Dogs and their owners
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/sci_update.cfm?DocID=212
A lesson plan for grades 6–8 Science
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In this Science Update, students explore the stereotype that dogs and owners begin to look alike after a while. Psychologist Nicholas Christenfeld of the University of California, San Diego took pictures of dogs and their owners, then showed the pictures to other people, and asked them to match them back up. The results showed that people were able to match purebred dogs to their owners more accurately than mutts, and purebreds are most often selected for their specific traits. This evidence suggests that humans are naturally drawn to animals that look and act like they do. This activity can be used as an introduction to the scientific method because it demonstrates that every idea needs to be methodically tested before it’s accepted. Science NetLinks provides a link to the audio file, a written transcript, and questions that engage students in a discussion about the advantages and drawbacks of this study, how to make the study more reliable, and how to test if an idea were really true. This activity also contains links to the Skeptics Society website and Bad Science, which exposes common scientific misconceptions.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Science (2005)
Grade 6
- Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.
- Objective 1.01: Identify and create questions and hypotheses that can be answered through scientific investigations.
- Objective 1.05: Analyze evidence to:
- Explain observations.
- Make inferences and predictions.
- Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.
- Objective 1.08: Use oral and written language to:
- Communicate findings.
- Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
Grade 7
- Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.
- Objective 1.01: Identify and create questions and hypotheses that can be answered through scientific investigations.
- Objective 1.05: Analyze evidence to:
- Explain observations.
- Make inferences and predictions.
- Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.
- Objective 1.08: Use oral and written language to:
- Communicate findings.
- Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
- Objective 1.09: Use technologies and information systems to:
- Research.
- Gather and analyze data.
- Visualize data.
- Disseminate findings to others.
- Objective 1.10: Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:
- Scientific text.
- Articles.
- Events in the popular press.
Grade 8
- Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.
- Objective 1.01: Identify and create questions and hypotheses that can be answered through scientific investigations.
- Objective 1.05: Analyze evidence to:
- explain observations.
- make inferences and predictions.
- develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.
- Objective 1.08: Use oral and written language to:
- Communicate findings.
- Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
- Describe strengths and weaknesses of claims, arguments, and/or data.
