Unit 1 - scientific enquiry Flashcards
What begins scientific inquiry?
A problem or question about an observation
What are the steps of the scientific method?
- Identify the Problem
- Make Observations
- Make a Prediction-Hypothesis
- Design the Experiment
- Collect and Organize Data
- Make Conclusions
Why might there be different versions of the scientific method?
They may have different amounts of steps
What does quantitative observation deal with?
Numbers or amounts
What does qualitative observation deal with?
Descriptions that cannot be expressed with numbers
How should a hypothesis be formatted?
In an IF/THEN format
What is an independent variable?
Variable purposely changed to test a hypothesis
What is the purpose of designing an experiment?
To test your hypothesis
What is a controlled experiment?
Only one variable is manipulated
What are variables in an experiment?
Things that change in an experiment
Why should an experiment have several trials?
To ensure valid results
What is a dependent variable?
Factor that changes in response to the independent variable
What are constant variables?
Things that must stay the same
What is data in scientific inquiry?
Facts and figures gathered through observations
What do conclusions state in scientific inquiry?
The results and what happened in the experiment
What is a data table?
A chart to organize experiment results
What might sources of bias/error affect?
Your results in the experiment
What is the purpose of a graph in scientific inquiry?
To make results easy to read and understand
