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Science_SOL 5.1, 4.1
Scientific Investigation Vocabulary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| hypothesis | An educated guess/prediction about what will happen based on what you already know and what you have already learned from your research. |
| inference | A tentative explanation based on background knowledge and available data. |
| prediction | A forecast about what may happen in some future situation, based on the application of factual information and principles and the recognition of trends and patterns. |
| experiment | A fair test driven by a hypothesis. |
| conclusion | A summary statement based on the results of an investigation. Scientific conclusions are based on verifiable observations. |
| dependent variable | The factor in an experiment that changes as a result of the manipulation of the independent variable. |
| independent variable | The factor in an experiment that is altered by the experimenter. It is purposely changed on manipulated. |
| constants | the things that are purposefully kept the same throughout the experiment. |
| scientific prediction | a forecast about what may happen in some future situation, based on the application of factual information and principles and the recognition of trends and patterns. |
| classification key | an important tool used to help identify objects and organisms. |
| mass | the amount of matter in an object. |
| volume | the amount of space occupied by an object. |
| milliliter | a unit of liquid volume. |
| length | the distance between two points. |
| millimeter | one-thousandth of a meter and 1/10 of a centimeter. |
| centimeter | a unit of length in the metric system; one-hundredth of a meter, or about two-fifths of an inch, about the width of a large clip. |
| meter | a unit for measuring metric length; is equal to about 1 yard. |
| kilometer | a metric unit and is a little smaller than 1 mile. |
| temperature | measure of how hot or cold something is. |
| degrees | units of temperature. |
| Celsius | metric unit for temperature |
| estimation | method of making an educated guess at a measurement. |