Section 1-2: Thinking Scientifically
pages 6-10 (older textbook)
Identifying the Problem
Ranchers and farmers have argued with environmentalists about coyotes for more than 100 years. Their argument focuses on whether or not coyotes kill domestic farm animals like sheep and chickens.
To
learn about the hunting habits and social behaviors of coyotes, scientists Marc
Bekoff and Michael Wells studied coyotes in
When scientists investigate a problem or research a topic like this, they use a set of skills. This set of skills used for problem solving and research is called the scientific method.
The parts of the scientific method are not really steps that are always followed in a particular order. These parts are more like skills that are used at different times and in a variety of ways to learn about a particular topic.
When using the scientific method, the first step must always be to identify the problem that will be investigated. Scientists Bekoff and Wells specifically wanted to learn why some coyotes live alone and others form packs.
Gathering Information
After identifying their problem to be studied, Bekoff and Wells moved to the next phase of their study: gathering information. Gathering information, or making observations, is done by using the 5 senses: seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling.
Bekoff and Wells gathered information in 3 ways. First, they read about earlier coyote studies done by other scientists. Second, they read about behaviors of related animals, like jackals and hyenas. Third, they observed the coyotes in the wild.
Forming Hypotheses
While gathering this information, Bekoff and Wells completed another phase of the scientific method. They formed a hypothesis. Their hypothesis was this: They believed that the amount of food and types of food that the coyotes could hunt helped determine whether coyotes lived alone or in packs.
Testing the Hypothesis
To test this hypothesis, Bekoff and Wells performed an experiment. Performing an experiment is another part of the scientific method. Although you may think of an experiment as an activity in a lab with test tubes and chemicals, many experiments like Bekoff and Wells’ coyote experiment simply involve making careful observations. From a hilltop, these two scientists observed lone coyotes and packs over 3 year’s time.
During the summers, coyotes hunted many small animals like field mice, gophers, and ground squirrels. During the winters, coyotes ate the remains of larger animals like deer, elk, and moose that were already dead when found. Throughout the study, coyotes were never seen attacking any large, living animals, but this doesn’t prove that they never do.
Drawing Conclusions
After an experiment, scientists draw conclusions. They examine their data (information collected from observations). They decide whether or not their hypothesis was correct. Bekoff and Wells’ observations tended to support their hypothesis: Food supply did help determine whether coyotes lived alone or in packs.
Theory and Law
From their results, Bekoff and Wells developed a general statement which said, “The social behavior of coyotes seems to be related to the food supply.”
Bekoff and Wells wrote an article in a scientific magazine to share their findings with other scientists. Sharing results with other scientists is an important part of science. These results can be used by other scientists in a variety of ways. Scientists usually repeat an experiment several times to prove that their results are valid and true.
Bekoff and Wells’ hypothesis will be tested again and again, with other coyotes in other places and also with other related animals like jackals and hyenas. If the results of many other studies prove to be same as what Bekoff and Wells believe, then Bekoff and Wells’ hypothesis may become accepted by other scientists as a theory. A hypothesis becomes a theory when it has been proven many different times.
Over long periods of time, when a theory has been proven to be true by more studies, then that theory becomes a scientific law. Scientific laws are the most accepted and most proven statements in science, but even scientific laws can be proven false. Scientific knowledge is always changing.