Lecture 1-3 Flashcards
What is evolution
Theory discussing biodiversity
Theory
-A certainty that has gone through lots of questioning, testing, and challenges
-Widely accepted
-Broad
-Leads to many hypotheses being made
Scientific theory
A generic explanation for phenomena all around us
What is a fact
Consistent data that has been confirmed by observation and experimentations
only true under specific conditions. If condition changes, then fact may not be plausible
Observations leads to what types of questions
Mechanistic (how things work)
Evolutionary (survival standpoint)
How does inductive reasoning aid observations
Leads to logical explanations and processing of whatever event that has been observed
*sometimes, no further steps can be taken after using inductive reasoning to make observations so it helps improve the accuracy of statements
Do we support hypotheses
No, you can only fail to reject them. however, you can have an increase in confidence in your hypotheses
Hypothesis definition
-Narrow and specific
-Derived from theory usually
-Can be rejected and revised or be failed to be rejected
-They are explanatory for observations
-Testable and falsifiable
When are deductive reasonings made
After hypothesis are made, deductive reasoning are predictions of what will happen during experiments (usually ‘if’ ‘then’ statements)
Why do we have control groups
To eliminate external factors that could affect experiments
Why do we need to conduct experiments? Why not make conclusions after initial observations
Correlation does not equal causation and the phenomena needs to be tested to find the true explanation
What is taxonomy
Scientific naming system to distinguish species
3 Problems with nomenclature
-Diff name for same species
-Same name for diff species
-Common name has no correlation to species at all (sea horse is not a horse)
Linnean system
Genus species
(in which genus is capitalized and sometimes abbreviated while the entire name is italicized)
Major taxonomic ranks
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
*as you move down the list, the smaller and selective the taxon (group) is
