click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Science Vocab
word | definition |
---|---|
science | the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. |
observing | an act or instance of viewing or noting a fact or occurrence for some scientific or other special purpose. |
inferring | deduce or conclude (information) from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements. |
chemistry | the branch of science that deals with the identification of the substances of which matter is composed. |
physics | the branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy. |
scientific inquiry | the activities through which students develop knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, as well as an understanding of how scientists study the natural world |
hypothesis | an idea or explanation that you then test through study and experimentation |
parameter | measure |
manipulated variable | The thing that is changed on purpose |
responding variable | the one that is observed and likely changes in response to the independent variable. |
controlled experiment | a test where the person conducting the test only changes one variable at a time in order to isolate the results |
qualitative data | anything that can be expressed as a number, or quantified |
quantitative data | any kind of data that can be measured numerically |
communicating | public communication presenting science-related topics to non-experts |
model | A systematic description of an object or phenomenon that shares important characteristics with the object or phenomenon |
scientific theory | a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experimen |
scientific law | a statement based on repeated experimental observations that describes some aspects of the universe. |
graph | a diagram representing a system of connections or interrelations among two or more things by a number of distinctive dots, lines, bars, etc. |
horizontal axis | a graph or two- or three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system along which the x-coordinate is measured |
vertical axis | a graph or two- or three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system along which the y-coordinate is measured |
origin | the zero at the bottom left corner of a graph |
coordinate | to place in the same rank |
data point | any single fact |
line of best fit | a straight line drawn through the center of a group of data points plotted on a scatter plot |
linear graph | a pictorial rendition of data in which specific values of a function are plotted as dots on a coordinate plane |
slope | to incline away from a relatively straight surface or line used as a reference |
nonlinear graph | a graph with no points plotted |
predicting | an educated guess |
data | facts or pieces of information |