Critical Thinking Questions: Mass Re-Collection

Critical Thinking

Chapter 1

1. In Chapter 1 it was explained that the statement “There are mermaids in the ocean” is not a valid scientific hypothesis. Can the same be said of the statement “There are no mermaids in the ocean”? Why?

Yes, it is not a valid hypothesis as well. Both statements – “There are mermaids in the ocean” and “There are no mermaids in the ocean” are the same, since there is no factual documentation of any mermaids so far; therefore, any justification and hypothesis stating that “there are…” and “there are no mermaids in the ocean” are and should be irrelevant.

Chapter 3

3. If you owned a seaside home and a bad storm brought heavy winds and high surf to your coastline, would you prefer it to be during a new moon or a quarter moon? Why?

Hopefully it would be during the quarter moon because the tidal influence based on gravitational calculations^* would not be as great as the tidal influence that both the moon and Sun would have during a new moon.

^*F_{G moon} = Gm₁m₂ / r²

F_{G sun}= Gm₁m₂ / r²

F_{G sun} > + F_{G moon} ≈ tidal influence during the new moon and Sun

Chapter 4

1. During the day, algae carry out both photosynthesis and cellular respiration, but at night, when there is no light, they can only perform respiration. Small, isolated tide pools on rocky shores are often inhabited by thick growths of seaweeds, which are algae. Would you expect that amount of oxygen in the water to differ between night and day? How?

Because the amount of dissolved oxygen is proportional to the temperature of the ocean, it can be deduced that there would be more oxygen dissolved at night than day. Yet, there is a factor that should be taken in consideration – the water’s heat capacity. During the day, the water remains warm while the land remains hot, in contrast, at night, the water becomes cool and the land becomes cold because they are exposed to the zero degree Kelvin space. Therefore, in conclusion, I would suggest yes – in that there would be a difference in the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water in the day <>

Chapter 5

2. An autotrophic protist, such as a diatom or a dinoflagellate, can evolve into a heterotrophic protest (and therefore a protozoan) simply by losing its chloroplasts. Under what conditions might this take place?
   

For an autotrophic protest having an evolutionary stage, it may be comparable with the evolutionary stages of insects (as an example). The protist, it goes through an evolutionary process where the organism’s biological structure goes through several changes during its juvenile stage – thus losing its autotrophic attributes and gaining heterotrophic values, which may be triggered by its maturity or even a chemical change in the water thru means of natural or artificial alteration.

Chapter 6

2. Only very few flowering plants have invaded the oceans, but those that have are very successful. What are some possible reasons for the small number of marine flowering plants? How do those that have taken the step manage to thrive in some environments?

Here are some possible reasons for the small number of marine flowering plants:

· Inadaptability to salt water

· Temperature dependent

· Competition

· Ability to withstand wave crashing zones

· Tidal range

Over a process of natural selection, the many flowering plants that thrive in these environments have developed highly productive meadows and forests along the shore.