Scientific Method: A Case Study Set up Cornell, title, date, page

Gingko Biloba  A plant known for it’s curative properties.  Fossils date back to 270 million years ago  Known as “brain herb”  Studies have shown it to help improve the memory of patients.

1. Problem or Question  Does Ginkgo Biloba really help people with memory loss?

2. Hypothesis: an educated guess  My hypothesis is that if people take Gingko Biloba tea, then their memory will improve. ***Always written as if…then !

3. The Experiment; steps to test out the hypothesis  Take 300 people and divide them up into three groups.  Group A: no gingko biloba  Group B: gingko biloba tea daily, 1 cup  Test the memory of each group with a matching game and time their speed.

Variables: are factors that can affect the outcome of the experiment.. A. Independent Variable: the variable that we change to observe the results. *The drinking of gingko tea B. Dependant Variable: the factor being measured *memory C.Constant variables: all factors kept the same for all groups *Same amt. Tea, same diet, similar age, same health status, same amt. of exercise

4. Record and Analyze : examine the data from the experiment.  Analysis No. 1  Group A : memory increase of 10%  Group B: memory increase of 16%  Group C: memory increase of 11%.  5. Conclusion…confirm (accept) or reject (do not accept) the hypothesis. “Gingko Biloba does improve the memory significantly! The hypothesis is confirmed! “

Analysis cont’d  Analysis Data No. 2  Group A memory: 2 % increase  Group B memory: 3% increase  Group C memory: 2 % increase  Conclusion… “The data leads to rejection of the hypothesis. Gingko does not improve memory! “ ***The 1 % difference is not significant…not enough of change!

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