Scientific Process and Questions
What question did the scientists
 who collected this data want to
 answer?
a.  Are there more earthworms
 in the soil in the spring than in
 the fall?  
b. What is the effect of plowing
soil on  the number of earth
worms?
c. How is the size of the
earthworms affected by the
seasons?
d.Does plowing the soil affect
 how fast earthworms grow?
Break It Down
Students in Ms. Lee's class are studying the processes of weathering. The steps
for their investigation and the data they collected are shown below.
Steps:
1. Use a permanent marker to label four limestone rocks 1–4.
2. Measure the mass of each rock and record the data in a table.
3. Place the rocks in a plastic jar that
is three-fourths full of water. Screw
the lid on tightly.
4. Shake the jar vigorously for 10 minutes.
5. Remove the labeled rocks from
the jar with a large spoon. Leave
behind any pieces that have broken off.
6. Dab the rocks dry with a towel. Measure the mass of each rock again.
 7. Pour the liquid that remains in the
jar through a coffee filter and observe the sediment.
Judith Miles: Student Space Scientist

In the early 1970s a high school student named Judith Miles wrote to the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Judith wondered if spiders would
spin the same kinds of webs in space as on Earth.
        NASA scientists decided to do Judith's experiment and send two spiders into
space. They would compare these against a control group of spiders on Earth. In
1973 two spiders were each fed a housefly and then launched into space
aboard Skylab, an experimental space station. The spiders were in a specially
made cage. A camera took pictures of the spiders as they built their webs.
It took two days before one of the spiders began weaving a web. The first
webs were poorly constructed. However, both spiders soon made webs almost
identical to the webs made by control spiders on Earth.

The diagrams below show a comparison of spider webs.
Which question was Judith
most likely trying to answer
with her experiment?

A. Why do houseflies become
tangled in a spider's web?
B.What amount of time does
it take a spider to spin a web?
C. Will weightlessness affect
a spider's ability to construct
a web?
D. What kinds of insects get
caught in spider webs
constructed in space?
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