Now that you have come up with some ideas for what the superworm will be, it is time for you to think about this problem from a different angle. You have already come up with some ideas. Now, you need to look at those ideas a little more closely and be a little more critical. Will your ideas work? Will your superworm be able to live with the changes you have proposed? You’ll need to do some research to find out.
First, Do No Harm
At the same time that we want to improve soil, we also do not want to cause harm to living animals. You have to carefully consider whether your proposed changes would impair the earthworm's ability to survive. For each change you are considering, you must ask:
- What might this change do to the earthworm?
- Could the earthworm survive this change?
Your goal is to find out whether the change would interrupt any of the earthworm's important life functions, impairing its ability to live. If so, then it is definitely not an idea we want to try to implement.
If you decide that there is not much hope for these changes to be viable, you will save Mr. Clark a great deal of time and money. However, if you decide that further research on changes to the earthworm would be worthwhile, Mr. Clark will use some of his fortune to fund the creation of a superworm.
In order to give Mr. Clark an appropriate recommendation, you’ll need to do more research.
Plan Your Main Research
Since you do not have much time to unearth any potential issues, you must plan your upcoming research sessions carefully. With your team, I would like you to develop a simple research plan using the attached Research Plan Template. Your team's plan will cover the following three areas: what work each scientist will be responsible for, what each scientist’s research goals are, and an estimate of how long the research will take.
1) Individual Responsibilities: Review your team's list of possible changes to the earthworm, choose the best ideas, and divide them among your team members. Each person will “own,” or take responsibility for researching, at least one or two changes.
2) Research Topics: When scientists plan their research topics, they write goals as “hypothesis statements.” A hypothesis is something that the scientist wants to say is true. By stating your question as a hypothesis, you really focus your research on the specific claim that you would like to be able to make when you are done. I’d like you to write each research goal in your plan as a hypothesis. For each change to a feature of the earthworm, your hypotheses should look something like this:
- The change to <your feature> will improve the soil.
- The change to <your feature> will not impair the earthworm’s ability to survive.
Normally, a scientist would do experiments to see if there is evidence that a hypothesis is false. Because your time is limited, you will not have time for experiments. Instead, you’ll gather information about the organ systems of the earthworm and how they work. Then, you’ll use this information to predict how each change will impact the earthworm.
To keep things simple, only think about one change at a time; do not try to figure out what would happen if you were to make multiple changes at once.
3) Research Timetable: Make a written plan for how long it will take for all members of the team to complete the research work. I have attached a template for you to use for your timetable.
When you are done, submit one copy of your team's research plan for my review.
Main Research: What to Ask About Each Change
You'll need to be very thorough in your research in order to be able to make good predictions about how your changes will affect the earthworm. Using the Main Research Template attached to this email, please address the following critical questions for each feature you investigate:
- How does the feature support the earthworm's life, right now?
- How might the proposed change improve the earthworm's capacity to improve soil quality?
- How does the feature work?
- How does the feature interact with other organ systems of the earthworm?
- How would a change impact these other systems?
- Would the proposed change impair the earthworm's ability to survive? Why or why not?
Note that there is no one right way to go about this research, and there is not a single right answer to any of the questions. You are working on a project that is completely new, so no one has an answer key. You will need to be creative as well as logical and resourceful to answer the questions. Your work will be judged not by getting the answers “right” but by the quality of your evidence and the strength of your argument. To help you get started, I filled out a Sample of the Main Research Template and attached it to this email.
You will need to justify all of your answers, so please keep detailed, organized notes on the template or elsewhere to use later. Good luck with your research!
Sincerely,
Jamie Matthews, PhD
'I would not enter on my list of friends, (tho' grac'd with polish'd manners and fine sense yet wanting sensibility) the man who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.' --William Cowper, The Task (1784)
