Hypothesis-based Science. An example of hypothesis-based science given in the textbook is that of the Eastern Coral and Scarlet King snakes

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Hypothesis-based Science

        A hypothesis is a proposed explanation or answer to a problem or question.  One stipulation for a good hypothesis is that it must be testable.  Science demands for actual data and facts to be used when testing a hypothesis.  If no hard data or facts can be provided, the hypothesis exists outside of science and it is in the realm of faith, the paranormal or other things that can be neither proven nor disproven.  Furthermore, if a hypothesis is to be tested, a hypothesis is only good until it is proven false; it must stand strong against all properly conducted tests, experiments or endeavors.

        Hypothesis-based science is science that is conducted by first making some observations.  Next, the scientists make a hypothesis as an answer to a question or problem posed by the observations.  From this hypothesis, a deduction or prediction is made on something else.  This hypothesis can now be tested.  This deduction must be proven as true if the hypothesis to also be portrayed as truth.  

An example of hypothesis-based science given in the textbook is that of the Eastern Coral and Scarlet King snakes.  Two biologists and their student designed an experiment that was created to test the hypothesis that mimicry helps organisms avoid predation.  The Easter Coral snake is poisonous and it exhibits a colorful pattern that helps it avoid predation in certain parts of North and South Carolina.  On the other hand, the Scarlet King snake is non-poisonous, but in an effort to fool predators it also displays similar bright colors like those of the Eastern Coral

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snake.  The three researchers developed the mimicry hypothesis and deduced that the Scarlet King will be safe from most predation only in places where the Eastern Coral snake is common and other animals have evolved to avoid it.  To conduct the experiment, they created hundreds of fake king snakes and hundreds of brown snakes, which served as the control group.  These

snakes were scattered all throughout the coral snake’s territory in North and South Carolina, as well as other places where the coral snake is never found.   After all the data was gathered, the researchers concluded ...

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