Unit 1: Biology Introduction

Topic: Scientific Method

[Link] (Hons) Secondary
Semester: I
Subject: Biology I (Minor)
Course Title: General Biology
Represented By: Ms Sidra Younis
Department of Education (Planning and Development)
Lahore College for Women University, Lahore
 Scientific Method
Definition
“Scientific method was first recorded in 1850 -1855.
Scientific method is a method of a research in which a
problem is identified, related data are collected and the
hypothesis is observational tested.”
Steps of Scientific Method
1. Observations
2. Question
3. Hypothesis
4. Experiment
5. Data analysis
6. Conclusions
1: Observation
 As the first step in solving the problem the people recalls the
pervious observation or makes the new one. An observation is
the process of observing something or someone. Any data can be
noted during experiment can be called as observation.
Observation can be of two types
 Qualitative observation:
Qualitative observation is an observation in which we observe
the quality of an object.
 Quantitative observation:
Quantitative observation is an observation in which we observe
the quantity of an object.
2: Question
Once you’ve made observation, you must formulate a question
about what you have observed. A scientific question is a question
that may lead towards hypothesis and help us in answering the
reason of a question. There are some certain characteristics
 It should be testable.
 It should have answers.
3: Hypothesis
In scientific method a hypothesis, is a testable statement
about the relationship between two or more variables
explanation for some observed phenomenon. The basic
idea of hypothesis is that there is no fixed outcome.
Hypothesis can have following characteristics
It should be a tentative idea.
It should be kept as simple as possible.
It should be testable.
4: Experiment
After hypothesis, experimentation is the most basic step
of the scientific method. A person performs experiments
to see if hypothesis are true or not. Through experiments,
a person learns which hypothesis is correct. The incorrect
hypothesis is rejected and the correct one is accepted.
5: Data analysis
After performing an experiment and collecting
data, the person uses it to draw a conclusion
about the strength of the hypothesis. If the data
proves the hypothesis correct, the question is
answered. But if the data disproves the
hypothesis, the person should research again to
form a hypothesis and experiment to test it.
6: Conclusion
The final step of the scientific method is
conclusion. Publishing of results is an important
part of scientific method. This is the step in which
all the results from the experiment are analyzed.
Malaria is derived fromExample: Malaria
two words “Mala means bad”
and “Aria means air”. Malaria is a serious fatal disease
that infects a mosquito which feeds on humans. People
who are suffering from malaria are very sick. Its
symptoms are high fever, shaking- chills and flu like
illness.
1: Observation
In nineteenth century, many different causes of malaria
were suggested. There were some major observations
about malaria.
Malaria and marshy areas have some relation.
Drinking the water of marshes does not cause malaria.
Plasmodium is seen in the blood of malarial patients.
2: Question
Can plasmodium cause malaria?
3; Hypothesis
Scientist uses whatever information they can get at that
time and with the help of observation they made one or
more hypothesis and hypothesis was
“Plasmodium is the cause of malaria”
4: Deduction
Scientist does not know whether his hypothesis is correct
or not. One of the deductions from the above hypothesis
was;
“If plasmodium is the cause of malaria, then all
persons ill with malaria should have Plasmodium in
their blood”
5: Experiment
In the next step, the scientists perform experiment to test
the deduction which was designed as;
Scientist examined the blood of 100 malarial patients and
100 healthy persons under the microscope.
6: Data analysis
The results of the experiments showed that all
malarial patients had plasmodium in their
blood while seven out of hundred healthy
people also had plasmodium in their body that
is the incubation period, incubation period is a
period between the entry of parasite in host
and the appearance of the symptoms.
7: Conclusion
The quite convincing result proved the
hypothesis was true “Plasmodium is the
cause of malaria.
The natural history of malaria
Life Cycle of Malaria
involves cyclical infection
of humans and female Anopheles mosquitoes. In humans,
the parasites grow and multiply first in the liver cells and
then in the red cells of the blood. In the blood, successive
broods of parasites grow inside the red cells and destroy
them, releasing daughter parasites (“merozoites”) that
continue the cycle by invading other red cells.
The blood stage parasites are those that cause the
symptoms of malaria. When certain forms of blood stage
parasites (gametocytes, which occur in male and female
forms) are ingested during blood feeding by a
female Anopheles mosquito, they mate in the gut of the
mosquito and begin a cycle of growth and multiplication
in the mosquito. After 10-18 days, a form of the parasite
called a sporozoite migrates to the mosquito’s salivary
glands.
When the Anopheles mosquito takes a blood
Cont…….

meal on another human, anticoagulant saliva

is injected together with the sporozoites,
which migrate to the liver, thereby beginning
a new cycle.
Thus the infected mosquito carries the
disease from one human to another (acting as
a “vector”), while infected humans transmit
the parasite to the mosquito, In contrast to
the human host, the mosquito vector does not
suffer from the presence of the parasites.

 Steps of Malarial Cycle:
1. Malaria infection begins when an infected
female Anopheles mosquito bites a person
injecting Plasmodium parasites, in the form of sporozoites, into
the bloodstream.
2. The sporozoites pass quickly into the human liver.
3. The sporozoites multiply asexually in the liver cells over the
next 7 to 10 days, causing no symptoms.
4. In an animal model, the parasites, in the form of merozoites,
are released from the liver cells in vesicles, journey through
the heart, and arrive in the lungs, where they settle within
lung capillaries. The vesicles eventually disintegrate, freeing
the merozoites to enter the blood phase of their development.
5. In the bloodstream, the merozoites invade red blood cells
(erythrocytes) and multiply again until the cells burst. Then
they invade more erythrocytes. This cycle is repeated, causing
fever each time parasites break free and invade blood cells.
 Cont……
6. Some of the infected blood cells leave the cycle of asexual
multiplication. Instead of replicating, the merozoites in these
cells develop into sexual forms of the parasite,
called gametocytes, that circulate in the blood stream.
7. When a mosquito bites an infected human, it ingests the
gametocytes, which develop further into mature sex cells
called gametes.
8. The fertilized female gametes develop into actively moving
ookinetes that burrow through the mosquito's midgut wall
and form oocysts on the exterior surface.
9. Inside the oocyst, thousands of active sporozoites develop.
The oocyst eventually bursts, releasing sporozoites into the
body cavity that travel to the mosquito's salivary glands.
10. The cycle of human infection begins again when the
mosquito bites another person.
6.