Week1 a2

• View the animation on Gorongosa’s Water Cycle—HHMI BioInteractive Animation (Links

to an external site.)

• Launch the Gorongosa National Park Interactive Map (Links to an external site.) to learn

more about the natural features and vegetation types of Gorongosa National Park.

• View Tracking Lion Recovery in Gorongosa National Park | HHMI BioInteractive (Links to

an external site.) in Gorongosa National Park

• View Surveying Gorongosa’s Biodiversity | HHMI BioInteractive Video (Links to an

external site.)

• A Science-Based Approach to Restoring Gorongosa’s Wildlife | HHMI BioInteractive

Video (Links to an external site.)

• Register and launch the WildCam Gorongosa Lab (Links to an external site.) interactive

database to explore and revise your research questions.

Scientific investigation often begins by making observations about the natural world.

Observations can inspire questions about phenomena. For scientists to answer a question

regarding phenomena, it must be testable, meaning that it could be answered by designing an

experiment and collecting data. After identifying a testable question, a scientist can develop a

hypothesis and even predict the expected results of the investigation if the hypothesis is

supported. The scientist can test the hypothesis through experimentation, or further

observation, and then analyze and interpret the collected data.

This assignment is based on wildcam photos from Gorongosa’s National Park in Mozambique,

Africa

Follow the instructions below to complete this assignment:

• Download the Scientific Inquiry Using Wildcam Photos Download Scientific Inquiry

Using Wildcam Photosreporting form. Answer each question in two to four sentences.

• View all videos listed above, explore website features, and closely read the content.

• Follow the instructions and completely answer all questions on the Scientific Inquiry

Using Wildcam Photos Download Scientific Inquiry Using Wildcam

Photosreporting form.

• References used should follow APA guidelines.

• Submit the completed assignment to Waypoint for grading.

In the Scientific Inquiry Using Wildcam Photos document,

• Develop at least three different questions about the observed phenomena related to

vegetation type, and/or the kind of species in each vegetation type using the Wildcam

Gorongosa Lab (Links to an external site.).

• Choose one of the scientific questions and rewrite it as a comparative research

question.

• Develop a hypothesis from your comparative research question.

• Produce a data table with data on your comparative research question.

• Evaluate if the data supports or refutes your hypothesis.

• Develop a plan for further research on your comparative research question.

• Create an outline of a new experimental design using two credible or scholarly sources.

The Scientific Inquiry Using Wildcam Photos assignment

• Must have responses to the questions on the document that are 2 – 4 sentences in

length.

• Must be formatted according to APA Style (Links to an external site.) as outlined in the

Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft Word (Links to an external site.) resource.

• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource

for additional guidance.

• Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the

Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.) guide.

Scientific Inquiry using WildCam Photos

Overview

This assignment is based on developing

scientific questions and hypotheses using

wildcam photos from

Gorongosa’s National Park in Mozambique.

Africa. The key terms that you need to know are:

Phenomenon: an observation of a situation or fact that does not have a known
cause,

mechanism, or explanation.
Hypothesis: a tentative explanation for the observed phenomenon based on observations

and/or prior scientific knowledge or data.

Complete the following steps below and answer each question below with a 1-4 sentence

response, or
by filling in the table. All of your responses should be in complete sentences.

Required Resources

The following multimedia on Gorgongosa National Park will help you answer the questions
below

View the animation on Gorongosa’s Water Cycle and launch the Gorongosa Interactive Map

to learn

more about the natural features and vegetation types of Gorongosa National Park. In the
menu on the

left side of the interactive map, click on the links to launch pop-up features that have

additional

information and videos. Use your cursor to place a checkmark next to each link to add
locations to the

map, including trail cameras and river conservation areas.

Tracking Lion Recovery in Gorongosa National Park

Surveying Biodiversity in Gorongosa National Park
A science-based approach to restoring Gorongosa’s wildlife

Register and launch the Wildcam interactive database to explore and revise your research

questions

(see below). You can download data to answer most research questions based on animal

sightings. It is

highly recommended that you view the brief tutorial at the beginning of the Wildcam so

that you will be

able to select criteria in order to explore your research questions.
By typing my name here I acknowledge that I have viewed all of the above required

materials

Name:

1.) Developing Questions:
Develop at least three different questions about the observed phenomena related to

vegetation type,

and/or the kind of species in each vegetation type using the Wildcam interactive database.

2
a.

b.

c.

2.) Comparative Research Question:

Choose one of the scientific questions you listed in #1 and rewrite it as a comparative

research question.

a.)
Examples: Comparative questions ask how some variable differs among a set of groups and

are useful

for designing experiments. For example, “Do male monarch butterflies have a larger

wingspan than
female monarch butterflies?” is a comparative research question. The variable measured is

wingspan

and the groups that are compared are males and females. Counting the number of gazelles
that visit a

field is a somewhat interesting observation, but comparing the number of gazelles in a field

with a high

number of shrubs to a field that has a low number of shrubs is more interesting and useful

in

understanding how gazelles use their habitat.

5.) Develop a hypothesis from your comparative research question.

Example Question: During which season is the abundance of animals in the limestone gorge
vegetation type highest?

Example hypothesis: In the limestone gorge vegetation type, animals are most abundant in

the dry
season because they are attracted to the water and green vegetation that are scarce in

other areas.

My Hypothesis:

6.) Collect Data

Use the Wildcam interactive database to answer your comparative research question. A

legend in the

lower left of the screen explains how the map is color-coded by vegetation type and natural

features.

The orange dots on the map show the location of cameras. When you click on any of the
orange dots, a

pop-up window with a random selection of six images is displayed from that camera. Along

the top of

the pop-up window, information is displayed about the camera location and vegetation
type.