Evaluating Scientific Explanations Answers

Read the claim about caffeine.Caffeine improves mental alertness and motor coordination. A university research study was conducted to examine how moderate doses of caffeine affect fine motor skills. Ten teen girls, ages 14 to 18, were given 200 mg of caffeine per day for 30 days. Thirty minutes after taking the caffeine, each subject took a timed fine motor skills test in which they fitted 20 small beads onto pegs. The graph compares each subject’s average results on the same test done 30 minutes before and after taking the caffeine.

Sharon reads two different articles about avocados. The first article, in a weight-loss magazine, claims that avocados are unhealthy because they are high in fat. The second article, in an annual publication from a doctors’ group, claims that the fat in avocados is a type that is good for the heart.To assess these claims, which question might Sharon ask?

Cookware companies have been using a chemical called C-8, which helps to create a nonstick coating to pans. However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently claimed that the use of C-8 in the manufacturing of nonstick cookware should be discontinued because studies show it causes cancer.

Which is an unreliable source?

Which factor is found in a scientific claim?

What is it called when scientists in the same or similar field of study judge the quality of a fellow scientist’s scientific claim?

Which source is most likely an authority on the subject?

Which is one way that scientists ensure that data is reliable?

In a recent survey of students who graduated from a large public high school, nine out of ten students reported that they passed biology with a grade of seventy-five percent or higher. What further data could be produced to be sure that this information is accurate?

Read the claim.Breakfast is an important meal. It jump starts the body’s process of using calories to break down food. Appetite can decrease with age, but going too long without eating causes metabolism to slow down. Current research shows that incorporating legumes such as lentils and chickpeas into meals boosts metabolism for twenty-four hours.