Week 4 discussion

Read these instructions carefully, as there are several parts required for full credit. Your Initial post is due on day 3. Feel free to get creative with your post. Your post does not have to be typed but should follow these general guidelines: typed post roughly 200 words OR video review roughly 2 minutes with images and description OR creative infographic that addresses the objective, etc. If you have any ideas other than these, feel free to reach out to your course professor to ensure it will work for this discussion. For your initial post:

For this discussion, you will work through the Scientific Method.

Think of a question related to microbiology that you could study. Clearly write your research question as the first line of your post. Even if you are doing a video, infographic, or other post type, this should be written in the first line of your post.

Read at least 2 scientific sources about your topic to help you learn more about what has already been done to test your research question and what might happen to help you write a hypothesis. Provide a short 3-4 sentence summary about what you read, and be sure to reference your sources (include links to the URLs)

Identify your hypothesis and write it out in your discussion according to the hypothesis format: If (this independent variable), then (this dependent variable is expected)

Develop your own simple experiment or outline an experiment from your reading that you would like to repeat. Remember that this should be very specific, like a recipe that can be performed or repeated by others.

Describe how you would collect and analyze your data to determine if the data support or refute your hypothesis.

Discuss what you would do after your experiment (since you will not actually be doing it for this course), to demonstrate the remaining steps of the scientific method.

How your post should look:

Research question: What is the research question that is related to microbiology?

Summary and resources: Write 3-4 sentences about your topic and include links the at least 2 sources you read

Hypothesis: If (whatever is being tested), then (whatever is the expected result)

Experiment: Write a step-by-step procedure, including materials and quantities that others could repeat

Data Collection and Analysis: Specify how you would collect and interpret your data

Discussion: What would you do next?