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Mr. Vaughan Unit 1
Unit 1 - The Nature of Science
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE | THE OBSERVATIONS, MEASUREMENTS, AND OTHER TYPES OF DATA THAT PEOPLE GATHER AND TEST TO SUPPORT AND EVALUATE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS |
| THEORY | A SYSTEM OF IDEAS THAT EXPLAINS MANY RELATED OBSERVATIONS AND IS SUPPORTED BY A LARGE BODY OF EVIDENCE ACQUIRED THROUGH SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS |
| LAW | A DESCRIPTIVE STATEMENT OR EQUATION THAT RELIABLY PREDICTS EVENTS UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS |
| EXPERIMENT | AN ORGANIZED PROCEDURE TO STUDY SOMETHING UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS |
| OBSERVATION | THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING INFORMATION BY USING THE SENSES |
| HYPOTHESIS | A TESTABLE IDEA OR EXPLANATION THAT LEADS TO SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION |
| INDEPENDENT VARIABLE | THE FACTOR THAT IS DELIBERATELY MANIPULATED OR CHANGED IN A SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OR EXPERIMENT |
| DEPENDENT VARIABLE | THE FACTOR THAT CHANGES AS A RESULT OF MANIPULATING (CHANGING) ONE OR MORE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES |
| DATA | INFORMATION GATHERED BY OBSERVATION OR EXPERIMENTATION THAT CAN BE USED IN CALCULATING OR REASONING |
| MODEL | A PATTERN, PLAN, REPRESENTATION, OR DESCRIPTION DESIGNED TO SHOW THE STRUCTURE OF WORKINGS OF AN OBJECT, SYSTEM, OR CONCEPT |
| SIMULATION | A METHOD THAT IS USED TO STUDY AND ANALYZE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ACTUAL OR THEORETICAL SYSTEM |