Concept 1: Nature of Science Flashcards
Fact
Objective, verifiable obeservation
Principle
Statement based on repeated experimental observations that describe aspects of the world
Law
Broad concept or principle that describes patterns in nature, and are often accepted as facts
Theory
Explanation of an observed phenomenon that organizes facts and research to explain why. Never becomes fact or law
Investigative process
Ask a question, do background research, devise a hypothesis, test the hypothesis, analyze the results, make conclusions, and share them
Observation
Description of something someone can perceive, is objective and is where questions come from (NOT AN OPINION)
Inference
Guess from observations, there can be more than one inference per observation
Qualitative observation
Describes qualities, usually with words rather than numbers
Quantitative observation
Uses numbers to describe things
Precise
How close measurements are to each other, how consistent they are
Accurate
How close your measurement is to the correct value
Purpose/Objective
Statement that clearly shows what question someone is trying to answer
Hypothesis
Testable prediction based on observations that desribes a cause and effect relationship between variable
Independent variable
What the experimenter will change or manipulate in an investigation. It is the x axis on a graph and is the only thing changing
Dependent variable
What changes because of the independent variable. It is the y axis on a graph and is what is measured
