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ES CH1
Vocabulary
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Astronomy | Study of objects beyond Earth's atmosphere. |
Meteorology | The study of the atmosphere, which is the air surrounding Earth. |
Geology | The study of materials that make up Earth and the processes that form and change these materials, and the history of the planet and its life-forms since its origin. |
Oceanography | The study of Earth's oceans including the creatures that inhabit its waters, its physical and chemical properties, and the effects of human activities. |
Environmental Science | The study of the interactions of humans with environment. |
Geosphere | The part of Earth from its surface to its center. |
Atmosphere | The blanket of gases surrounding Earth that contains about 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and 1 percent other gases such as argon, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. |
Hydrosphere | All of water in Earth's oceans, lakes, seas, rivers, and glaciers plus all the water in the atmosphere. |
Biosphere | All of the Earth's organisms and the environments in which they live. |
Scientific Method | A series of problem-solving procedures that help scientists conduct experiments. |
Hypothesis | A testable explanation of a situation. |
Independent Variable | Factor that is manipulated by the experiment in an experiment. |
Dependent Variable | Factor in an experiment that can change if the independent variable is changed. |
Control | Standard for comparison in an experiment. |
Le Systeme International d'Unites (SI) | Replacement for the metric system; based on a decimal system using the number 10 as the base unit; includes the meter: (m), second: (s), and kilogram (kg). |
Scientific Notation | A method used by scientists to express a number as a value between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of 10. |
Scientific Model | An idea, a system, or a mathematical expression that represents the idea being explained. |
Scientific Theory | An explanation based on many observations during repeated experiments, valid only if consistent with observations, can be used to make testable predictions, and is the simplest explanation; can be changed or modified with the discovery of new data. |
Scientific Law | A principle that describes the behavior of a natural phenomenon. |