BTEC Medical science: January 2013

Thursday 31 January 2013

Scientfic content in Avatar

cryogenics
genomics
twins-identical DNA
producing clones (Avatars) using DNA
space travel
life on other planets
Intelligent life
bioluminescence (touch sensative)
toch sensative plants & fungus
Electrical/ nervous signal transduction between organisms & plants
transplants/ amputees/ artificial limbs
gravity & muscle tone
unobtainium
energy resources

Avatar- James Cameron, 2010

Homework- 31.1.13

Watch the video- wonders of life

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01qh3bb/hd/Wonders_of_Life_What_Is_Life/

Thursday 24 January 2013

Deadlines for science in the media assignment

First deadline:

Thursday 7th February

Bring everything you can and we will look over it in the lesson ready to get improvements for you to work on over half term.

The first Monday back after half term- final deadline!
Monday 18th February

You will need to hand in:

•Completed copies of your science in the media questionnaires (at least 10)

•Analysis of questionnaire report (3-4 pages)

•Film research sheets- at least 5 films researched

•Film report (1-2 pages)

•Completed copies of your film questionnaires (at least 10)

•Film questionnaire analysis report (3-4 pages)

question ideas for the task 2a questionnaire

Science in the media- task 2 b film questionnaire & report

Produce a second questionnaire (approx 10 questions- 2 questions per film) about the films you have chosen. You can ask them about their understanding of the science in the films and how the science has been presented.

Produce a report about the analysis of the results of your questionnaire (use tables, charts & graphs). 1-2 pages.

Hand in your questionnaires and your report

Science in the media- task 2 a (film research)

How has the media influenced the perception of science

This activity involves looking at the science topics in a number of TV and cinema films, highlighting the basic scientific principle and researching various sources to find out if the science is factually based and actually possible.

1. Select a maximum of five TV/film titles. It will not be necessary to view them. Information about the content of the films can be found on the video/DVD covers and from websites giving some critical feedback. Some useful titles are provided in the Student Book.

2. List the film titles and provide a very brief outline of the science topic involved. Provide details of the claims in the film. Put this into a suitable table (an example is shown below).

3. For each topic, conduct research into the possibility of the claims in the film being true and accurate.

Use the table of research to present your work in a report style document, detailing each film in turn and including appropriate referencing of research material. Include your research sheets. 3-4 pages.

Science in the media- task 1 b

Analysis of questionnaire results

Using the evidence

This activity will allow you to develop tables of data so that you can compare the responses and make some important conclusions. For example, you can look at the number of responses against a given question as a percentage of the sample.

Produce tables, graphs and charts to show your results. Produce a written analysis essay about what you found out. 3-4 pages.

D2-analyse whether the media makes a positive contribution to the public’s perception of science

writing a good questionnaire

Keep your language simple

Phrase your questions in simple, unambiguous language, which will be instantly understood. Don’t use any jargon or abbreviations which might be unknown to some of your target sample.
Check over your grammar and spelling very carefully, and if necessary get someone else to do this aswell. Mistakes look very unprofessional and give the impression that you are not very serious about what you’re doing. If you couldn’t be bothered, why should someone else be bothered to reply?

Don’t make it too formal or informal

It’s not an official document; just use “standard”, neutral vocabulary and grammar, being careful, however, not to use colloquial language.

Start with interesting questions

Just as a good introduction to an essay will grab the attention of the reader, so interesting, relevant initial questions will immediately involve the respondent in the questionnaire, and make it more likely that they will continue on through the whole thing. Save the more complicated ones for later. You could begin with one or two non-specialised personal questions, or maybe phrase questions in the third person rather than the first: How does your company feel about equal pay rather than How do you feel about equal pay?

Avoid leading questions

These are questions which presume a specific response. For example, Which train company do you use most often? presumes that the respondent travels by train. If they don’t, they can’t answer.

Limit, or avoid, the use of open-ended questions

Open-ended questions require an original, personal response to a question. For example, What do you consider to be the most important qualities of a Personnel Officer? Answers to such questions obviously take a lot more time than yes/no answers or rating scales. Definitely don’t start with questions like this; if you want to include you or two, put them at the end. And don’t leave too much space for the answer; if the respondent sees half a page of blank paper, they may feel that they have to fill it all, and consequently be discouraged from answering at all. Open-ended questions are also more difficult to analyse and categorize.

Use simple rating scales or lists of choices

If the respondent is faced with a long list of scales or choices, they may be put off. Maybe consider five as a maximum.

Put your questions in logical order

There should be a flow of questions; one question should logically follow the previous one. You could perhaps start with one or two general questions, and then become more specific.

Science in the media- task 1 a

Questionnaire:

The most important aspect of producing a questionnaire is the nature of the questions asked. You must draw up a list, be clear as to what you expect the answers to be and avoid any bias which will introduce invalid results.

1.Get examples of other questionnaires and decide on a suitable style. It is more usual to have a set of easily ticked boxes with a grading of perhaps 1–4.

2.Produce a list of questions (approx. 10) that can be answered fairly quickly. (Some questions can be linked to the Research Councils UK and Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills 2008 study outlined in the Student Book.)

3.Have some example captions from publicised media headlines about some scientific issues. Choose your sample of people from as wide a group as possible e.g. age, race. Collate the responses using a table format

Completed questionnaire- P2 identify public perception about science

Monday 21 January 2013

New synthesis theory

“The major tenets of the evolutionary synthesis, then, were that populations contain genetic variation that arises by random (ie. not adaptively directed) mutation and recombination; that populations evolve by changes in gene frequency brought about by random genetic drift, gene flow, and especially natural selection; that most adaptive genetic variants have individually slight phenotypic effects so that phenotypic changes are gradual (although some alleles with discrete effects may be advantageous, as in certain color polymorphisms); that diversification comes about by speciation, which normally entails the gradual evolution of reproductive isolation among populations; and that these processes, continued for sufficiently long, give rise to changes of such great magnitude as to warrant the designation of higher taxonomic levels (genera, families, and so forth).”

- Futuyma, D.J. in Evolutionary Biology, Sinauer Associates, 1986; p.12

•This description would be incomprehensible to Darwin since he was unaware of genes and genetic drift. The modern theory of the mechanism of evolution differs from Darwinism in three important respects:

1.It recognizes several mechanisms of evolution in addition to natural selection. One of these, random genetic drift, may be as important as natural selection.

2.It recognizes that characteristics are inherited as discrete entities called genes. Variation within a population is due to the presence of multiple alleles of a gene.

3.It postulates that speciation is (usually) due to the gradual accumulation of small genetic changes. This is equivalent to saying that macroevolution is simply a lot of microevolution.

In other words, the Modern Synthesis is a theory about how evolution works at the level of genes, phenotypes, and populations whereas Darwinism was concerned mainly with organisms, speciation and individuals