How is science affected by personal biases?

Has this ever happened to you?

Well, maybe not. But you have probably seen, read, or heard a report on a new scientific finding
that sounds a little implausible, even if you are not sure why. It could be real. Maybe whoever is
presenting the info is making it up, or misinterpreting its source. Perhaps the research itself is
flawed. Sure, a trained scientist could probably see any inconsistencies, notice where data or
concepts are misinterpreted. But what about someone who does not have years of training and
experience? What skills would they need to approach this?
Over the next four weeks, you will learn the skills needed to tease apart the news on the latest
research, to read between the lines and make the most objective assessment that you can.
This will begin with an investigation of what makes something scientific, using storytelling, art,
group discussion, and hands-on experience. You will also develop an understanding of the
scientific method, which you will show by designing an experiment to investigate and answer an
everyday question during the second week. The third will be dedicated to connecting the
research you performed to what scientists do from day to day, as well as exploring how bias in
scientists, media creators, and ourselves change how research is interpreted. Finally, you will
apply these concepts to your earlier findings by crafting a creative piece of media to
communicate your findings. It might, perhaps, end up looking something like this

How is doing and communicating science affected by personal biases?

THE BIG IDEAS

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

What is science?

Cookie Cabal:
Science in the
everyday

Exploring the
fundamentals

What makes an
answer to a question
scientific?

What makes
something
scientific?

The scientific
method and
The Project

Micro 3

Micro 4

Micro 5

-Confront
misconceptions about
what science is; the
differences between
believing, faith and
proof

-Lecturelet: qualitative
vs quantitative
research; the
scientific method

Dawn of the second

day: Peer Review of
Methods

Dawn of the third

day: Second Trial

-Finish summary of
result; share how your
first trial went in small
groups; give feedback
to others on methods

-Continue
experimental trials

CCC: Patterns;
Cause & Effect
SEP: Asking
questions;
Planning and
carrying out
investigations

-Introduce unit
structure, goals,
objectives, and
challenge board

CCC: Patterns;
Cause & Effect
SEP: Planning
and carrying out
investigations;
Analyzing and
interpreting data
How do biases
impact science?
CCC: Patterns;
Cause & Effect

-Receive feedback;
finalize experimental
plan

CCC: Patterns;
Cause & Effect
SEP: Obtaining,
evaluating, and
communicating
information

Dawn of the first

day: First Trial
-Conduct first trial;
make summary of
results

-Share in small
groups, edit if needed

-Use yesterdays
activity to explore
what puts the science
in scientific

-Create timetable
-Make modifications
as needed

Research group
share
-Share research in
groups

Scientist day-to-day
-Learn about what
scientists do

Exploring Biases:
Introduction via
Media Decoding

-Introduce
overarching unit
project; form groups;
plan research; submit
initial idea/plan to
teacher

Dawn of the fourth

day: Continue Trials
or Analyze Results

-Depending on where
your group is,
continue trials,
analyze results
and/or start writing
your (short) report

Exploring Biases:
Researcher Bias

Exploring Biases:
The Media and You

-Skype interviews with

Ms. McMahan (HIV
vaccine research
assistant) and Ms.
Aldrich (neuroscience
PhD candidate)

-Identify how biases

affect the portrayal
and interpretation of
science

-Investigate how the

biases and conflicts of
interests of
researchers can affect
their research

-Explore how the

biases of the creators
of media influence
the communication of
science, as well as
how your own biases
affect your
interpretations

Through the looking

glass

Telling your story

Telling your story

Group Presentations

Group
Presentations

Plan for presentation

preparation

Presentation
preparation

Presentation
preparation

Groups 1-5 present

-Brainstorm with the

challenge board

SEP: Asking
questions;
Engaging in
argument from
evidence;
Obtaining,
evaluating, and
communicating
information
Your research

- Explore what truth

and other important
terms mean from a
scientific perspective

-Independent inquiry:
which is the best
cookie?

The best laid plans...

Using the
Scientific Method

Micro 2

Micro 1

Groups 6-10 present

Note: CCC=NGSSs Crosscutting Concepts; SEP=NGSSs Science and Engineering Practices

Telling it Like it is From Somebodys Point of View

Documentary: Create a short

News Report: Record (film or

Scientific Paper: Write a

Art Piece: Create an art (in any

Blog About It: Invent a fake blog

But What About Have an idea

documentary about your research.

media with a physical product)

depicting the artists feelings on
some aspect of your research or its
potential consequences. Also, write a
2-3 paragraph companion explaining
the symbolism of the piece.

audio), write, or act out live a news

segment on your research.

(complete with backstory) and write a

post about your research.

scientific paper detailing your

research. This would be in the
standard format (see me for further
details).
that isnt on here? Great! Talk to me
about it, and I will do my best to
make it happen.

1) Teaching Context
Grade level: 9th
/10th
Subject area: General science education
Unit: What scientists do; identifying own and others biases
What might come before or after this activity: This activity would likely be
fairly early in the curriculum. Before this would be an exploration of what
makes an explanation scientific and what science is; following this activity
would be further review of what scientists do in their jobs and lives.
Other relevant contextual information: This activity is also the students
introduction to biases, both in themselves and others. Though they may not
walk away with the total desired understanding of biases in media, it will serve
as a building block for later in the unit.

2) Objectives - Identify 1 or 2 objectives for each area.

Content Objectives: (i.e. targeted subject area standards, knowledge, skills)

Students will learn that scientists perform diverse tasks beyond what is
typically portrayed in media
Literacy/Critical Thinking Objectives: (i.e. CCSS for literacy, media literacy)
Students will identify the message that the makers of the media were
attempting to convey, as well as what their biases were
Students will analyze the methods used to portray that message

3) Documents - Briefly describe the specific document or documents you will have

the students decode. Provide a link to the document(s) or otherwise embed in this plan
if possible.

Document 1: Chinese poster from 1980. Caption: Love science, study science, use science.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6tGm6D58kI
Document 2a: Excerpt from an interview by Career Girls with M
elanie Stiassny, ichthyologist
and a curator for the American Museum of Natural History
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL6Y3iFxLRc
Document 2b: Excerpt from an interview by Career Girls with M
elanie Stiassny, ichthyologist
and a curator for the American Museum of Natural History

4) Key Questions - list up to 4 key questions that will be the focus of the brief CMD
activity in the order you intend to ask them. You may be asking follow-up probe
questions (e.g. What is your evidence from the document?) between each of the key
questions.

Key Questions:
How did these each make you feel about scientists?
What techniques or information in the media made you feel that way?
What, do you think, were the producers of this content trying to communicate?

 Why was this media effective/ineffective at communicating the desired

message/response?

5) Probe Plan write a 1/2 to 1 page narrative of your plan, your questions, your

concerns and your thinking about leading the CMD activity that
shows pre-thought to potential student responses.
is aligned with the content and literacy goals.
includes probing for evidence where most applicable.
includes strategies for involving all students.
includes strategies for having students talk directly to each other.
anticipates the need for appropriate wait time.
anticipates potential for emotional responses or hurtful comments.
encourages students to ask their own questions & challenge each others
thinking.
anticipates strategies to deal with potential distractions and opportunities for
student initiative while remaining conscious of ones goals.

Probe Plan (1/2 to 1-page narrative):

I would begin the class by stating what we were doing that day (introduction to what
scientists do), and then asking students to have a short discussion (2-3 minutes), in pairs, of
what they think and feel about what duties scientists perform. To avoid confusion, I state that
these could be specific (e.g. testing water ph, observing turtles) or general (e.g. performing
experiments, data entry). A few groups would then share a couple of the tasks that they
brainstormed with the class.
Now that they are thinking about what scientists do, we begin the media decoding
activity. I would give students 2 minutes to view the poster and write observations (perhaps
giving hints: what you feel and think of when you look at it; what you notice about the poster),
and 1 minute to write observations after viewing the two videos. I would only ask the first key
question after the poster, and then all three after the two videos. I think, by viewing both of the
media, students will have a better perspective from which to discuss the last 3 key questions.
For the last question, students would discuss in groups of two and then be asked to share what
their group came up with.
Though the key questions do imply a need to explain ones reasoning, I would ask
probing questions as necessary, such as how so, I havent thought of it like that, could you
explain, et cetera. I expect that students would be most likely to get stuck on the last two, and
as such would give prompts (e.g. Billy mentioned earlier that x caused him to feel the opposite
of how we think the author intended. Any thoughts on what might be a better method of
conveying the message?) if students appeared to be stuck. If inter-student discussion does not
naturally occur, I would attempt to stimulate it by giving prompts to the class based off a
previous response (e.g. Megan just made a very insightful comment, but I wonder if there might
be people who see it differently. Can anyone think of what might bring someone to reach a
different conclusion, and what they may say in response to Megan?).

Ultimately, the discussion would ebb and flow based off where the students take it, and I
would have to think on my feet. The questions and comments that I give to students would
always bring them closer to the lesson objectives.

Understanding Science for Non-Scientists: Final Test

Name: _______________________________________________

Date:

_________________

Part 1: Using the Scientific Method to Solve Everyday Questions

Your friend, Light, is a few years older than you and has recently moved away from
home for college. Sadly, his arbitrarily assigned roommate, Junpei, is not ideal: he rarely bathes
or cleans up his food or dirty laundry. Light is at the end of his rope, as the smell is making it
nigh impossible to live there and repeated pleas to be cleaner have fallen on deaf ears. Light
has turned to you, his dear friend and recently indoctrinated Amateur Scientist, to help rid his
room of Junpeis vile stench.
Your assignment is to design and carry out an experiment to determine which of three
deodorizers (Stench-B-Gone, Putrefaction Pacifier, and Billy Mays Odor Basher DELUX; aka
brands 1, 2, and 3).
Below, name each step of the scientific method and describe what you would do in them
to solve Lights smelly problem, including specific properties that you may look for, and an
outline for your proposed experimental procedure. Note: there are more steps below than
necessary, you do not need to fill them all.
Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 5:

Step 6:

Step 7:

Step 8:

Step 9:

Part 2: Biases and Media

Examine the following images and their associated descriptions, and answer the questions.
Image 1: From the section Introduction to Embryology
Source: Advanced Human
Anatomy (Anatomy-2)
Supplemental Textbook; S
anta
Monica (Community) College
Mission Statement: For students
to leave the class with a unified
three dimensional perspective of
the entire human body
Major revenue sources: State
funds; student tuition; private
donors.
Services the source provides:
Two year degrees from a large
and diverse group of subjects.

Image 2: From the article Preparing Children for a New Baby

Source: H
omegrown Catholics;
hosted on blogspot.com;
Mission Statement: Homegrown
Catholics is an excellent resource
for religious education teachers,
homeschoolers, and parents. Here
you'll see all my lesson plans and
project ideas on many Catholic
subjects as well as school topics.

Major Revenue Sources: None, it is a self-funded blog

Services the source provides: E
xamples of activities, lessons, and learning goals/objectives
relating to childhood catholic education.
Questions
1)

What are the possible biases of the authors of each graphic? Why?

2)

Who do you think the target audience for each of these was, and why?

3)

How does the presentation of the information (aesthetics, chosen content, etc.)

reflect both author biases and their target audiences?

4)

What do you think each author wanted their audience to take away from the

media (content+emosional)?

5)

How did your personal biases impact how you approached and interpreted these

images?

6)

Answer one of the following two questions:

(a) - Put yourself in the shoes of a pro-vaccine and anti-vaxxer who are making

presentations on the affects of vaccines a mother takes on the fetus. Which of the above
images would you include as a pro-vaccine, and which as an anti-vaxxer? Why?
(b) - For a biology project, you have to teach the stages of fetal development to a
class of fourth graders and a class of 11th graders. Which of the above images would
you choose to use with the elementary schoolers, and which with the high schoolers?
Why?

Part 3: Scientists Duties and Bonus Question

Over the course of the semester, we learned about a number of tasks and duties that scientists
perform as part of their day-to-day jobs. The following (low points-valued) questions relate to
this.
1)

List the three most interesting things you learned during our skype interviews

2)

Is there a discipline of study or a type of scientist that you wish we had covered?

If so, briefly explain why you are interested in it.

4)

Was there something you learned in this unit that was not on this test? If so,

describe it below.