Who is watching walrus?

Meet Lori Polasek
Meet Jill Prewitt
Meet Terril Efird

HYPOTHESIS (n) - a scientific explanation to a problem. Scientists form hypotheses to explain something that they observed. Scientists then test the hypothesis to determine how true it is.

 

 

       

 

Questions

 

Dr. Lori Polasek is a marine mammal scientist. When she has a scientific question, she designs a research project to help her find answers. She wants to learn how walrus use land haulouts. Dr. Polasek works together with her team to decide which specific questions they hope to answer. With this project, the team wants to learn: How many walruses are using a haulout? How long are they at the haulout? How often do the walruses use a haulout site? They already know that walruses are easily startled by things like airplanes or predators in the area, so they also want to learn more about how walrus react to disturbances while hauled out on land. Watch the videos below to learn more about the questions and hypotheses Dr. Polasek plans to look at with her study.

VIDEO: DR. POLASEK'S RESEARCH Questions

Learn what questions Dr. Polasek had about walrus that made her want to study them. (1 minute)

Video Transcript

 

VIDEO: DR. POLASEK'S Hypotheses

Dr. Polasek explains four hypotheses that she will be testing in this investigation. (1 minute)

Video Transcript

To answer these research questions, Dr. Polasek and her team needed to come up with a way to consistently observe walrus on their haulouts. Join the researchers as they develop a plan for watching walrus.