8-3 Presentation

SCI 100 Question Development Worksheet

Answer the following questions. Your instructor will use these answers to evaluate the critical elements for Project 2.

1. Why did you select your news story? What about the story makes it interesting to you both personally and scientifically?

Since childhood, I’ve been fascinated with primates specifically Apes, Gorillas, and Orangutans, which is the primary reason this news story caught my attention. I would be interested in learning more about primates human-related capabilities.

2. What did you already know about the topic before selecting the news story? What opinions or assumptions had you made about it?

I knew primates such as chimpanzees share a large portion of DNA with us humans based on prior interest in primates. I knew that we had similar physical and behavioral traits. I was never aware primates could communicate by combining two items in a language sequence, I assumed like most animals communication was with sounds like grunting or even body language.

3. Which concepts covered in the course relate to your news story? How?

Some concepts from this course relate to the news story I chose such as module two: Separating Good Science From Bad Science. Understanding the difference between good and bad science allows people to decide whether the information is valid or invalid. The research found in my article has been made by several reputable sources, therefore, I would consider this “good” science, which gives me confidence in my article. Another concept from this course module three: Curiosity in Science. This article is intriguing one's curiosity about the capabilities of primates.

4. What question do you have about the topic in the news story? Select one question that interests you based on your topic exploration graphic organizer and previous responses.

I would like to focus on this question:

If the monkeys can combine only two speech items, how did human beings evolve from this to be able to come up with infinite combinations?

5. Why would this question be important to a natural scientist?

Biology is a natural science. Someone studying biology would be interested in learning more about primates full capabilities because it allows us to gain more knowledge about the evolution of human beings. This information could reveal the reasoning as to why humans are more developed compared to primates along with potentially elaborating on the reason as to why primates never continued to develop into humans.