UNIT 1 LIVING SYSTEMS
In the 1600s, people believed that
living things could come from
nonliving objects. For example,
unrefrigerated meat eventually
becomes full of maggots. People
living in the 1600s thought the
meat actually turned into maggots.
In 1668, Francisco Redi, an Italian
physician, did an experiment with
flies and jars containing meat. His
experiment showed that meat
does not turn into maggots. This
may have been the first controlled
experiment!- Design an experiment to test
the hypothesis that meat does
not turn into maggots. Sketch
your design and list the
experimental and control
variables. - Present your experiment and
results to your class. You could
even give your presentation as
if it were 1668.
1.2 Section Review
- Write a hypothesis for the following question: “When a plant is
placed near a window, why does it lean and grow toward the
window?” - A good hypothesis can be tested with an experiment. Which of
the following statements is the best hypothesis? Explain your
answer.
a. There were many students absent from class today.
b. Many students were absent today because the flu is going
around. - Explain how you would test the hypothesis you chose in the
question above. - Use the illustration of an experiment below to answer
questions a, b, and c.
a. What is the experimental variable?
b. What are the control variables?
c. Write a hypothesis that the experiment could be designed to
test.