The Nature of Science
This is a variable that you change in an experiment
What is an independent variable?
The passing of traits from parents to offspring
What is heredity?
The three subatomic particles that make up an atom
What are protons (+), neutrons (0), and electrons (-)?
Deforestation can cause this effect on the Earth's surface
What is soil erosion/desertification/climate change/flooding/etc.?
The center of our Solar System and its only star -- a hot glowing ball of hydrogen and helium
What is the Sun?
This is a variable that you watch and measure throughout an experiment
What is a dependent variable?
The products of photosynthesis
6CO2 + 6H2O --> C6H12O6 + 6O2
What are glucose and oxygen?
A substance that has a pH of less than 7 -- tastes sour -- conducts electricity -- turns litmus paper red
What is an acid?
This can occur with the movement of tectonic plates along fault lines
What is an earthquake?
A rock that burns up upon entering the Earth's atmosphere
What is a meteor?
When a scientist repeats his own experiment or records multiple sets of measurements during a single scientific investigation
What is repetition?
The cell organelle whose primary function is energy production -- the powerhouse of the cell
What is mitochondria?
Mass divided by volume
ρ = m/V
What is density?
This is the outermost layer of the Earth and is about 15-20 km thick
What is the crust?
A celestial body moving in an elliptical orbit around a star
What is a planet?
What is replication?
A tick drinking the blood from a dog is an example of what species interaction
What is parasitism?
Water boiling is an example of this kind of change
What is a physical change?
Name of the landmass before the continents drifted apart
What is Pangaea?
The largest planet in our Solar System -- a gas giant -- has a Great Red Spot (enormous storm)
What is Jupiter?
This is not a controlled experiment, but is used when scientists study test subjects in their natural surroundings
What is an observational study?
Failure of a species to adapt to a changing environment may lead to this
What is extinction/extirpation?
According to this law, matter or mass cannot be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction -- allows for balanced chemical equations
What is the law of conservation of mass/matter?
Unlike weather, which can change daily, this is the average pattern of atmospheric conditions such as temperature, precipitation, etc.
What is climate?
This is caused by the Moon's gravitational pull
What are tides?