Week1 A2
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.