Vocab
What is a logical interpretation based on prior knowledge and experience?
Inference
Which describes what scientists expect to happen every time under particular conditions?
Scientific Law
You observe that bean plant leaves are brown and curling. Observation or inference?
Observation
What does accuracy mean in scientific measurement?
How close a measurement is to the true or accepted value.
Is "the mass of the beaker was 150.02 grams" quantitative or qualitative?
Quantitative
What is a testable explanation for a set of observations or a scientific question?
Hypothesis
Which provides a well-tested explanation that unifies many observations?
Scientific Theory
You say the bean plants are dying because they were not watered. Observation or inference?
Inference
What does precision mean?
How close repeated measurements are to one another.
Is "the mineral felt rough and gritty" quantitative or qualitative?
Qualitative
What is the process of gathering information about events or processes in a careful, orderly way?
Observation
True or false: A scientific theory simply means a guess.
Answer: False — a scientific theory is a well-tested explanation.
A rock is dark gray. Observation or inference?
Observation
Four arrows land within one inch of each other but all miss the bullseye. High precision, low accuracy — or the opposite?
High precision, low accuracy.
In an experiment, what is the factor you intentionally change or manipulate?
Independent Variable
What is an organized way of gathering and analyzing evidence about the natural world?
Science
If scientists observe the same pattern happening every time under the same conditions, which concept may describe that pattern?
Scientific Law
You see water droplets on the outside of a cold cup and conclude the cup is leaking. Observation or inference?
Inference
Four arrows all hit the bullseye. What does this demonstrate?
High accuracy and high precision.
In an experiment, what is the factor you measure to see how it responds?
Dependent Variable
What is a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations and hypotheses? What does this help get rid of?
Scientific Theory; helps get rid of bias.
In one sentence, explain the main difference between a scientific law and a scientific theory.
A law describes what happens; a theory explains why/how observations are supported by evidence.
Why is "the plants are dying because they were not watered" an inference?
It gives an interpretation/explanation based on an observation rather than directly describing what was seen.
A student measures copper density as 7.12, 7.15, and 7.11 g/cm³. The accepted value is 8.96 g/cm³. Is the data more accurate or precise?
Precise — the values are very close to one another, but they are far from the accepted value.
In the salt-water radish experiment (from your study guide), what is the independent variable?
The concentration of salt water (0%, 1%, 2.5%, 5%, and 10%).