Download Being a Critical Reader in Science

Being a Critical Reader in Science
Directions: Discuss with your teacher an article you wish to read to expand your knowledge that relates to a topic that is
being discussed in class. Find and read the article from a science journal or magazine published within the last 12 months.
You may not use articles from the Internet, popular press magazines, newspapers or encyclopedias (including Encarta). A
copy of the article must be submitted with your paper. The paper should be typed using the 7-step format below.
Write your critical analysis of the article by answering the following questions using complete sentences.
1.
Using the bibliographic style, provide the name of the author, publication, title, page, and date of the article.
2.
In four sentences or less: What do you think the author is trying to teach us by writing this article?
3.
List at least 4 unique and interesting facts you learned by reading this article. These should be specific observations
made by the author or background information reported by the author.
4.
What questions does this article raise? Write at least 4 good questions that are not already answered in this article, and
state why you are asking each one. (Do you question the facts or lack of facts given in the article? Its scientific
validity? Ethics? Is further research required?) Give good reasons or justification for questions you ask!
5.
Identify the major science concept/s mentioned in the article and explain how the concept/s are related to your biology
class. (Such as microscopy, scientific methods, cell function, biochemical reactions, diffusion, evolution, cellular
respiration, biotechnology, ecology, cell division, inheritance, diseases, immunology or physiology.)
6.
List at least four generalizations that summarize the article. These are not specific facts as in #3.
7.
What techniques were used to gather facts and information? How was the scientific method followed?
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- - - - - - - - - - Example of a short critical analysis using the above format - - - - - - - - Locking, Ellen, “Joined at the Genes?” Business Week, page 166, January 24, 2000.
The author wrote the article to tell people how recently the science world, zebra fish have commonly been replacing
lab mice or rats as experimental animals for a variety of characteristics.
Unique and interesting facts I learned:
ƒ Zebra fish make good experimental animals because they are cheap to maintain, breed rapidly, and have organs
very similar to those of humans.
ƒ Some cons of zebra fish as experimental animals are that scientists are still learning to manipulate its genes and
that some aspects of development and disease are different in zebra fish and humans.
ƒ Zebra fish are used to test a variety of diseases such as hardening of the arteries, leukemia, spina bifida, brain
degeneration and even alcohol addiction.
Some questions I have:
ƒ How do scientists figure out which zebra fish gene defects cause a particular mutation? There are hundreds of
genes on a chromosome and I would think that it would be almost impossible to isolate a given gene that causes a
defect.
ƒ Which aspects of development and disease vary in zebra fish and humans? The article never stated exactly what is
different.
ƒ Will this new use of zebra fish have any effect on the zebra fish population? Companies may need to breed many
more zebra fish if demand for them in the lab continues to increase.
ƒ Will zebra fish be used all over the science world as an experimental animal, as lab mice and rats are today? The
traits that make zebra fish good experimental animals may outweigh the characteristics of common lab animals in
the future.
The major science concept of the article was the development and use of zebra fish in the lab. Our class conducted
labs using zebra fish embryos and we learned about the development of them. We learned that they are an easy animal
to study because they are clear and have visible organs and you can easily see their development stages. This article
mentions how these traits add to the usefulness of zebra fish as an experimental animal.
Some generalizations from the article are:
ƒ Fish and humans share many of the same genes
ƒ Roughly a third of the time, the way genes are arranged on the chromosome is the same in fish and humans
ƒ Mutations in the same genes that cause certain diseases in humans also cause certain diseases in fish.
ƒ The zebra fish develops faster than most lab animals used today.
This article was packed with scientific sources such as scientists speaking about the results of “Fish Ritz”, a study at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It also includes quotes from biology professors at Harvard University,
University of California and the University of Oregon.