Spontaneous Generation
Name __________________________ Background: Class _____________ If someone asked you in 1658 where do mice come from? You might reply “Dirty sheets of course”. No, you’re not crazy most people believed in spontaneous generation or life coming from non-­‐life. Now we have the Cell Theory which states that cells only arise from other cells. Scientists like Francesco Redi used the scientific method to prove that life only comes from life to non-­‐believers. Problem: Given the following observations of Redi’s experiment, fill in the missing parts of the scientific method? Remember your conclusion must answer your hypothesis. You must also answer to non-­‐believers who will try to poke holes in your theory. To do this, support your conclusion with at least 3 facts from the experiment. Materials: (list the materials that you used to set up the experiment) _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Hypothesis: (a statement that you can prove true or false by your experiment) ____________________________________________________________________ 1 Spontaneous Generation
Experiment: Write a procedure for this experiment. In a procedure you are telling somehow how you did your experiment and from this they should be able to repeat the experiment and get the same results. (NO Observations or predictions) 1 -­‐____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 2-­‐_____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 3-­‐_____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 4-­‐_____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 5-­‐_____________________________________________________________________ 6.________________________________________________________________________ 2 Spontaneous Generation
Observations: Examine the set of drawings below. Each set represents one of Redi’s experimental results. You are to draw in the results of each experiment. Draw and label the results of his experiment below. Unsealed Sealed Covered in Gauze 3 Spontaneous Generation
Conclusion: Remember in your conclusion you must state whether your experiment shows that your hypothesis is correct, example: is it true or false. You must also support your conclusions with at least three facts from the experiment. Thought Questions: 1-­‐ What is the independent variable? (factor that was changed in the experiment) answer____________________ 2-­‐ What is the dependent variable? (factor which responds in the experiment) answer____________________ 3-­‐ What are the control variables? (factors that remains constant in the experiment) answer_______________________________________________________________________ 4