Scientific Method
An educated guess
What is hypothesis?
The use of evidence to construct explanations and predictions of natural phenomena, as well as the knowledge generated through the process
What is science?
A systematic approach used in scientific study; and organized process used by scientists to do research and to verify the works of others
What is the scientific method?
A scientific theory explains "why" or "how" a phenomenon occurs, while a scientific law describes "what" happens under certain conditions, essentially stating a pattern observed in nature without necessarily explaining the underlying mechanism behind it; a theory is a broader explanation, while a law is a concise description of a specific phenomenon that can often be expressed as a mathematical equation.
How is a scientific theory different from a scientific law?
A beaker is divided into two halves, A & B, by a membrane that is freely permeable to the water and NaCl but not to protein. Side A is half-filled with a solution of 8% protein, while side B is half filled with a 2% protein solution. Predict what would happen to side A after a few hours.
A. The number of protein molecules has increased.
B. The number of water molecules has decreased.
C. The number of water molecules has increased.
D. The percentage of water has decreased.
C. The number of water molecules has increased.
Charts and graphs
What is data?
A set of moral principles or values that can be used to govern decision making behavior.
What is ethics?
the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid
What is evidence?
A florist places a bouquet of white carnations in water containing blue dye. After a time, the flowers turn blue. What process helped the carnations to change color?
Specific heat
Surface tension
Cohesion and adhesion of water molecules
Formation of covalent bonds between hydrogen and oxygen molecules
Cohesion and adhesion of water molecules
Which of the following functions does active transport perform in a cell?
A. packaging proteins for export from the cell
B. distributing enzymes throughout the cytoplasm
C. moving substances against a concentration gradient
D. equalizing the concentration of water inside and outside the cell
C. moving substances against a concentration gradient
The thing you are trying to answer.
What is the question?
A statement about what happens in nature; it seems to be true all the time.
What is Scientific Law?
A highly reliable, well-established explanation of a natural or physical phenomenon
What is scientific theory?
Small insects can walk across the surface of calm water. Their feet push the surface of the water down slightly, somewhat like a person walking across a trampoline, but they do not break the surface.
What is the best explanation for why this happens?
The insects are light enough so that they do not break the hydrogen bonds holding the water molecules together
The insects actually use their wings to hover slightly above the water's surface and they only skim it with their feet
The insects' feet are non-polar, so they are repelled by the polar water molecules and are pushed away from the water's surface
The insects are small enough to see the individual water molecules, so they are able to step carefully from one molecule to the next
The insects are light enough so that they do not break the hydrogen bonds holding the water molecules together
Carrot sticks that are left in a dish of freshwater for several hours become stiff and hard. Similar sticks left in a saltwater solution become limp and soft. From this we can deduce that the freshwater is ______ and the saltwater is ________ to the cells of the carrot sticks.
A. hypotonic, hypertonic
B. hypotonic, hypotonic
C. hypertonic, hypotonic
D. hypertonic, hypertonic
A. hypotonic, hypertonic
Step by step directions to test a hypothesis.
What is an experiment?
Refers to how close a series of measurements are to one another,
What is precision
Represented by numbers
What is quanitative data?
Water has a much higher specific heat than most other covalent compounds. What do you predict might happen if water had a low specific heat instead?
Flooding would occur and animals would be forced to migrate
Harmful organisms living in water would reproduce at a rapid rate
Organisms that are sensitive to changes in temperature would die
Plants would not have enough water to effectively carry out photosynthesis
Organisms that are sensitive to changes in temperature would die
When Streptococcus pneumoniae are exposed to an antibiotic, the bacteria try to pump the antibiotic out of their cells. Which of the following mechanisms is most likely used by the Streptococcus pneumoniae to pump the antibiotic out of their cells?
A. active transport
B. diffusion
C. facilitated diffusion
D. osmosis
A. active transport
Background information
What is research?
has no numerical values
Refers to how close a measured value is to an accepted value.
What is accuracy?
Water is often called the "universal solvent" because many substances can be dissolved in water. What properties of water allow it to be such a versatile solvent?
purity and polarity
polarity and cohesion
high heat capacity and adhesion
expansion upon freezing and solvency
polarity and cohesion
Resistance to antibiotics results from variations in the genetic code of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Which type of molecule encodes genetic information in Streptococcus pneumoniae?
A. carbohydrate
B. fatty acid
C. nucleic acid
D. protein.
C. nucleic acid