit organisms as needed
Asking Scientific Questions

14. Remember, you must have these three ingredients in your recipe:
Your Questions!!!
Remember, you must have these three ingredients in your recipe:
Cause, Effect, and Verb
Asking Scientific Questions

15. Let’s evaluate your questions
What happens if you switch the cause and effect?
What happens if you change one of the words?
Different questions/recipes are formed with little or no change in the words in the sentence. Those small changes can drastically change how and what you are investigating for years to come!
Asking Scientific Questions

16. So coming up with your recipe is not so hard
So coming up with your recipe is not so hard. Formulating a question that supports a recipe for investigating relationships between cause and effect also enables good communication.
Asking Scientific Questions

17. Let’s see if we can identify cause and effect in scientists’ titles!
Small Group Assignment: Evaluate titles from recent journal.
Identify the type of research described by the title as:
a. establishing a cause-and-effect relationship, or
b. something else.
Highlight the potential causal agent(s) in yellow and highlight the effect(s) in green.
Adjust colors as necessary or use circles and boxes.
Asking Scientific Questions

18. What have you learned?
Questions are the basis for how scientists create the recipe for research, investigation, and experimentation.
Scientific recipes often have three main ingredients: cause, effect and verb.
The creativity in questions simply comes from the novelty of the words placed in those blank statements. If no one has ever looked at that cause before in relation to that effect, it’s new!
A basic grammar lesson becomes a key for success in forming cause-and-effect scientific questions that can be used for further investigation. Not so hard!
Asking Scientific Questions