Lab Instructions Scientific Reasoning ACT I Mission Memo Background The situation with the astelars calls for immediate action. Because the eggs were laid much later than expected, the nests will reach unusually high temperatures before the offspring hatch and enter the sea. Such temperatures could...
Lab Instructions
Scientific Reasoning ACT I Mission Memo
Background
The situation with the astelars calls for immediate action. Because the eggs were laid much later than expected,
the nests will reach unusually high temperatures before the offspring hatch and enter the sea. Such
temperatures could kill a developing astelar.
If the offspring do not survive, an entire generation of these endangered creatures will be lost. The astelars need
your help.
While I focus my processors on running the Intergalactic Wildlife Sanctuary, you must analyze the data and
determine whether the embryos are healthy. Use the following questions to guide your work.
● Is the quantity or quality of the eggs less than expected? (Appendices 1 - 2)
● Should we intervene to ensure enough astelars hatch, and if so, how? (Appendix 3)
The appendices to this mission memo will guide you in answering these questions.
Once you have completed your analyses, report your conclusions to me before returning to the sanctuary.
My processors can handle 32,941 different means of transmitting data, but apparently, your university only
supports one of these means—I believe you call this Canvas. Therefore, I prepared a standard form for entering
your report in Canvas.
Do not underestimate the urgency of your work.
Universally, in your debt,
The AI
, Appendix 1
Did the astelars lay fewer eggs than expected?
For the astelars to avoid extinction—the complete loss of the species from the universe—their population must
remain stable over time. A population remains stable when the number of organisms born equals the number
that die. Populations grow when the number of organisms born exceeds the number that die. Populations shrink
when the number of organisms that die exceeds the number born.
Therefore, the first step to determining whether the astelars are at risk of extinction is to examine how many
eggs were laid during the current breeding season. Too few eggs would endanger the population because the
births of offspring must compensate for the deaths of adults.
We will go through the following steps to determine whether enough eggs were laid during the current breeding
season:
Step 1- Anticipate your analysis: Determine what observations you would expect if the number of eggs is less
than usual. This step will help us identify the evidence needed to build an argument in Step 3.
Step 2- Determine whether the astelars laid fewer eggs than expected: Determine whether the astelars laid
fewer eggs in the current breeding season than expected from data for past breeding seasons. This step gives
us the evidence needed to build an argument in Step 3 when we conclude whether the astelars laid fewer eggs
than expected.
Step 3- Weigh the evidence and conclude whether the astelars laid fewer eggs than expected. Construct
an argument to answer the question, “Did the astelars lay fewer eggs than expected?” Your argument will draw
on your calculations in Steps 1 and 2.
Step 1: Anticipate your analysis.
1. To construct a sound argument, one must anticipate the evidence needed to support a claim. For
Appendix 1, you can choose between two claims:
1) Yes, the astelars laid fewer eggs than expected in the current breeding season.
2) No, the astelars did not lay fewer eggs than expected in the current breeding season.
To that end, select the figure that best illustrates what one should expect to observe if the astelars laid
fewer eggs than expected in the current breeding season.
In each of the three figures below, the y-axis represents the mean number of eggs, with higher values
indicating more eggs and lower values indicating fewer eggs. The x-axis compares two periods: past
breeding seasons and the current breeding season.
a. Figure A
b. Figure B
c. Figure C
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