Scientific Thinking
Experiments
Science Vs Pseudoscience
Laws vs Theories
Microscopes
100
A scientist notices that a plant's leaves are turning yellow.
Is this an observation or an inference?
Observation
100
A scientist changes the amount of sunlight plants receive and measures how much they grow.
What is the independent variable?
Answer: Amount of sunlight.
100
A company claims that a special necklace improves memory but provides no evidence or testing.
Science or pseudoscience?
Answer: Pseudoscience.
100
True or False:
A scientific theory is simply a guess.
Answer: False.
100
Which type of microscope uses visible light to illuminate a specimen?
Answer: Light microscope/compound light microscope.
200
A student sees dark clouds and says, "It is probably going to rain."
Is the student's statement an observation or an inference?
Answer: Inference.
200
A scientist changes the amount of sunlight plants receive and measures how much they grow.
What is the dependent variable?
Answer: Plant growth.
200
A researcher tests whether a new fertilizer increases plant growth, collects data, and allows other scientists to examine the results.
Science or pseudoscience?
Answer: Science.
200
Which has the primary purpose of describing a consistent pattern or relationship in nature?(Describe what happens)
A. Scientific law
B. Scientific opinion
C. Hypothesis
D. Inference
Answer: A — Scientific law.
200
A scientist wants to examine a specimen's outer surface in three dimensions with extremely high detail.
Which type would be most useful?
Scanning Electron Micrscope
300
A scientist discovers something unexpected during an experiment. What should they do?
A. Ignore it
B. Change the data
C. Investigate and collect more evidence
D. Delete the experiment
Answer: C — Investigate and collect more evidence.
300
Scientists keep the type of soil, amount of water, temperature, and type of plant the same.
What are these factors called?
Constants/controlled variables.
300
Someone says, "I wore my lucky socks and then got an A, so the socks caused my good grade."
What is the biggest problem with this reasoning?
Answer: There is no controlled evidence showing that the socks caused the grade.
300
Which provides a well-supported explanation for why or how natural phenomena occur?
Answer: Scientific theory
300
A scientist needs to see extremely small internal structures of a cell at very high resolution.
Which microscope would be most appropriate?
Transmission Electron Microscope
400
Why is it important for scientists to be willing to change their explanation when new evidence appears?
Answer: Scientific knowledge is based on evidence, so new evidence can lead scientists to revise explanations.
400
A group of plants receives normal conditions and is used for comparison with the experimental group.
Why is the control group important?
It shows whether the variable being tested actually caused the change.
400
Which is the strongest evidence for a scientific claim?
A. Anecdotal evidence
B. A popular social-media post
C. Repeated experiments producing consistent results
D. A celebrity's opinion
C.Repeated experiments producing consistent results
400
Complete the comparison:
Scientific law → describes ______.
Scientific theory → explains ______.
Answer:
Law → what happens
Theory → how/why it happens
400
Which two type of microscope uses a beam of electrons instead of visible light?
Scanning and Transmission
500
A scientist publishes a study, and other scientists carefully examine the methods, evidence, and conclusions before accepting it.
Peer Reviewed Study
500
Two different laboratories perform the same experiment using the same procedures and obtain similar results.
Why is this important?
Answer: It demonstrates reproducibility, which increases confidence that the results are reliable.
500
A social-media influencer claims that drinking a certain tea "removes toxins from your body." They provide testimonials but no experimental data.
Give TWO reasons why you should be skeptical of this claim.
Answer: Possible answers:
- No reliable evidence/data
- No controlled experiment
- Testimonials are not sufficient scientific evidence
- Claim may not be testable
- No peer-reviewed research
500
A student says:
"Because theories eventually become laws when scientists collect enough evidence, the theory of evolution will eventually become the law of evolution."
What's wrong with this statement?
Answer: Scientific theories do not "graduate" into laws. Laws and theories serve different purposes. Laws describe patterns, while theories explain natural phenomena.
500
Scientists want to study the detailed internal structures of a mitochondrion.
Would you choose a SEM or TEM?
Explain why.
Answer: TEM, because it allows scientists to see internal structures at very high resolution. SEM is primarily used to examine surfaces.