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science
chapter 1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| science | a way of learning about the natural world through observations and logical reasoning |
| observing | the process of using one or more of your senses to gather information |
| inferring | the process of making an inference, or an interpretation based on observations and prior knowledge |
| predicting | the process of forecasting what will happen in the future based on based experience or evidence |
| classifying | the process of grouping together items that are alike in some way |
| evaluating | comparing observations and data to reach a conclusion about them |
| making models | the process of creating rerepresentations of complex objects or processes |
| variable | a factor that can change in an experiment |
| independent variable | the one factor that a scientist changes during an experiment |
| dependent variable | the factor that changes as a result of changes to the manipulated or independent variable in an experiment |
| metric system | a system of measurement based on the number 10 |
| SI | a system of measurement based on multiples of 10 and on established measures of mass length and time |
| mass | a measure of how much matter is in an object |
| weight | a measure of the force of gravity acting on an object |
| volume | the amount of space that matter occupies |
| meniscus | the curved upper surface of a liquid in a column of liquid |
| density | the measurement of how much mass of a substance is contained in a given volume |
| scientific inquirey | the ongoing process of discovery in science |
| hypothesis | a possible explanation for a set of observations or answer to a scientific question |
| controlled experiment | an experiment in which only one variable is manipulated at a time |
| data | facts figures and other evidence gathered through observations |
| repeated trials | a repetition of an experiment to gather additional data and determine whether the experiment results support the hypothesis |
| replication | an attempt to repeat a scientists experiment by a different scientist or group of scientists |