Problem: Given the question: I read this background article the other day: Allergy symptoms can range from mild to severe. Mild symptoms might include itchy eyes, sneezing, and a runny nose. Severe symptoms can cause difficulty breathing, which may be life threatening. Keep in mind that it is the immune system and not the allergen that causes the allergy symptoms. Allergy symptoms can be treated with medications such as antihistamines. Severe allergic reactions may require an injection of the hormone epinephrine. These treatments lessen or counter the immune system’s response.  I am facing a new situation today: Two groups of students went on a field trip. Group Scouts visited a bee farm, while group Bears went to a salmon hatchery. Group Scouts had children experiencing mild allergic reactions, while one student had severe allergic reactions to a bee sting.  Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which group had more students experiencing sneezing?
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The answer is:
Scouts


Problem: Given the question: I read this background article the other day: The Figure below shows a graph of plotted against pressure for 1 mol of a gas at three different temperatures - 200 K, 500 K, and 1000 K. An ideal gas would have a value of 1 for that ratio at all temperatures and pressures and the graph would simply be a horizontal line. As can be seen, deviations from an ideal gas occur. As the pressure begins to rise, the attractive forces cause the volume of the gas to be less than expected and the value of drops under 1. Continued pressure increase results in the volume of the particles to become significant and the value of rises to greater than 1. Notice, that the magnitude of the deviations from ideality is greatest for the gas at 200 K and least for the gas at 1000 K.  I am facing a new situation today: Marcus is working with a sealed container of oxygen. He is trying see how temperature effects its deviations from ideality.  He slowly increases the temperature of the oxygen and continues to measures its deviations.  Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Will increasing the temperature cause the magnitude of deviations to increase or decrease?
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The answer is:
decrease


Problem: Given the question: I read this background article the other day: The primary role of red blood cells in the circulatory system is to transport oxygen to the tissues. The actual carrier of oxygen molecules is the protein hemoglobin, which binds to the oxygen and moves it throughout the body, releasing it in areas where the concentration of dissolved oxygen is low. A certain mutation in the gene for hemoglobin causes a slight change in the structure of this crucial protein, resulting in a disease called sickle-cell anemia. For people with this mutation, the hemoglobin produced by their red blood cells has a tendency to clump together, distorting the shape of the red blood cells and giving rise to the crescent-shaped cells seen above. By understanding the changes in structure that are the underlying cause of this disease, we have developed various ways to treat and manage this illness.  I am facing a new situation today: Doctors studied Dan, a normal patient, whit a normal number of red blood cells, and Jim, a patient that had sickle-cell anemia. The differences were remarkable in terms of overall well-being and health.  Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which patient had fewer red blood cells, Dan or Jim?
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The answer is:

Jim