Use this Experimental Design Worksheet as desired to answer Questions 2 – 4. [link to the worksheet that appears in the DC instructor page for in-class 2C]
Question 2
Write a research question about coral bleaching that can be answered using experimental design. You may consider the causes of bleaching, ways to prevent bleaching, or ways to reverse bleaching.
Now that you have your research question you can design an experiment to answer it.
Question 3
Design an experiment to answer your research question.
Part A: Identify the factors in your experiment.
Factor of interest:
Response factor:
Part B: Describe the set-up and procedure for your experiment. How will you change your factor of interest to create your experimental group? How will it be different in the control group? What other factors will need to be the same in both the experimental and control groups? How will you measure your response variable at the end of the experiment?
Part C: What measures will you take to ensure your results show the effects of your treatment and not other hidden causes?
Follow your instructor’s guidance to answer Question 4.
question 4
Prepare a summary of your proposed experiment to share with your classmates. Be sure to justify your choices regarding experimental design. Your instructor may request a certain format.
Guidance
[Wrap-Up: ” Experimental design is useful in situations where the factor of interest can be manipulated by the researcher. Not all situations are like that though. Can you think of an example where a researcher might not be able to manipulate the factor of interest?”
Examples:
- Does educational level affect income? (Can’t manipulate/randomly assign an education)
- Do men or women have a higher risk of developing heart disease? (Can’t manipulate/assign sex)
- Does smoking cause lung cancer? (Not ethical to randomly assign people to smoke)
In the next activity, you will learn about observational studies through the context of vaccination.”]
