Some of the most pivotal experimental discoveries in biology have resulted when scientists used new data to disprove previous assumptions. Would DNA replication be understood if Watson and Crick had not disputed Linus Pauling’s theory of a triple helix (Watson & Crick, 1953)? Would we know that DNA, not protein, was the hereditary material of all living organisms if it were not for Oswald Avery’s experiments (Avery et al., 1944)? Would we understand the change in living organisms over time if Darwin had not gone on his voyages on the Beagle and disproved Lamarckian evolution (Darwin, 1859)? Students enter experiments with certain assumptions as to the results they might achieve. As professional scientists, we know that these assumptions may hinder us from solving a problem or force us to arrive at the wrong conclusion if we do not open our eyes to our own...
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October 2012
Research Article|
October 01 2012
The Harry Potter Box: Demonstrating the Importance of Challenging Assumptions during the Scientific Process
Sumana Setty,
Sumana Setty
1SUMANA SETTY is a biology teacher at Concord Academy, Concord, MA 01742; e-mail: [email protected].
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Melissa S. Kosinski-Collins
Melissa S. Kosinski-Collins
2MELISSA S. KOSINSKI-COLLINS is Associate Professor of Biology at Brandeis University, 415 South St., Waltham, MA 02454; e-mail: [email protected].
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The American Biology Teacher (2012) 74 (8): 587–588.
Citation
Sumana Setty, Melissa S. Kosinski-Collins; The Harry Potter Box: Demonstrating the Importance of Challenging Assumptions during the Scientific Process. The American Biology Teacher 1 October 2012; 74 (8): 587–588. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2012.74.8.10
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