Whats the conclusion?

Student Sheets
A skills development activity for GCSE

Contents
Sheet number SS1 SS2 SS3 SS4 SS5 SS6 SS7 SS8 SS9 Title Test results (reusable) Program outline (consumable) Hazard perception (reusable) Flow chart (reusable) Flow chart (teacher guide) Report from the Daily Post (reusable) Marking guide (reusable) Flow chart (reusable) Flow chart (teachers guide) For teacher use but can be used by students for self/peer assessment Optional extra for the explain task b is a version for higher ability students Notes b is a version for higher ability students.

OCR SKILLUP : WHATS THE CONCLUSION?

SS1a

Test results

group 1

group 2
alcohol plus 50 mg of caffeine (half amount of Buzz)

group 3
alcohol plus 100 mg of caffeine (same amount as Buzz)

mean reaction time (ms)

500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

alcohol only (same amount as Buzz)

before mean hand-eye coordination score

30 25 20 15 10 5 0

after

before

after

before

after

before
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after

before

after

before

after

OCR SKILLUP : WHATS THE CONCLUSION?

SS1b

Test results
250
increase in reaction time (ms)

200 150 100 50 0 0 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 25 50 75 100

Buzz (100 mg)

25

50

75

100
Buzz (100 mg)

125

150

amount of caffeine (mg)

decrease in hand-eye coordination test score

125

150

amount of caffeine (mg)

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OCR SKILLUP : WHATS THE CONCLUSION?

SS2

Program outline

Intro: Abigail, our presenter, introduces Buzz and discusses the hypothesis we are testing.

Our prediction is that drinking both caffeine and alcohol together will result in their effects being cancelled out.

The tests: Reaction times and hand-eye coordination: Abigail explains the tests and discusses the results. Write conclusions to describe what the evidence shows.

Do both pieces of evidence match our prediction? If so, describe our conclusion and the evidence that we collected which supports it.

The controversy: Abigail explains that it seems that the makers are claiming that you can drink Buzz and drive. We discuss the hazard perception results. Explain how confident we are in the hypothesis that the effects of alcohol are cancelled out by caffeine. Do we think you can drink Buzz and drive?

Wrapping up: Abigail gives our final thoughts. How could we make our conclusion more secure?

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OCR SKILLUP : WHATS THE CONCLUSION?

SS3a

Hazard perception
The test
You take a driving hazard perception test. The higher your score out of 50, the more aware you are of hazards when driving.

Method 120 people were split into 3 groups and each person did the test. The people in each group drank a different drink. They waited 20 minutes and did the test again.

group 1
50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

group 2
alcohol plus 50 mg of caffeine (half amount of Buzz)

group 3
alcohol plus 100 mg of caffeine (same amount as Buzz)

alcohol only (same amount as Buzz)

mean score

before

after

before

after

before

after

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OCR SKILLUP : WHATS THE CONCLUSION?

SS3b

Hazard perception
The test
You take a driving hazard perception test. The higher your score out of 50, the more aware you are of hazards when driving.

Method
120 people were split into 7 groups. Each person did the test and then was given a drink that contained: (same as Buzz)
decrease in score

20 15 10 5 0 0 25 50 75 100 125 150

amount of caffeine taken (mg)

A fixed amount of alcohol

A different amount of caffeine

(between 0-150mg) The people were not told what was in their drink. They waited 20 minutes and did the test again.

Buzz (100 mg)

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OCR SKILLUP : WHATS THE CONCLUSION?

SS4

Look at all the evidence.

START HERE

Does it all match your predictions?

Yes

No

Does most of the evidence match your predictions?

Yes

No

You can have a HIGH level of confidence in the hypothesis.

You can have a LOW level of confidence in the hypothesis.

Your cannot draw a clear conclusion about whether the hypothesis is correct.

Describe the evidence that supports it.

Describe the evidence that supports and opposes it.

Describe the evidence that opposes it.

Look at the method used to collect each piece of evidence.

Are there errors that could lead to inconsistent results?

Yes

No

The hypothesis could be wrong.

Describe how to improve the method, to see if the hypothesis is really correct.
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Suggest other hypotheses that would explain the results you got.

OCR SKILLUP : WHATS THE CONCLUSION?

SS5

Look at all the evidence.

START HERE

Teacher notes
No

Does it all match your predictions?

Yes

The reaction times tests and hand-eye coordination do but not the hazard perception test.

No

Does most of the evidence match your predictions?

Yes

You can have a HIGH level of confidence in the hypothesis.

You can have a LOW level of confidence in the hypothesis.

Your cannot draw a clear conclusion about whether the hypothesis is correct.

Describe this and the evidence that supports it.

Describe the evidence that supports and opposes it.

Describe the evidence that opposes it.

Discussion about the results from the tests.

Look at the method used to collect each piece of evidence.

Students could take both routes here to a certain extent. Good area for debate the students may spot some parts of the test that they feel were mistakes e.g. not waiting long enough after drinking and before taking the test.

Are there any mistakes that could lead to inconsistent results?

Yes

The effects of alcohol are not cancelled out by the affects of caffeine (or it does but at concentrations not tested)

No

The hypothesis could be wrong.

Describe how to improve the method, to see if the hypothesis is really correct.
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Suggest other hypotheses that would explain the results you got.

OCR SKILLUP : WHATS THE CONCLUSION?

SS6

Report from The Daily Post

Research published last week found that a chemical found in broccoli slows down the growth of cancer cells. Scientists grew cancer cells and normal healthy cells outside of the body. They then added different concentrations of the chemical to each (higher than amounts naturally found in broccoli) and measured the growth of the cells. These graphs show the results:
growth of normal cells growth of cancer cells graph A
1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 zero low high

graph B
1 0.8 0.6

0.4
0.2 0 zero low high

Our conclusion from this study is that eating broccoli can prevent the growth of cancer.

concentration of chemical added

concentration of chemical added

1 Use the results on graph A to explain how The Daily Post came up with their conclusion. 2 Study graph B. a Comment on how confident you are with their conclusion and explain why. b What further data would help you to be more confident in the conclusion?

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OCR OCRSKILLUP SKILLUP::WHATS WHATSTHE THECONCLUSION? CONCLUSION?

SS7 SS9

Report from The Daily Post : Marking Guide

Working critically with science General criteria Report from The Daily Post Typical student response The Daily Post came up with their conclusion that eating broccoli can prevent the growth of cancer. The results in graph A shows that as you increase the concentration of the chemical found in broccoli, the growth of cancer cells slows down. (1-2 marks) As above plus: Graph B shows that the increasing the concentration of the chemical found in broccoli also slows down the growth of normal, healthy cells. This shows that the chemical could slow down the growth of all cells in the body, not just cancer cells. (3-4 marks) As above plus: Confidence in The Daily Posts conclusion is low because the concentrations of chemicals used in the experiments were much higher than what is normally found in broccoli. This means that eating broccoli will not provide the body with a high enough concentration of the chemical to affect cancer cells. The tests were done on cells outside of the body so the effects of the chemical inside the body may be totally different for example, the chemical may be digested in the stomach and never enter the bloodstream. Also, it might be more or less effective on different types of cancer cell e.g. might be highly effective on (say) stomach cancer cells but less effective on (say) brain cancer cells. Further data needs to be collected using the same concentration as found in broccoli on cancer cells inside a human body. (5-6 marks)

Low demand

Explain how a conclusion is based on the scientific evidence which has been collected.

Standard demand

Discuss the level of confidence in a conclusion based on the identification of a qualitative relationship between variables and the way further predictions can lead to more evidence being obtained.

High demand

Identify and critically analyse conflicting evidence, or weaknesses in the data, which lead to different interpretations, and give a detailed explanation of what further data would help to make the conclusion more secure.

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OCR SKILLUP : WHATS THE CONCLUSION?

SS8

START HERE

Look at the 1st piece of evidence (graph/chart/table)

Describe what it shows.

Describe how you think the problem led to inconsistent results.

Look at the 2nd piece of evidence (graph/chart/table)

Yes

Describe what it shows.

Can you find any problems?

Do both pieces of evidence match your prediction?

Yes

No

Your cannot draw a clear conclusion, as the results are inconsistent.

Describe the evidence which supports and opposes the hypothesis.

Look at the method used to collect each piece of evidence.

You can draw a clear conclusion to answer the original question.

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Write the conclusion and describe the evidence that supports it.

OCR SKILLUP : WHATS THE CONCLUSION?

SS9

START HERE

Look at the 1st piece of evidence (graph/chart/table)

Teacher notes
Drinking Buzz will result in no change to your reaction times. They clearly show that as the amount of caffeine increases the depressive effects of the alcohol are cancelled out. Describe how you think the problem led to inconsistent results.

Describe what it shows.

Look at the 2nd piece of evidence (graph/chart/table)

Yes
Drinking Buzz will very slightly decrease your handeye coordination (around one less ball caught in 30 seconds). They clearly show that as the amount of caffeine increases the depressive effects of the alcohol are cancelled out.

Describe what it shows. The prediction is that drinking buzz will result in no change to reaction times No Do both pieces of and hand-eye evidence match your coordination prediction? and both sets of results Yes show that this is true. You can draw a clear conclusion to answer the original question.

Can you find any problems?

Your cannot draw a clear conclusion, as the results are inconsistent.

Describe the evidence which supports and opposes the hypothesis.

Look at the method used to collect each piece of evidence.

You can debate here that this route should be taken in light of the hand-eye coordination results. Do the students think that this result is enough proof that the results are inconsistent?

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Write the conclusion and describe the evidence that supports it.

The conclusion is that drinking Buzz has no effect on reaction times and hand-eye coordination, and this is supported by the data.

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