Chapter 1- Vocabulary Flashcards
Science
A means of coming to understand the natural world through observation and testing of hypotheses. Also, a collection of insights about nature, the evidence for which is an array of facts.
Life sciences
A set of disciplines that focus on various aspects of the living world. The life sciences include biology and related disciplines such as medicine and forestry.
Scientific Method
The process by which scientists investigate the natural world. The scientific method involves the testing of hypotheses through observation and experiment.
Theory
A general set of principles, supported by evidence, that explains some aspect of nature.
Hypothesis
A tentative, testable explanation of an observed phenomenon.
Variable
An element of an experiment that is changed compared to an initial condition.
Biology
The study of life.
Evolution
Any genetically based phenotypic change in a population of organisms over successive generations. Evolution can also be thought of as the process by which species of living things can undergo modification over successive generations, with such modification, sometimes resulting in the formation of new species.