Truth Notes

• http://www.theonion.com/articles/chrysler-introduces-new-midsized-sedan-for-inhome,20295/

Discuss-What do you think? (1 min)

What is

Truth?-discuss with table partner: definition,

similar words, examples (~2 mins) - Share some with class

TRUTH

How do we verify if something is a fact?

Definition:A fact that has been verified

THEORY/fact

hypothesis predictionsobservations

Tests(experiments)

Results consistent

Results notconsistent?

modifyhypothesis

Mike Dickinson - 2007

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

ADVANTAGES of “Scientific Method”?

• Results are unprejudiced – not based on opinion/ not biased

• Results are repeatable.

• Which means that conclusions are testable.

Mike Dickinson - 2007

Pass the ball Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY

How does prior knowledge or bias affect interpretations of

truth?

Bias: narrows your focus (filters your observations)

MythBusters videos: Landing on the MoonIntroduction (1 min video)

How do they verify if landing on the moon is a hoax or not?Photo Hoax 2 Astronaut in Shadow (4 min video)

Flag Waving (3 min video)

TESTABLE & REPEATABLE RESULTS

YOUR TURN TO BUST MYTHS (10-15 MIN)

With your group, discuss and write down:1)HOW WOULD YOU SET-UP AN

EXPERIMENT TO CONFIRM/BUST THE MYTH?

2)DO YOU THINK IT WAS ACTUALLY CONFIRMED OR BUSTED?

GIVE REASONS WHY YOU THINK SO.

If a stick of dynamite is attached to an arrow and shot into a tree, it will split the tree down the middle when it explodes.

BUSTEDTo simulate a real tree, the Build Team dug a hole in the ground and stood a 20-foot, 6,000-pound pine log in it. They set up a remote-controlled rig to fire an arrow fitted with a binary explosive charge equivalent to a stick of dynamite. Tests with a single and double charge failed to damage the log, so they stuck an arrow into the wood by hand and attached six charges. This attempt also did not result in a split; Grant commented that the placement of the explosive outside the tree surface prevented its force from being channeled into the wood.Declaring the myth busted, the team did some small-scale tests with different explosives and placement techniques. A TNT charge drilled into the trunk shredded it at the blast point, while an ANFO charge laid in grooves cut along the wood grain caused some degree of splitting.In one last full-scale test, the team chose a 100-foot Ponderosa pine and fitted it with 25 pounds of ANFO, laid in grooves cut near the core. The resulting blast tore the tree into hundreds of pieces.

http://mythbustersresults.com/

It is possible to run across the surface of a body of water using a combination of footwear and running technique. (Inspired by a viral video.)

BUSTEDAdam and Jamie found a lake similar to the one shown in the video and laid a strip of turf to its edge in order to ensure good traction. Wearing the same type of water-repellent shoes, they each made several runs but wound up in the water each time. They brought in Olympic sprinter Wallace Spearmon, thinking that increased speed would help, but he also failed.After studying film footage of the so-called “Jesus Christ lizard” (Basiliscus basiliscus) running on water, Adam and Jamie decided to build separate footwear rigs to duplicate its leg movements. They called in Jessica Fortunato, a trained acrobat and gymnast, and had her try both rigs: Adam’s with hinged foot platforms and a long tail, and Jamie’s with concave foot cups and an outrigger frame held in front. She was unable to stay above water, whether unaided or using either of the rigs.At this point, Adam and Jamie declared the myth busted and built a submersible bridge to replicate the results. After camouflaging it and setting up the camera at a particular angle, both were able to run across the surface until they went off the end of the bridge.

It is impossible to swim in bubbling water.

PLAUSIBLEIn a small-scale test of buoyancy in bubbling water, Adam built a crude hydrometer, weighted to float at a certain height, and placed it in a fishtank full of water. The device did not sink when air bubbled in, but he and Jamie thought that this was the result of upward water currents. Jamie then built a larger bubbler to place inside a 10,000-gallon tank (previously used in the whirlpool myths). Adam donned a wetsuit and carried enough weights to leave only his head above the surface. When the bubbler was turned on, the upwelling pushed him to one side, where he sank in a downward current.In order to eliminate these wall effects, Adam and Jamie built a 4-by-16-foot bubbler to place at the bottom of a swimming pool. After they added weights to keep the rig from floating up, Adam tried to swim across the pool and back through the bubbles. The trip proved difficult at 25% power and impossible at 100%. Adam and Jamie classified the myth as plausible, but for a different reason from the one expected — water currents holding the swimmer at the surface, rather than a loss of buoyancy due to the air bubbles.