1. How does Science Work? (Teachers sheet)
Many people believe that new scientific discoveries happen when a scientist or group of scientists carry out
experiments and collect data to prove or disproves their hypothesis. This does happen but it’s not always
that straightforward. You are going to investigate this discovery process by focusing on ULCERS.
Ulcers are a common medical condition, they occur as open wounds and can be found on different parts of
the body, mouth & stomach (peptic) ulcers are the most commonly known ones, you may have had a mouth
ulcer yourself , and oooooooooh do they hurt!
a) Firstly, write what YOU think are the causes of stomach ulcers?
Use this question as a starter, have some gory pictures of ulcers (included at the end) if you have an
interactive board, brief chat on the causes. Most common views: too much stomach acid, hot food, spicy
food, stress, poor diet & smoking. Tell pupils to edit out all my instruction and …………… dotted lines, they can
keep the questions making their work an A4 page.
Your Task At or near the end of the task go through the sheet & discuss the answers, have up some big
Google Images of the bacterium up on the board.
a) Using a Search Engine(s), research and answer the questions about ulcers. Try single or multiple
search words to help narrow down your search. Check a few different web pages to find ones that
are easiest to understand. Try using the keys: Ctrl + f’ keys to help you to search longer text pages
for specific words more efficiently. Questions can be answered in any order.
If they have not used the Ctrl + f’, demonstrate their use with a key term.
a) What are the symptoms of stomach ulcers? Stomach pain/burning/gnawing sensations, appetite loss,
halitosis (bad breath), nausea, vomit with blood in it, weight loss, blood in faeces
b) Who or what was Marshall An Australian Doctor/researcher working in the Royal Perth Hospital
c) What exactly is thought to cause them today? A common bacterium called Helicobacter pylori
d) Why it was originally thought that bacteria could not be the cause of stomach ulcers?
Because the stomach contains hydrochloric acid and one of its jobs is to sterilise food entering the
stomach, they should know this but most still say, ‘The acid breaks down the food’. Dispel this myth.
You could also ask how many of them buy expensive probiotic yogurt, and guess what happens to the
bacteria when they hit the stomach?
e) What was the evidence that the scientist collected that linked this organism to stomach ulcers?
Marshall tested 100 hundred people with ulcers for the bacterium and 87 tested positive.
People without ulcers never tested positive for the bacterium

2. f) How did he test his hypothesis (prediction)? This is the interesting bit!
Find the word ‘concoction’ in this article:
http://www.metamath.com/math124/statis/Marhelio.htm
He drank a foul tasting concoction containing the bacterium and 72 hrs later he had stomach pains and
bad breath which are the early symptoms of a stomach ulcer.
g) What do doctors give people with ulcers today? A course of antibiotics
h) It is said that serendipity sometimes plays a part in scientific discoveries. Find out the meaning of
the word ‘serendipity’ and its connection to stomach ulcers?
A clue to help you, find the word ‘technologist’ in: http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/printmember/mar1int-1
Normally 2 days is sufficient to show bacterial growth on a nutrient plate after which they are usually
disposed of. However and serendipitously, there was a 6 day holiday and the technician forgot to dispose
of the plates and they were left incubating for this period. This bacterium grows very slowly in culture
and this lucky break allowed Marshall to see the colonies and confirm his hypothesis linking them to
ulcers.
i) Finally, what do you think you could do to avoid ‘catching’ a stomach ulcer?
Always wash your hands after going to the bathroom & especially before eating, avoid saliva contact
(kissing) & vomit, especially if family members have or have had stomach ulcers.
 Well done if you did all this  Ask you your teacher for some more questions to research.
Suggestions:
a) What do Nobel Prize winners like Barry Marshall ‘win’ apart from the prestige and the certificate?
10,000,000 Swedish Kronor = £750,000
This links to Marshall’s Nobel Prize Citation and other interesting stuff
b) Find out about some other serendipitous scientific discoveries, there’s a lot. Pupils could do this in
class or as homework. Bullet point and illustrate their findings in the form of a poster.
E.g. Velcro, penicillin, vaccinations, plastic (polypropylene), rubber, Viagra
c) Pupils could follow this up and make a booklet on ‘Ulcers, Prevention and Cures’
Mouth Ulcers

3. Imagine getting vinegar on these --- Oooooooowch
Stomach Ulcers
Name…………………………………… How does Science Work? (Student Sheet)

4. Many people believe that new scientific discoveries happen when a scientist or group of scientists carry out
experiments and collect data to prove or disproves their hypothesis. This does happen but it’s not always
that straightforward. You are going to investigate this discovery process by focusing on ULCERS.
Ulcers are a common medical condition, they occur as open wounds and can be found on different parts of
the body, mouth & stomach (peptic) ulcers are the most commonly known ones, you may have had a mouth
ulcer yourself , and oooooooooh do they hurt!
a) Firstly, write what YOU think might be the causes of stomach ulcers?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Your Task
b) Using a Search Engine(s), research and answer the questions about ulcers. Try single or multiple
search words to help narrow down your search. Check a few different web pages to find ones that
are easier to understand. Use the keys: Ctrl + f’ to help you to search longer text pages for specific
words or phrases. Questions can be answered in any order.
j) What are the symptoms of stomach ulcers? ..................................................................................................
k) Who or what was Marshall? …………………………………………………..…………. ………………………………………………………..
l) What exactly is thought to cause them today?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
m) Why it was originally thought that bacteria could not be the cause stomach ulcers?
………………………………………………………………………………… http://refluxdefense.com/heartburn_GERD_articles/stomach-acid.html
n) What was the evidence that the scientist collected that linked this organism to stomach ulcers?
Hint: Search ‘87 percent’ with other key words…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
o) How did he test his hypothesis (prediction)? This is the interesting bit! Find the word ’concoction’ in
this article: http://www.metamath.com/math124/statis/Marhelio.htm
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
p) What do doctors give people with ulcers today? ……………………………………………………………………………………….
q) It is said that ‘serendipity’ sometimes plays a part in scientific discoveries. Find out the meaning of
the word ‘serendipity’ and its connection to stomach ulcers?
A clue to help you, find the word ‘’technologist’’ in: http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/printmember/mar1int-1
r) Finally, what do you think you could do to avoid ‘catching’ a stomach ulcer from a family member?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….….
 Well done if you did all this  Ask your teacher for some more questions to research.