SC200 Unit 1 Discussion What is in the Can?
One of the most important tools that scientists use is not something you can see or touch. Instead, science gets much of its power from the way it organizes questions and investigations. By using a structured approach that all scientists share in common, it is possible to test ideas in a way that is logical, repeatable, and based on evidence. You will often see this referred to as the scientific method.
For additional information on the scientific method, review this Science Center resource.
For this week’s Discussion, you will engage in a little scientific inquiry of your own, using the following scenario:
What is in the Can?
One afternoon, you are enjoying some quiet time reading on the couch when you decide it is too quiet. What are the kids up to? You find them in the kitchen with a pile of canned goods. They have torn the labels off of the cans and ripped them up into tiny pieces. Now you are confronted with cans of different shapes and sizes, but you don’t know what is in any of them. Instead of getting angry, you decide that you can use this as an opportunity to practice using the scientific method. Can you use your powers of observation to collect data and reasoning to figure out the most likely content of each can without a label?
A similar scenario to that above will be the focus of this week’s Discussion. Your instructor will provide the mystery can and everyone in the class will ask questions, review and discuss the data, and develop their own hypothesis for what is inside. Ask questions that would help you rule out certain types of products. Consider the sorts of things that would be different between a can containing corn, and a can containing tomato paste. What knowledge of canned goods do you already have, or can you learn through fieldwork at a local store, that can help you narrow down what could be inside your instructor’s mystery can?
- Collect data about the can.
- You should first ask at least two questions about the can itself. Your instructor will answer all the questions you have about the can.
- Be sure to read the questions posed by your classmates to avoid asking the same questions. This will help further expand the investigation with new questions.
- Respond to classmates and develop your hypothesis.
- During the week, you should also respond to your classmates’ questions, discuss the evidence that has been collected by the class, and revise your hypothesis as new pieces of evidence emerge that prove your initial hypothesis incorrect. Remember, instructors only see what you post to the DB, not the reasoning that goes on in your mind. Make sure you explain your thought process in your post(s).
- After you have asked at least two questions of your own and have collected additional evidence based on the questions your classmates have provided, you should then develop and post a hypothesis about what is in the can.
- Your hypothesis should include: (a) what you believe is in the can (explain why), and (b) any supporting evidence you collected from the Discussion that led you to that hypothesis. For example, how did you rule out all other possible products? Throughout the week this hypothesis may and should be revised as you learn more about the can.
Note: You will be evaluated this week on your investigation of the mysterious can and your use of scientific inquiry, not on the accuracy of your guesses.
Discussion Guidelines:
Participating in a discussion does not necessarily mean posting dozens of times or showing everyone what you know or that you have studied all night. Good discussion participation involves people trying to build on comments from others, and on showing appreciation for others’ contributions. The discussion also involves inviting others to say more about what they are thinking. Below are some specific behavioral examples of strong participation:
- Ask a question or make a comment showing you are interested in another person’s post and encourage him or her to elaborate.
- Post a resource (a reading, Weblink, video, quote, etc.) not covered in the Syllabus but adding new information or valuable perspectives to our learning.
- Make a comment underscoring the link between two people’s posts and make this link explicit in your comment.
- Make a comment indicating why you found another person’s ideas interesting or useful. Be specific as to why this was the case
- Contribute something that builds on, or springs from, what someone else has posted. Be explicit about the way you are building on the other person’s thoughts.
Please note that borrowed material (quotes, summaries, or paraphrases) should make up no more than 10% of the total word count for all written assignments in this course. All writing in all Assignments must be your own original work and in your own words. For help paraphrasing, watch the paraphrasing video from the ASC Writing Center.
As always, be sure to provide appropriate citations, references, and links to any information you use in this discussion. For help with APA citations, refer to the APA Resources.
Return to Unit 1 Discussion Instructions
SC200 Unit 1 Discussion What is in the Can? Answer
In this discussion, we were to conduct an investigation on an unlabeled can to try and determine to contents of the can. The can is a regular-sized can (like green beans or corn), 17 ounces in weight, there are ridges around the can, and when shaken there is a liquid sound. All of this information is used to help with a conclusion made on what is in the can. The liquid sound rules out solid such as refried beans or cream of chicken soup……
SC200 Discovering Science – Current Issues in Changing World
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