Bringing It all Together in Integrated Science. Biology, Chemistry, and the Scientific Method

Chapter 1Bringing It all Together

inIntegrated Science

Sea Butterflies & Amphipods

Biology, Chemistry, and the Scientific Method

James McClintock (UA) & Bill Baker (USF)

Studying toxic chemicals used to deter predators

Observed something very interesting

Curious relationship between sea butterfly and amphipods

sea butterflyamphipod

YouTube - sea angel YouTube - Amphipods Playing!

1. Observation

Many amphipods carry sea butterflies on their backs.

2. Question

Why are the amphipods “kidnapping” sea butterflies?

3. HypothesizeThe sea butterflies give amphipods a chemical defense

4. PredictThey would be able to isolate a toxic chemical from the sea butterfly

Fish that normally feed on amphipods would avoid this chemical

5. Test the Predictions

These were good results, but….Were the fish

reacting to a chemical from the sea butterflies?

or

Were the fish just reacting to the feel of the sea butterflies in their mouths?

Controlled ExperimentExperiment that tests only one thing (variable) at a time.

Here they were looking for chemicals from sea butterflies

Experiment #1Prepared

plain fish food pellets(no sea butterfly extract)

Control Pellets

Experiment #2Prepared

fish food pellets that contained

sea butterfly extract

Experimental Pellets

6. Draw a Conclusion

Sea butterfliesproduce a chemical deterrent.

Looking Forward…..

Possible applications as a pest repellant

Can it be useful in treating in human diseases

Need much more study