Question

PROMT: Climate Change Effects on Marine Iguana Mortality

1. Hypothesis: If the water temperature in the Galapagos Islands changed from being hot (around 77 degrees) to cold (under 70 degrees), then the mortality rate of Marine Iguanas will increase.
2. Variables: The independent variable is the temperature of the water that the Marine Iguanas live in. The dependent variable is the mortality rate of the Marine Iguanas. The mortality rate of the Marine Iguanas at the average water temperatures of their habitat.
3. Experimental Treatments: Iguana Group 1 will be water temperatures and marine iguana mortality rates before 1998. Iguana Group 2 will be water temperatures marine iguana mortality rates after 199
4. Prediction: By comparting the average water temperatures with the mortality rates every year before the sudden drop in the iguana population and after a trend will be able to be seen. If the water temperature is truly to blame for the mortality rate increase the water temperature will decrease as the population of Iguanas decreases. The control group is intended to show the average number of Iguanas that die due to other causes.

QUESTION ----->>>>> Write a detailed summary of what is wrong with the proposed study ^^^^^????

Your answer should use scientific vocabulary words and address the following questions.

1. Is the study feasible? Will it actually be possible to conduct the proposed study in a controlled manner that produces meaningful data? If there is more than one variable changing simultaneously, no controls, or no replication, then the study is unlikely to produce meaningful data. If there is no way to monitor an experiment in the environment, or no way to conduct the experiment in a controlled environment, like a laboratory, then the experiment is unlikely feasible
2. Can you tell from the text if the experiment is designed to be conducted by performing treatments, or by analyzing observational data about a species and its habitat
3. Is there a testable hypothesis? Is the study set up so that it will be possible to measure the effects in a quantifiable way? What will be measured? Is there a control group and a treatment group? Or, an independent variable like temperature, and a dependent variable like germination time
4. Could you graph the results of this experiment? If so, how would you do it? A column chart to show treatments and controls? A scatter plot or a line graph to look at how changes in the independent variable affect the dependent variable?

Answer 1

Summary of what is wrong with the study

Answer - First of all, the control group will also be subject to the same environment as both the groups. This will lead to errors in the differences of mean mortality rate. Also the adoption of crude mortality rate for both groups will be misleading. There needs to be two control groups - one for before 1998 and another for after 1998 and these need to be compared with Group 1 and Group 2 respectively.

In order to minimize this error, the sampling method has to be improved as following :

a; Collection of mortality numbers (not mortality rate) due to temperature only in Group 1 and Group 2.

b. Collection of mortality numbers due to temperature and other causes (total mortality rate).

Now the mortality rate only due to temperature in Group 1 and 2 needs to be compared with the total mortality rate of control group to get an accurate idea of the effect of the temperature on mortality rate of Iguanas.

Is the study feasible? Will it actually be possible to conduct the proposed study in a controlled manner that produces meaningful data? If there is more than one variable changing simultaneously, no controls, or no replication, then the study is unlikely to produce meaningful data. If there is no way to monitor an experiment in the environment, or no way to conduct the experiment in a controlled environment, like a laboratory, then the experiment is unlikely feasible.

Answer - Even though it is not possible to conduct the study in a controlled manner like that of a laboratory, this study is feasible by considering other factors of predation and then comparing them with temperature effected deaths to get a significant measure of the effect of Climate Change on Iguana mortality.

Can you tell from the text if the experiment is designed to be conducted by performing treatments, or by analyzing observational data about a species and its habitat?

Answer - The experiment is designed by analyzing observational data about a species and its habitat since no external treatments are observed and the animals are observed in a natural setting. without any external interference.

Is there a testable hypothesis? Is the study set up so that it will be possible to measure the effects in a quantifiable way? What will be measured? Is there a control group and a treatment group? Or, an independent variable like temperature, and a dependent variable like germination time.

Answer - There is a testable hypothesis i.e. effect of temperature on iguana mortality rate. Yes it is setup so that it will be possible to measure the effects in a quantifiable way.

Mortality rate of iguanas due to temperature in Groups 1 and 2 and mortality rate due to all causes including temperature in Control groups needs to be measured.

The treatment groups are Groups 1 and 2 where only mortality due to temperature is measured and the control groups are one in which the mortality rate due to all causes are measured.

Temperature is an independent variable and mortality rate is the dependent variable.

Could you graph the results of this experiment? If so, how would you do it? A column chart to show treatments and controls? A scatter plot or a line graph to look at how changes in the independent variable affect the dependent variable?

Answer - Yes the results can be represented through a graph. I would use a scatter plot to look at how the changes in independent variable affect the dependent variable. In addition , the differences in mortality rate due to temperature and due to other causes can be represented through a column graph to show the differences in their means.