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LAB EXERCISE: Scientific Investigation Laboratory Objectives After completing this lab topic, you should be able to: 1. Identify and characterize questions that can be answered through scientific investigation. 2. Define hypothesis and explain what characterizes a good scientific hypothesis. 3. Identify and describe the components of a scientific experiment. 4. Summarize and present results in tables and graphs. 5. Discuss results and critique experiments. 6. Design a scientific experiment. 7. Interpret and communicate results. Introduction Biology is the study of the phenomena of life, and biologists observe living systems and organisms, ask questions, and propose explanations for those observations. Science assumes that biological systems are understandable and can be explained by fundamental rules or laws. Scientific investigations share some common elements and procedures, which are referred to as the scientific method. Not all scientists follow these procedures in a strict fashion, but each of the elements is usually present. Science is a creative human endeavor that involves asking questions, making observations, developing explanatory hypotheses, and testing those hypotheses. Scientists closely scrutinize investigations in their field, and each scientist must present his or her work at scientific meetings or in professional publications, providing evidence from observations and experiments that supports the scientist’s explanations of biological phenomena. In this lab topic, you will not only review the process that scientists use to ask and answer questions about the living world, but you will develop the skills to conduct and critique scientific investigations. Like scientists, you will work in research teams in this laboratory and others, collaborating as you ask questions and solve problems. Throughout this laboratory manual, you will be investigating biology using the methodology of scientists, asking questions, proposing explanations, designi