Defintions
What is a responding variable?
Dependent variable - what you measure to observe or obtain your results (it’s what will change) (DRY)
What is the first step of conducting a science experiment?
After collecting your data, you need to organize it in a _________ or ___________.
TABLE or GRAPH
True or False: Qualitative data is when you research numerical data.
False: Qualitative = NON-numerical data (size, color, etc.)
Reading, writing, listening, speaking, and making models.
What is an manipulated variable?
AKA Independent variable - The factor that has been changed in an experiment (you have changed it). (MIX)
What is this an example of? "If salt is added to fresh water, then the water will take longer to freeze (because…"
Hypothesis
-A hypothesis is written like this: "If _____[this is done] _____, then ___[ this will happen]_____ because…"
Which would you be doing if you grouped items with similar characteristics together?
Classifying
The dependent variable belongs to the Y-AXIS when graphing results.
True - dependent (DRY)
What are some ways scientists communicate their work/findings to others? List 3 examples.
Journals, over the telephone, letters, on the Internet, at scientific meetings/conferences, etc..
What is a controlled variable?
an experiment in which all factors except one are kept constant.
What is a list of controls?
All of the things in an experiment/ investigation that must remain exactly the same to have a controlled experiment
Explain the difference between OBSERVING and INFERRING.
Observing - describing how something is actually presenting, factual. Ex. there are students in sitting at desks in my class.
Inferring - making assumptions based on your observations. Ex. my students must LOVE my class because they are sitting in my classroom!
True or False: TASTE is a measurable piece of data.
FALSE: opinionated, not factual
A researcher wants to study how implementing a homework club after school will affect students' grades in a school year.
What is the INDEPENDENT and DEPENDENT variable in this scenario?
Independent - implementing a homework club
Dependent - students' grades in a school year.
What is a hypothesis?
A possible explanation for a set of observations OR an answer to a scientific question.
What are the 3 types of variables in an experiment?
Independent variable, dependent variable, and controlled variables.
How are observations an inferences related to each other?
Observations come first as raw data, and inferences follow as the attempt to explain what that data means.
True or False: Discrete, counting, measurement, continuous, are all terms to describe quantitative data.
TRUE - all numeric
Give an example of a QUALITATIVE research study.
A non-numerical study - correct under Ms. Gladstone discretion.
What is an operational definition?
A statement that describes how a particular variable is to be measured or how a term is to be defined.
A scientific question is...
A scientific question is one that can be answered by gathering evidence.
Scientists design experiments to ....
Scientists design experiments to search for cause and effect relationships.
True of False: The last step of the conducting a science experiment is analyzing data.
FALSE - Step 5 is to draw conclusions based on the data.
Give an real-world example of an operational definition.
What does it mean to be frozen?
Your operational definition for frozen may putting a stick into each container, and when the stick no longer moves, the liquid has frozen.