Key Terms and Key Phrases
The investigation and exploration of natural events and of the new information that results from these investigations is known as...
What is: Science
Define Variable
What is: Any factor that can have more than one value
Describe Earth Science
What is: The study of Earth, such as rocks, soil, and the atmosphere of the earth.
Give an example of a scientific law.
What is: Answers will vary.
What is: The internationally accepted system for measurements in science.
A possible explanation for an observation that can be tested by scientific investigations is...
What is: A Hypothesis
Provide an example of a Qualitative Description
What is: Answers will vary
Name the three branches of science.
What are: Life, physical, and earth science.
Define Prediction
A statement of what will happen next in a sequence of events.
The factor that you observe or measure during an experiment is...
What is: The Dependent Variable
Name the difference between a scientific theory and a scientific law.
What is: Answers will vary.
(A scientific theory is made up of experiments repeated over and over again until scientists agree on it while scientific law is just the way things ARE.)
Describe the difference between precision and accuracy.
What is: Accuracy is how close to your target you hit while precision is how similar/close together you can get your data to be.
Name the difference between a description and an explanation.
What is: A description is focused on physical appearances while an explanation focuses on the 'why' of certain behavior.
Define Independent Variable
What is: The factor that you want to test.
Name the SI unit for Temperature
What is: Kelvin
Describe the difference between an experimental group and a control group.
What is: An experimental group is based on changing factors while a control group has no changes made to the independent variable.
Describe the difference between Inference and Critical Thinking
What is: An inference is an educated guess about how something works based on what you already know while critical thinking is comparing what you already know with what you're presented.
Define Observation
What is: The act of using one or more of your senses to gather information and take note of what occurs.
List the steps of Scientific Inquiry
What are:
1. Ask Questions
2. Hypothesize and Predict
3. Test Hypothesis
4. Analyze Results
5. Draw Conclusions
6. Communicate Results
7. Further Scientific Inquiry
Describe the difference between Mean, Median, Range, and Mode
What is: Mean is the average of all the data, Median is the middle amount of all data, Range is the difference between the highest value in the data and the lowest, Mode is the most repeated data.