faced with having to make split-second decisions

faced with having to make split-second decisions

Each and every day, you are faced with having to make split-second decisions, and the need to solve random problems that you encounter. In this Assessment, you will create a PowerPoint presentation to explain how you would use the scientific method to solve the following scenario.

Scenario: You have agreed to take care of your friend’s dog; Buddy, while she goes on a trip to Antarctica. On your two-hour trip to take your friend to the airport you get so caught up talking about her upcoming adventure that you do not have any time to ask questions about her new dog (Buddy) who is riding in the backseat. After you drop your friend off, just in time to catch her flight, you drive the two hours back home and realize that your friend accidentally took the dog’s bag with her when she ran into the airport. You realize that you do not have access to your friend’s house and cannot contact her. It is a new dog so there is no one else you can contact that knows its normal routine. You stop at the local pet store and ask the salesperson to help you pick out food and supplies to take care of Buddy for the next few weeks. They send you home with a bag of salmon and potato dry dog food, a few toys, and a dog bed. When you get home you put some of the dog food in a plastic bowl that you had been using to store oranges and lemons. You offer this to Buddy but he refuses to eat his dinner. This puts you in a little bit of a panic since your friend is on a long flight and will then be on a ship to Antarctica so contacting her will be difficult. You take a deep breath and decide that you can try to solve this problem on your own.

A template is provided below to get you started. Additional slides should be added to address all the questions in this assignment and cite your sources. You are welcome to modify this template to suit your needs, being sure to meet the assignment requirements. Make sure your PowerPoint ® presentation addresses the following questions.

• What are the steps of the scientific method? List them out and provide a short description in your own words of what happens during each step.
• To collect your data, read through the scenario carefully and on a slide provide a list of everything that you know about the situation with Buddy.
• Create a testable hypothesis for why Buddy is not eating that is consistent with the data in the scenario: i.e., Buddy is not eating because I did not buy the type of dog food that he is used to. Indicate which pieces of evidence you used to develop your hypothesis.
• Outline how you would set up an experiment to test the following hypothesis: Buddy is not eating because I did not buy the type of dog food that he is used to.
  • Do some research on independent and dependent variables. Identify the independent and dependent variables in your experiment.
  • List three things that you should keep constant (the same) during your experiment so that they don’t influence the outcome of your experiment.
    • The results of your experiment supported your hypothesis.
    • The results of your experiment did not support your hypothesis.
  • Explain what you would do in the following two situations:
    • You know you can contact your friend at some point soon but only for a short time. What three testable questions would you want to ask her to help support or disprove the proposed hypothesis?
    • Your neighbor comes over to help out with Buddy and poses the following hypothesis: Buddy won’t eat because he feels that his owner is unlucky when she travels and may get hurt. Is this a testable hypothesis? If so, please explain how you would test it. If not please explain why it is not testable in the context of the scientific method.

Information provided on the slides should be brief and bulleted. In the notes section, you must include all of your talking points – exactly as you would present them to your audience. Remember, you want to tell the story during the presentation rather than having your audience reading your slides along with you during the entire presentation.

Creating Effective PowerPoint Presentations:

Minimum Submission Expectations:

• Include a title slide and a reference slide.
• Use images (with citations) as appropriate to create an effective and professional presentation.
• On each slide include short descriptions and labels. Do not write out full paragraphs of information on each slide. 18 pt font or larger recommended.
• Put your explanations and talking points that would be presented to the audience in a short paragraph in the notes section of each slide.
• Be free of industry jargon. Be mindful of your audience.
• Use APA style for all references and in-text citations where appropriate.
• Avoid plagiarism. Do not cut and paste directly from the source in the slides. Note: no more than 10% of your paper should be directly quoted from any outside source.
• Utilize a minimum of three academic resources.
• Make certain that your presentation is free of grammar and spelling errors.
• Below are the answers I put on my slides. Clearly, I missed some things.
• What are the steps of the scientific method? List them out and provide a short description in your own words of what happens during each step. The first step is observation; ask a question. Step two, form a hypothesis which is a testable explanation. Next, make a prediction: the experimenter states what they think will happen. After making the prediction it is time to test the theory and analyze the results, the final step is to share the results. Actually, pending the results, the final step may be to start all over again if results vary from what experimenter intended.
• To collect your data, read through the scenario carefully and on a slide provide a list of everything that you know about the situation with Buddy. New dog on a four hour trip. Buddy’s bag is on the plane with mom, no immediate access to mom. Local pet store provided toys and dry food for Buddy; salmon and potato, (Buddy’s bed is with the friend, not really relevant). Friend is using a bowl that was once used to store citrus fruits for Buddy’s food bowl.
• Create a testable hypothesis for why Buddy is not eating that is consistent with the data in the scenario: i.e., Buddy is not eating because I did not buy the type of dog food that he is used to. Indicate which pieces of evidence you used to develop your hypothesis. Buddy may not be eating for several reasons; different home environment, the friend does not smell like Buddy’s owner. The food may not be desirable, and/or the smell of the food bowl is off putting.
• Outline how you would set up an experiment to test the following hypothesis: Buddy is not eating because I did not buy the type of dog food that he is used to. I would buy a new food bowl, and try the same food again. If there was no success, then I would switch out dry dog food to fresh/wet (or in part wet) puppy food. If all else fails I would consult with a veterinarian.
  • Do some research on independent and dependent variables. Identify the independent and dependent variables in your experiment. The independent variable is the change in dog food from wet to dry. The Dependent variable is Buddy’s reaction to the new food.
  • List three things that you should keep constant (the same) during your experiment so that they don’t influence the outcome of your experiment. Feeding times, amount of food, and placement of food bowl
  • • The results of your experiment supported your hypothesis. Buddy will eat a portion the combination wet and dry food. However, Buddy will eat all of the wet food.
    • The results of your experiment did not support your hypothesis. Buddy will not eat the new dog food.
  • Explain what you would do in the following two situations: If the hypothesis is supported, continue feeding Buddy what he will eat until I speak with his owner. If my hypothesis is still off, it is time to consult with a veterinarian; Buddy is a living being and we want him to stay healthy.
  • • You know you can contact your friend at some point soon but only for a short time. What three testable questions would you want to ask her to help support or disprove the proposed hypothesis? Is citrus fruit harmful to Buddy? What (if anything) is Buddy allergic to, and what is Buddy’s preferred food type and brand?
    • Your neighbor comes over to help out with Buddy and poses the following hypothesis: Buddy won’t eat because he feels that his owner is unlucky when she travels and may get hurt. Is this a testable hypothesis? While through actions and dog interpreters we know that dogs can to some degree communicate with us, it is difficult to test whether a dog knows if his/her owner is unlucky while travelling. Also, Buddy is a new dog and it is unlikely that the owner has travelled that often since bring Buddy home. In fact the only person who can assist with this is unreachable. Bottom line, the theory cannot be tested and that is a huge part of the scientific method.
    • If so, please explain how you would test it. If not please explain why it is not testable in the context of the scientific method.