biology as a scientific discipline Flashcards
science is not primarily a body of knowledge, but rather…
the process of discovery
what are the steps of the scientific method
- observations
- question
- hypothesis
-prediction
-test
-analyze
what is an inference
making conclusions based on prior knowledge
what is a hypothesis
a tentative proposed explanation for a natural phenomenon
what must be true for something to be a hypothesis
- based on previous observations or experiments
- must make specific predictions that are testable
- must be falsifiable (observations can either support or reject
- must be detailed, small in scope
what is a theory
an overarching explanation of some aspect of the natural world
what is a law
a description, often mathematical, of natural pheomenons
The cell theory states that all living things are made up of cells. this is viewed as a “theory” and not a “law” because…
it is a general explanation of why and/ or how things happen
what is discover-based science
the collection and analysis of data without the need for a preconceived hypothesis
what is the goal of discovery-based science
to gather information
what does discovery based science often lead to
new hypothesis testing
what does hypothesis driven science use to study
the 5 stages of the scientific method
what does observation is hypothesis driven science lead to
a testable hypothesis that tries the explain the phenomena
what is the next step in hypothesis driven science after a testable hypothesis is found
experiments are conducted to determine if the predictions are correct
what happens in hypothesis driven science after experiments are conducted
the data of them is analyzed and then the hypothesis is either accepted or rejected
