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Rhodes Chapter 0
Nature of Science
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Earth science | the study of Earth, its parts, and its surroundings |
life science | the study of living things |
physical science | the study of matter and energy |
observation | the act of using one or more of your senses to gather information and take note of what occurs |
inference | a logical explanation of an observation that is drawn from prior knowledge or experience |
hypothesis | a possible explanation for an observation that can be tested by scientific investigations |
independent variable | the factor that is changed by the investigator to observe how it affects a dependent variable |
dependent variable | the factor measured or observed during an experiment |
constants | the factors in an experiment that remain the same |
control group | the part of an experiment that contains the same factors as the experimental group, but the independent variable is not changed |
quantitative data | the use of numbers to describe what is observed in an experiment |
qualitative data | the use of words to describe what is observed in an experiment |
model | a representation of a phenomenon, a system, a process, or a solution to an engineering problem that helps people visualize or understand the concept |
scientific theory | an explanation of observations or events based on knowledge gained from many observations and investigations |
scientific law | a rule that describes a pattern in nature |