Chapter 2 Vocabulary

Question 1

Science

Answer 1

A process for producing knowledge methodically and logically

Question 2

Reproductability

Answer 2

Making an observation or obtaining a particular result more than once

Question 3

Replication

Answer 3

Repeating studies or tests to verify reliability

Question 4

Significant Numbers

Answer 4

Meaningful numbers whose accuracy can be verified

Question 5

Deductive Reasoning

Answer 5

Deriving testable predictions about specific cases from general principals

Question 6

Inductive Reasoning

Answer 6

Inferring general principals from specific examples

Question 7

Hypothesis

Answer 7

A provisional explanation that can be tested scientifically

Question 8

Mean

Answer 8

An average

Question 9

Sample

Answer 9

To analyze a small but representative portion of a population to estimate the characteristics of the entire class

Question 10

Scientific Theory

Answer 10

An explanation supported by many tests and accepted by a general consensus of scientists

Question 11

Natural Experiment

Answer 11

A study of events that have already happened

Question 12

Manipulative Experiment

Answer 12

One in which some conditions are deliberately altered while others are held constant to study cause-and-effect relationships

Question 13

Controlled Studies

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Blind Experiments

Answer 14

Those in which those carrying out the experiment don’t know until the data has been gathered and analyzed which was the control

Question 15

Double-Blind Experiments

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Dependent Variable

Answer 16

A variable that is affected by the condition being altered in a manipulative experiment

Question 17

Independent Variable

Answer 17

A factor not affected by the condition being altered in a manipulative experiment

Question 18

Models

Answer 18

Simple representations of more complex systems

Question 19

Systems

Answer 19

Networks of interactions among many interdependent factors

Question 20

Open Systems

Answer 20

A system that exchanges energy and matter with its environment

Question 21

Closed Systems

Answer 21

A system that exchanges no energy or matter with its surroundings; rare in nature

Question 22

Throughput

Answer 22

A flow of energy and matter into, through, and out of a system

Question 23

Positive Feedback Loop

Answer 23

A situation in which a factor or condition causes changes that further enhance that factor or condition

Question 24

Negative Feedback Loop

Answer 24

A situation in which a factor or condition causes changes that reduce that factor or condition

Question 25

Homeostasis

Answer 25

Maintaining a dynamic, steady state in a living system through opposing, compensating adjustments

Question 26

Disturbances

Answer 26

Periodic, destructive events such as fire or floods; changes in an ecosystem that affect (positively or negatively) the organisms living there

Question 27

Resiliance

Answer 27

The ability of a community or ecosystem to recover form disturbances

Question 28

State Shift

Answer 28

A permanent or long-lasting change in a system to a new set of conditions and relations in response to a disturbance

Question 29

Emergent Properties

Answer 29

Characteristics of whole, functioning systems that are quantitatively or qualitatively greater than the sum of the systems’ parts

Question 30

Scientific Consensus

Answer 30

A general agreement among informed scholars

Question 31

Paradigm

Answer 31

A model that provides a framework for interpreting observations