Scientific Skills
The process of forecasting what will happen in the future based on past experience or evidence.
Predicting
Observations (or data) that are descriptive in nature.
Qualitative Data
Observations that involve numbers.
Quantitative data
Used to learn about a topic; does not require a hypothesis.
Observational Study
The process of comparing observations and data to reach a conclusion.
Evaluating
The process of using one or more of your senses to gather information.
Observing
An attempt to repeat a scientist’s experiment by a different scientist.
Replication
The factor that you are observing or measuring as a result of the change you made.
Dependent Variable
Studies that compare what is known to something similar.
Comparative Study
True/False: Theory can become a Law
False
The process of creating representations of complex objects or processes.
Making Models
The one factor that a scientist changes during a controlled experiment.
Independent Variable
The group that you are testing in a controlled experiment.
Experimental Group
Testing a variable to see the effect it has on another variable.
Experimental Study
True/False: Scientific Knowledge comes from debate and confirmation within the scientific community.
True
The process of grouping together items that are alike in some way.
Classifying
The group that is used for comparison in a controlled experiment; it does not get tested.
Control group
The variable (or variables) that remain unchanged in your experiment.
Constant Variable
A statement that describes what scientists expect to happen every time under a particular set of conditions.
Scientific law
The process of making an interpretation based on observations and prior knowledge.
Inferring
Conducting more than one trial in an experiment to ensure your data is not due to chance.
Repetition
A possible explanation for a set of observations or answer to a scientific question; must be testable.
Hypothesis
A well-tested explanation for a wide range of observations or experimental results.
Scientific Theory