Scientific Method
Scientific Reasoning
Soil Nutrients
Air and Water in Soil
Characteristics of Soil
Engineering Design Process
Vocabulary words
Essential definitions
100

Variables that are the same in every group.

What are control variables?

100

A conclusion based on reasoning from evidence.

What is an inference?

100

In fertilizers, phosphorus is usually on this form.

What is phosphates?

100

The roots of plants use the pore spaces of soil which is where are and water are available. This type of soil contains the most  pore spaces.

What is sandy soil?

100

The study of soil.

What is a pedology?

100

A model of a design that will be used for testing.

What is a prototype?

100

The substances of the physical world; anything that occupies space or has substance.

What is matter?

100

Amount of matter in an object.

What is mass?

200

A theory that has never been proven false.

What is a law?

200

Reasoning from evidence to a more specific conclusion. It is used to combine known facts to discover new facts that is their logical consequence.

What is deductive reasoning?

200

Stimulates rapid growth of leaves and gives plants a rich green color.

What is nitrogen?

200

General term for water below the soil surface.

What is groundwater?

200

Pedologists use this to provide standard names and descriptions of color for soil.

What is Munsell chart?

200

The minimum characteristic that a design must have to function.

What are criteria?

200

The study of matter and movement in God's physical creation.

What is Science? 

200

A substance composed of only one type of atom.

What is an element?

300

A way of explaining an object or event by using a set of facts determined through experiments.

What is a theory?

300

A special type of proposition that uses an If/Then statement such as, "If there is thunder, then there is a thunderstorm nearby.

What is a hypothetical proposition?

300

This is essential for cell division and growth and promotes plant maturation.

What is phosphorus?

300

The layer of either porous rock or gravel-soil mixture that holds water.

What is an aquifer?

300

This is what chemists use to express the degree of acidity or basicity of a substance which has a value from 0 to 14.

What is pH scale?

300

Provides a partial representation of something else.

What is a model?

300

For a hypothesis to be scientific, there must be some situation that, if it occurs, would prove the hypothesis false.

What is falsifiability?

300

Atoms linked together in a group.

What is an molecule?

400

The step of the scientific method were you gather data in an orderly way.

What is observing?

400

The Then part of a hypothetical proposition.

What is the consequents?

400

Contributes to the general health of the plant and improves disease resistance. It encourages root growth and fruit formation.

What is potassium?

400

The surface of the water under the ground.

What is the water table?

400

Soil derived from living material.

What is organic?

400

You repeat an experiment multiple times, keeping the factors/variables as similar as possible between experiments and get the same results.

What is repeatability?

400

A form of inductive reasoning that involves comparing two situations that are the same except for one factor?

What is method of difference?

400

Amount of matter in an object.

What is mass?

500

The factor that is changed when testing a hypothesis.

What is an independent variable?

500

Reasoning from specific evidence to a more general conclusion. The ulitmate purpose is to determine cause and effect.

What is inductive reasoning?

500

The term for any bacteria that convert nitrogen into nitrogen compounds.

What is nitrifying bacteria?

500

The upward movement of water through a tiny space in response to surface tension.

What is capillarity?

500

Typical soil textures.

What are sand, silt, clay, and loam?

500

Others will perform another scientists experiment and get the same results.

What is reproducibility?

500

A statement of fact.

What is a proposition?

500

How tightly packed matter is.

What is density?

600

The step of the scientific method.

What are State the problem or purpose, Gather information, Formulate a hypothesis, Test the hypothesis or experiment, Record and analyze or Procedure, and State the conclusion or results?

600

A fallacy when someone assumes that a change in one factor caused a change in another factor just because it came after the first factor.

What is a post hoc fallacy?

600

The type of bacteria that returns nitrogen to the atmosphere by converting nitrogen from nitrates into atmospheric nitrogen.

What are denitrifying bacteria?

600

The factors that determine the depth of the water table.

What is the size and number of pores in the soil and the amount of recent rainfall?

600

The horizon of soil in order from top to bottom.

What are topsoil, subsoil, and bedrock?

600

The steps of the engineering design process.

What are State the problem, determine the criteria and constraints, research and develop possible solutions, choose a design and make a plan, build and test a prototype, analyze the design?

600

A form of deductive reasoning we do when we know the consequence is false so the antecedent is false.

What is denying the consequence?

600

Substance containing two or more types of atoms bonded together.

What is a compound?