Question

1. Sort the following list of statements into observations, hypotheses and predictions (note that Red Sponge Nudibranchs are small red-colored sea slugs):
   1. Red Sponge Nudibranchs residing on red sponges will be captured less often by predators than those residing on yellow sponges.
   2. Red Sponge Nudibranchs are found primarily on red sponges
   3. Red Sponge Nudibranchs are found primarily on red sponges because they are attracted to the red color of the sponges
   4. Red Sponge Nudibranchs are found primarily on red sponges because they are attracted to the chemicals produced by red sponges
   5. Red Sponge Nudibranchs kept in the dark and given a choice between crawling onto a red sponge or a yellow sponge will pick the red sponge
   6. Red Sponge Nudibranchs are found primarily on red sponges because they prefer the texture of red sponges to that of other sponges
   7. Red Sponge Nudibranchs eat exclusively red sponges
   8. Red Sponge Nudibranchs learn to recognize red sponges through exposure to their characteristics when the nudibranchs are young

Answer 1

The question provides an understanding of the Scientific Method. Scientific methodology is robust and provides the person to question a theory, device an experiment to refute or validate it and thereby create more observations.

Observations are acquiring data or knowledge of a process. Based on the observations, a pattern might be found or a different a priori observation might be associated with. This leads to the formulation of a hypothesis. The hypothesis is merely a statement and requires experimental or theoretical validation. For a statement to be hypothesis, it should be falsifiable. If a statement is not falsifiable, no prediction and experiment is possible to refute the hypothesis. Also as mentioned, to devise an experiment or a model, predictions need to be made from the hypothesis.

1. Red Sponge Nudibranchs residing on red sponges will be captured less often by predators than those residing on yellow sponges.
2. Red Sponge Nudibranchs are found primarily on red sponges
3. Red Sponge Nudibranchs are found primarily on red sponges because they are attracted to the red color of the sponges
4. Red Sponge Nudibranchs are found primarily on red sponges because they are attracted to the chemicals produced by red sponges
5. Red Sponge Nudibranchs kept in the dark and given a choice between crawling onto a red sponge or a yellow sponge will pick the red sponge
6. Red Sponge Nudibranchs are found primarily on red sponges because they prefer the texture of red sponges to that of other sponges
7. Red Sponge Nudibranchs eat exclusively red sponges
8. Red Sponge Nudibranchs learn to recognize red sponges through exposure to their characteristics when the nudibranchs are young

Observations are statements 2 and 7. These statements are reports of what pattern has been found in the behavior of Red Sponge Nudibranchs. Based on these observations, various hypotheses can be drawn to explain them.

Hypotheses are statements 3, 4, 6 and 8. These statements have terms like "because" which imply the pattern observed as being interpreted by the person. This interpretation might or might not be correct. To validate, the person has to draw predictions that can be tested experimentally. Each of these statements is falsifiable, meaning that the negatives of these statements can be tested experimentally.

Predictions are statements 1 and 5. These are statements that can be checked directly via experimentation and are based on the hypothesis that the person has made from observations.