GED Science! Rock-throwing chimp!
Hey! Like, I read this article, about a chimp at a zoo. Now, if I were in a zoo, like on an alien planet or something, I’d be totally pissed off. Right? Well, I guess this chimp is, too. Cuz here’s what he does. He gets some rocks, right, and he saves ‘em up for later. And then when there’s people at the zoo, he’s got his rocks all ready to throw at ‘em. That’s one mean chimp. But hey–what’s that got to do with science?
Here’s the deal. Think about it. What makes people, you know, people? Like, how different are we from chimps, or other animals? Well, it’s one of the things that scientists study. They look at how animals act an’ how animals think, and see how different humans are from animals.
An’ what the chimp’s actions show–is that he plans things in advance. That’s somethin’ a lot of people have thought animals couldn’t do… think far enough in advance to make plans for what they’d do.
Here’s the story:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090309121931.htm
So, how ’bout a GED practice question?
Here’s a quote from the article:
“I think that wild chimpanzees might be even better at planning as they probably rely on it for their daily survival,” Osvath said. “The environment in a zoo is far less complex than in a forest. Zoo chimps never have to encounter the dangers in the forest or live through periods of scarce food. Planning would prove its value in ‘real life’ much more than in a zoo.”
Now, answer this GED question ’bout it:
Osvath’s idea that chimpanzees in the wild use planning even more than zoo chimpanzees is:
A) A hypothesis that he might want to test in the future.
B) A scientific theory based on the evidence in his study.
C) The variable in his study of the chimpanzee’s behavior.
D) New data that he can use to test his conclusions.
So, how’d you answer? See, I’m testin’ to see what you know about science and science terms. Tha answer’s A… a hypothesis is somethin’ that you think is true and can make an experiment to test. Cuz he didn’t study chimps in the wild, his idea’s not a scientific theory based on his evidence. He has a reason why he thinks it’s true, but it’s based on what he knows about chimps’ life in the jungle, Dude, not about the evidence he’s collected. To make a scientific theory, he’d have to do a lot of testing. Answer C isn’t true… a variable is something that a scientist changes in an experiment to see what different results he gets. That’s not right at all. Answer D isn’t true, cuz the idea isn’t evidence or data… data comes from testing, and this idea hasn’t been tested.
See y’all soon! Good luck with the GED, an’ read your science news!
For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.
