Chapter 2 Vocabulary Flashcards
Science
A process for producing knowledge methodically and logically
Reproductability
Making an observation or obtaining a particular result more than once
Replication
Repeating studies or tests to verify reliability
Significant Numbers
Meaningful numbers whose accuracy can be verified
Deductive Reasoning
Deriving testable predictions about specific cases from general principals
Inductive Reasoning
Inferring general principals from specific examples
Hypothesis
A provisional explanation that can be tested scientifically
Mean
An average
Sample
To analyze a small but representative portion of a population to estimate the characteristics of the entire class
Scientific Theory
An explanation supported by many tests and accepted by a general consensus of scientists
Natural Experiment
A study of events that have already happened
Manipulative Experiment
One in which some conditions are deliberately altered while others are held constant to study cause-and-effect relationships
Controlled Studies
Those in which comparisons are made in experiment and control population that are identical (as far as possible) in every factor except the one variable being studied
Blind Experiments
Those in which those carrying out the experiment don’t know until the data has been gathered and analyzed which was the control
Double-Blind Experiments
One in which neither the experimenter nor the subjects know until after data has been gathered and analyzed which was the experimental treatment and which was the control
Dependent Variable
A variable that is affected by the condition being altered in a manipulative experiment
Independent Variable
A factor not affected by the condition being altered in a manipulative experiment
Models
Simple representations of more complex systems
Systems
Networks of interactions among many interdependent factors
Open Systems
A system that exchanges energy and matter with its environment
Closed Systems
A system that exchanges no energy or matter with its surroundings; rare in nature
Throughput
A flow of energy and matter into, through, and out of a system
Positive Feedback Loop
A situation in which a factor or condition causes changes that further enhance that factor or condition
Negative Feedback Loop
A situation in which a factor or condition causes changes that reduce that factor or condition
Homeostasis
Maintaining a dynamic, steady state in a living system through opposing, compensating adjustments
Disturbances
Periodic, destructive events such as fire or floods; changes in an ecosystem that affect (positively or negatively) the organisms living there
Resiliance
The ability of a community or ecosystem to recover form disturbances
State Shift
A permanent or long-lasting change in a system to a new set of conditions and relations in response to a disturbance
Emergent Properties
Characteristics of whole, functioning systems that are quantitatively or qualitatively greater than the sum of the systems’ parts
Scientific Consensus
A general agreement among informed scholars
Paradigm
A model that provides a framework for interpreting observations
