I’m referring to the 2nd definition in this link

I was worried, but I think things went well for my first day of classes this semester. This Spring I am teaching my standard Microbiology course as well as a new Ecology course that I am using to teach all the things that I have never managed to squeeze into my normal General-  and Micro- biology classes.

So far I’m still trying to figure out a way that I can move my Micro class as quickly as possible into Immunology – which is my true love in biology. 

In Ecology, we jumped right into the idea of science as a tool for understanding the universe and working on some of the basic mathematics that help us feel comfortable in the conclusions at which we arrive.  

To describe this, we invented ‘VitaMax!’- a name so absurd that I thought I was inventing it, but it turns out that it’s a real thing – actually a couple of them. Who knew? Vitamax, the dietary supplement,  a multi-vitamin for Cystic Fibrosis patients, a green coffee extract for weight loss, and “A single capsule [that] guarantees firm and lasting erections 45 minutes after being taken.”

(by the way,  is it that a single capsule that gets you multiple erections?)

Well, our VitaMax! extends life … or at least that’s what we’re hoping. The data is in and we just need to evaluate whether it meets our strict requirements before getting it on the market.

Here’s the skinny:

VitaMax!® – Live life to the Max!

Without VitaMax, patients have a normal life span.

1. Look this up and cite your source. If you are male, use the male life expectancy; if you’re female, use the female life expectancy. Assume the following data matches your ‘control’ group.
   1. Life Expectancy__________________

With VitaMax, patients lived:

1. Determine the mean age patients lived to with VitaMax:_________________

1. Determine the standard deviation of these patients:______________________

1. Graph your data as either a bar graph or scatter plot.
2. Look up a formula for computing Z-Score:

1. What does Z-Score tell us?

1. Assuming you can use the SD of your patients as representative for that in both the control and experimental group,  compute the Z-score for the average age without VitaMax __________________

1. How likely is it that this average age without the drug falls within the area of the bell curve described by your experimental group’s data?

1. Thinking as a scientist, how would you present this data to your company? Try to make a one-sentence statement about its efficacy.

10. Thinking as a marketing person, how would you pitch VitaMax to the public (without lying)? Try to make this also a one-sentence statement .