Page 5-15 vocab

Question 1

Environment

Answer 1

the sum of all the conditions surrounding us that influence life

Question 2

Environmental science

Answer 2

field of study that looks at interactions among human systems and those found in nature

Question 3

Ecosystem

Answer 3

particular location on Earth with interacting biotic and abiotic components

Question 4

biotic

Answer 4

living

Question 5

abiotic

Answer 5

non-living

Question 6

environmentalism

Answer 6

social movement that seeks to protect the environment through lobbying, activism, and education

Question 7

Environmental studies

Answer 7

field of study that includes environmental science and additional subjects such as environmental policy, economics, literature, and ethics

Question 8

sustainability

Answer 8

using Earth’s resources in a way that does not jeopardize future generations from engaging in similar activities

Question 9

Scientific method

Answer 9

objective method to explore the natural world, draw inferences from it, and predict the outcomes of certain events, processes, or changes

Question 10

hypothesis

Answer 10

testable conjecture about how something works

Question 11

variable

Answer 11

any category, condition, factors, or traits that differ in the natural world/experimental situations

Question 12

independent variable

Answer 12

a variable that is not dependent on other factors

Question 13

dependent variable

Answer 13

variable that depends on others

Question 14

null hypothesis

Answer 14

a prediction that there is no difference the groups or conditions that are being compared

Question 15

control group

Answer 15

a group that experiences exactly these same conditions as the experimental group, except for the variable under study.

Question 16

natural impact

Answer 16

a natural event that acts as an experimental treatment in an ecosystem

Question 17

replication

Answer 17

data collection procedure of taking repeated measurements

Question 18

sample size (n)

Answer 18

the number of times a measurement is replicated in a data collection

Question 19

accuracy

Answer 19

how close a measured value is to the actual or true value

Question 20

precision

Answer 20

how close the repeated measurements of a sample are to one another

Question 21

uncertainty

Answer 21

estimate of how much a measured or calculated value differs from a true value.

Question 22

inductive reasoning

Answer 22

process of making general statements from specific facts or examples

Question 23

deductive reasoning

Answer 23

the process of applying a general statement to specific facts or situations

Question 24

theory

Answer 24

a hypothesis that has been repeatedly tested and confirmed by multiple groups of researchers and has reached wide acceptance.

Question 25

first law of thermodynamics

Answer 25

a theory with no known exception that states that energy is neither created nor destroyed but it can change from one form to another

Question 26

second law of thermodynamics

Answer 26

a theory with no known exception that states that when energy is transformed, the quantity of energy remains the same, but its ability to do work diminishes.