SYNOPSIS
Today, each team was given an envelope containing a series of bank checks.
A few are removed at a time, and the team attempts each time to construct a plausible scenario which involves those checks. With each subsequent removal of checks, appropriate revision of the scenario is done. Final scenarios are compared by the class. Class discussion is designed to show how human values and biases influence observation and interpretation, even in science. This is one of the few nature-of-science lessons which have a biological connection. This is also one of the few lessons that model the "historical" sciences, e.g., geology, paleontology, astronomy, forensic science, and evolutionary studies.
Please respond to the following on/before Tuesday September 4 at noon:
0. Who are the team members of your group?
1. What bits of information on the checks were valuable to your group in formulating a hypothesis?
2. What information was "useless", if any?
3. Was any information misleading? If so, what and how was it so?
4. Summarize your original hypothesis.
5. Summarize your final hypothesis.
6. Why do we say that a hypothesis is tentative?
7. How could your hypothesis become a theory?
8. Is your final hypothesis "correct? Explain.
0. Who are the team members of your group?
ReplyDeleteTarver, Siobhan and Madison
1. What bits of information on the checks were valuable to your group in formulating a hypothesis?
We observed who/where the checks were written to. To form a hypothesis we also looked at the dates on the check to put them in order. We also looked at who signed the checks and thought about what their motives could have been.
2. What information was "useless", if any?
I don’t think there was any “useless” information. I think everything we observed could have been a clue to help us figure out what had happened.
3. Was any information misleading? If so, what and how was it so?
We might have taken some of the information wrong and that was misleading. When we received more checks we changed our hypothesis. The main thing that mislead us the order in which we received the checks.
4. Summarize your original hypothesis.
A man bought a woman a engagement ring. A few years later they had a child. We said the kid had grown up and went to prom because they had taken some clothes to a cleaner. Then they had to get a car repainted so we assumed that the son or father had gotten into a wreck. The parents get a divorce.
5. Summarize your final hypothesis.
The husband through a surprise party (with a lot of alcohol) for his wife and his 5 year wedding anniversary. They had a son during the first five years of their marriage and they bought him some expensive toys. He gets older and goes to his high school prom when he got his clothes cleaned. During his prom he drinks and drives and gets into a wreck, killing someone. He is taken to the emergency room where he suffers from a broken arm. His mom feels guilty so she donates to MADD (moms against drunk driving). They spend money to get a good lawyer and donate to the hospital to try to get out of this mess. They pay off the judge and with all the stress the parents marriage fell apart.
6. Why do we say that a hypothesis is tentative?
This hypothesis is tentative because with any more added (or subtracted) information it could completely change. This hypothesis was ever-changing with each check.
7. How could your hypothesis become a theory?
This hypothesis could become a theory if it had more evidence and was proven. We would also need to complete experiments to determine its accuracy.
8. Is your final hypothesis "correct? Explain.
We can’t truly say if our hypothesis is “correct” or not. Every group in the classroom had different various ideas based of the evidence. We would need more information to decide if our hypothesis is correct. It is called a hypothesis because it can still be changed.
0. Casey C, Casey B, Missy, Haley
ReplyDelete1. The information that we found valuable was how much money the checks were made fore, who signed the checks, the dates and the locations.
2. We did not find either of the addresses necessary on the checks.
3. The check made out to the dry cleaner and the names changing on the checks were the two bits of information we found misleading. We did not understand the purpose of the dry cleaning check and the names constantly changing made us wonder if the person signing the checks was changing for a reason.
4. We said that Mr. Whitney went to college and he drank a lot of alcohol. He spent a lot of money on the alcohol because he was the president of his fraternity. He got married during college and bought them a new car. They had children so they needed their lawn taken care of. The next year they got divorced and he moved back home. Mr. Whitney still took care of his children's sporting events even though he was divorced.
5. Our final hypothesis was that they decided to enroll their child in school. Mr. Whitney got into a wreck and had to go to the ER. During this time, he realized he needed help for his secret alcohol problem so he went to rehab and St. Josephs. He then paid a judge to expunge his DUI.
6. This hypothesis is tentative because when new information is given theories can change.
7. Our hypothesis could become a theory if we had been given the check all at once so the information could have been more accurate. Also, if we had outside sources to determine accuracy and gain more information about the checks written.
8. No, because there could be more information that we do not know yet. We also have too many assumptions in our theories. We need more factual evidence.
0. Tarver, Maci, Sioban
ReplyDelete1. Bits on the check we found very valuable were the names, dates, reason for check, and amount.
2. I don't think any information on the check was useless. We used each little piece of information we could in order to form a hypothesis.
3. The information I would think could be misleading were the different signatures, different names on checks, and different addresses. Those factors were the leading reasons for change in our hypothesis. The signatures kept throwing us off because is William and Bill the same person, or could it be his son? The change of people on checks made us question if there was marriage problems. But, then later checks had the wife's name on them. So that caused a lot of confusion for our group.
4. A man bought a woman a engagement ring. The couple a few years later had a child. The child has grown up and went to prom because they had taken some clothes to a cleaner. Then they had to get the car repainted so we assumed that the son or father had gotten into a wreck. The wreck then caused problems in the family leading to a divorce.
5. The husband had a surprise party for his wife and his 5 year engagement. They had a lot of alcohol at the party for them and their guests. They had a son early into their marriage and bought him a lot of expensive toys. He got older and goes to his high school prom where he got his clothes cleaned. During his prom he drinks and drives and gets into a wreck, killing someone. He is taken to the emergency room and comes out with a few broken bones and bruises. His mom feels guilty so she donates to MADD "moms against drunk driving". They spend money to get a good lawyer to defend their son who killed someone. They also donate to the victims hospital bills in order to make themselves look good. They pay off the judge and with all the stress the parents marriage ends in divorce.
6. A hypothesis is tentative because knew information is constantly arising. Causing a change in the current hypothesis.
7. The hypothesis could become a theory with concrete evidence. Also if we had other investigators with the same hypothesis to analyze information and assumptions.
8. I can't say whether or not our hypothesis was correct because we might not have all the information. Also the other groups in our classroom had different hypothesis. This leading to questions about our given hypothesis.
0. The members in our group were Alexis Farmer, Kelly McEahern, Jill Starr, and Sarah Lamkin.
ReplyDelete1. There were several components that were valuable to our group including: the date on the checks, the address and names of the check, the amount of the check, and whom the check was written out to.
2. The only information that was useless was the bank that the account holder used and the account number.
3. The information we thought was misleading was the names on the checking account because some suggested the man and woman were single, while some suggested they were married.
4. Our original hypothesis was that the checks began with buying their son new furniture for his room. The next checks were later on and we thought they were for their son's new car and computer for school. We thought that their son had been involved in a D.U.I. which landed him in the hospital and rehab.
5. Our final hypothesis was that the checks were over the family's son's life from the time he was born up until a bad car accident he got into. Based on the check's dates, signatures, and other information we hypothesized the son got into a car accident with a drunk driver.
6. The hypothesis we formed is tentative because we do not know for sure if it was correct. A hypothesis is tentative until proven right, or wrong.
7. How could your hypothesis become a theory? Even though our hypothesis is not considered a theory just yet, more investigating and trial/error research would lead us in the right direction toward a theory. More data would be efficient to prove our hypothesis.
8. Is your final hypothesis "correct? Explain. Our final hypothesis is not necessarily correct because there is not enough evidence for us as a team to make this a factual statement. We would need to do more research to gather more evidence in order for our hypothesis to be "correct."
Team Members:Siobhan, Tarver, Maci, and Madison
ReplyDelete1. We looked first at date, then at to whom the check was written to. We also took note of who signed the check, and of the letterhead in the top lefthand corner.
2. I don't think any of the information was useless. We tried to use as much information as was given.
3. I don't think the information itself was misleading, I think that having the only 4 checks at a time was what became misleading. We were constructing hypothesis without all the information available.
4. A man bought his wife a wedding ring, they had a child. That child went to prom and got into a car accident, so the parents got a divorce.
5. The Husband threw a surprise party for his wife, with an open bar. He bought her a wedding band to celebrate their five year anniversary. They soon had a son and bought him very expensive toys. When he was in high school he went to prom and got his cousins tux dry cleaned for the event. He drank at prom and got into a car accident, killing someone else. He is taken to the ER for a broken arm. HIs feels guilty, so she donates money to MADD every month now. They spend money on a lawyer and donate money to the hospital in order to get out of the mess. They also sign their son up for a defensive driving course. Eventually, they pay off the judge to get their son acquitted. Their marriage falls apart and they get a divorce.
6. This hypothesis is tentative because it changed every time we got four new checks. I'm sure that if we saw another four checks, our hypothesis would change again.
7. This hypothesis would become theory if any of us had first handedly witnessed some of the events. A theory is a description of something observed.
8. We do not know. No one has given us a first hand account, nor do we necessarily have ALL of the information that could possibly be presented to us. It could still change if new evidence came to light.
0. Our group members: Tynisha Harris, Maggie O’Shea, Clay Thomason, Brianna Brown, and Nicole Bullard
ReplyDelete1. When our group was looking at our checks and the sequence they came in we were constantly looking at who the checks were going to, and how much they were written for. In addition to this we were looking at the date on which they were written, and which person specifically signed the checks as well as the return address in the top left of the check to see occasional differences in the name and town listed as well.
2. While examining the checks were not really looking at the check numbers or the account number on the bottom of the check. However, overall we did not deem anything on the checks as useless information.
3. Some of the misleading pieces of information from this lab were the fact that some of the checks were signed by different people as well as the fact that a couple of the checks had a sudden change of address on them. This made it hard for us to come up with a story to accompany the changes taking place.
4. Our original hypothesis was supported by the information we acquired from the checks we were given as well as our creativity. Our initial hypothesis states: the son of a wealthy couple is enrolled in an underwater brain surgery course. Unfortunately there is an accident and his hands are damaged from chemical exposure and he undergoes treatment at the hospital. Because the child’s future occupation was damaged, they sue.
5. Final hypothesis: beginning with an engagement to his wife, the checks detail the next couple decades of their family's major events. They have a son who is spoiled and attends a private school, is given a car, which he crashes. Through a series of hospital bills and visits, we learn that there was another victim who dies. The mother joins MADD out of sympathy. The son goes through lots of legal fees on his own.
6. We say that a hypothesis is tentative because it can change as new evidence arises. It can change as either supporting or discouraging evidence is presented. As in our storyline, our hypothesis as to what happened between checks changed dramatically after more evidence was provided. We went from underwater brain surgery teacher, to a kid getting a bacterial infection from a swing set, to an adult male who had a wife that came back from the dead! Our hypothesis was uncertain and changing as new evidence presented itself. Therefore, a hypothesis is tentative because we are uncertain with increasing and various evidences. It is more like an outline as to what happens.
7. Our hypothesis could become a theory when we have all the evidence and we are able to test it. We can go look into newspapers and records to dig for more evidence besides what is provided with the checks to find as much evidence as possible to get a solid hypothesis to create a testable theory. We could possibly make more than one theory depending on the evidences we find. But we would need to be able to test this theory by finding more history to the incident besides the checks.
8. We do not know the true story behind the checks so I can not say our hypothesis is correct. We would have to have more time to research the possibilities of the events.