SPEAKING OF SPACE

One of the most important parts of being a scientist is being able to communicate the results of an experiment clearly to other scientists, to students, and to all of us, so that we can learn from it and so that we can help science move forward to new and better ideas and questions. Remember, the knowledge that we obtain from scientific results is worthless unless we are able to communicate and share it with the rest of the world. We are now going to participate in an activity designed to help us better understand how to present scientific results to those around us. You will be designing a presentation that will allow you to share, in your own words, the results of Dr. Baldwin's experiment.

The scientific results that you have just examined were described in two separate sections. To carry out this activity, your teacher will select two teams of students. Each team will take one of the two sections and develop a plan for presenting the information in a clear and concise way. In the development of this presentation, you should take into consideration the following points:

  1. Imagine that your small group is the actual scientific team that conceived of, planned, and carried out the experiment. Introduce each member of the scientific team, indicating what his or her job was. Remember that, for this experiment, the only job that was carried out inflight was for the astronauts to perform health checks on the animals and to generally observe their behavior and activities. Most of the actual experimental work was done postflight.
  2. You should design your presentation as if your audience hasnever heard the information before. This means that you must firstprovide enough background to your audience to understand the significance of the study. That is, you must explain why this study was important. Keep theaudience foremost in your mind as you design your presentation and alwaysmake it as easy as possible for your audience to understandwhat you are saying and why you are saying it.
  3. Explain the methods that were used to carry out the investigation, the results, and how the results either supported or refuted the hypotheses. The description of your methods should include information about your protocol (steps carried out to complete the experiment), the equipment that was used and how it was used, information about who the subjects were and how many there were, and anything else that is relevant about your study. In planning for your presentation, you must also determine the best way to display your results. You may want to graph the data or present a table of values. If you choose to produce a graph, include a title, the units of measurement on each axis, a legend, and make it as clear as possible. Also, remember to tie the results of your study back to the relevant hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1

In microgravity, tension is reduced on muscles that support the body against gravity, resulting in a loss of muscle mass and an accompanying loss of muscle strength.

Hypothesis 2

Exposure to microgravity will cause a reduction in the endurance capacity of skeletal muscle.

Hypothesis 3

The loss of endurance capacity will be due to a change in the muscle cell's ability to convert nutrients into energy.
  1. Explain what the results indicate about how the body responds to space flight. Also try to determine how the results might affect our understanding of human physiology here on Earth. Which, if any, health problems that we encounter he re on Earth might be helped by the knowledge you have gained from your space flight results?
Keep in mind that there are literally dozens (and sometimes hundreds) of people involved in carrying out a space flight investigation, each of whom is responsible for his or her very own specific aspect of the study, and each of whom is absolutely necessary to the success of both the individual experiment and the overall mission. There should be plenty of different roles for the different members of your team. There should certainly be a Principal Investigator who is in charge of the whole study, just as Dr. Baldwin was in charge of the real study that we've been learning about in this chapter. Also, a member of your team might serve as the engineer involved with the equipment. Another member of your team might be a physician or a physiologist assigned to make sure all of the experimental procedures are carried out safely. This is particularly important because the safety of the astronaut is always the first consideration. The team might also include various technicians responsible for collecting the data or producing the graphics. You may want to use more than one person to present the experiment to your audience. And don't be afraid to use plenty of visual aids. Be imaginative, but also be faithful to the main objectives of your experiment.

After each presentation, there should be a short question and answer (Q&A) period so that the audience has the chance to ask relevant, thoughtful questions. Rely on your team members to help you answer the questions. Don't let this Q&A session scare you. It is always a part of any well planned presentation. And remember, you will be on the other side of the fence asking questions of all the other groups!

Good Luck!

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