Sally does an experiment with goldfish. She keeps one goldfish in a bowl and puts it under a lamp. She puts another goldfish in a bowl and puts it in the dark. After 24 hours she a has each one swim through a hoop. Which fish will most likely swim through the hoop first.
The hoops are exactly the same.
I think the one in the light will swim through the hoop first because it had more energy from the light.
First, how large is the goldfish bowl? If it is small enough, the fish could not avoid swimming through the hoop.
Since — to my knowledge — fish do not obtain energy via photosynthesis, they would not be getting "more energy from the light."
Although some fish species have adapted to darkness through generations by losing their sight, 24 hours is definitely not enough time for this process.
What is your (or Sally's) hypothesis for the experiment? What leads to this hypothesis? Is swimming through the hoop first important? Why?
I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
Your reasoning is on the right track! The fish kept under the lamp is more likely to swim through the hoop first because it would have had more energy. However, to confirm this, we need to understand the behavior of goldfish in different lighting conditions.
To find the answer, you can conduct a hypothesis test by performing the following steps:
1. Define your hypotheses:
- Null hypothesis (H₀): There is no significant difference in the time taken by the fish in light and dark to swim through the hoop.
- Alternative hypothesis (H₁): The fish in light will significantly swim through the hoop faster than the fish in the dark.
2. Set up your experiment:
- Keep one goldfish in a bowl under a lamp for 24 hours.
- Keep another goldfish in a separate bowl in complete darkness for 24 hours.
3. Measure the time taken for each fish to swim through the hoop. Repeat this step multiple times for each fish to obtain reliable results.
4. Analyze your data:
- Calculate the average time it took for the fish in light to swim through the hoop.
- Calculate the average time it took for the fish in dark to swim through the hoop.
- Assess whether the difference in times between the two fish is statistically significant.
5. Draw a conclusion:
- If the p-value obtained from the statistical analysis is less than the predetermined significance level (e.g., 0.05), you can reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the fish in light swim through the hoop faster.
- If the p-value is greater than the significance level, you fail to reject the null hypothesis, and there is no significant difference between the swimming times of the two fish.
Performing this experiment and analyzing the data will provide you with a more certain answer about which fish is more likely to swim through the hoop first.