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S&T Chapter 1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Science | A way of learning about the natural world through observations and logical reasoning lead to a body of knowledge |
| Observing | The process of using one or more of your senses to gather information |
| Quantitative Observation | An Observation that deals with a number or amount |
| Qualitative Observation | An Observation that deals with Characteristics that cannot be expressed with numbers |
| Inferring | The process of making an inference, an interpretation based on observations and prior knowledge |
| Predicting | The process of forecasting what will happen in the future based on passed 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 representations of complex objects or processes |
| Skepticism | An attitude of doubt |
| Ethics | The rules that enable people to know right from wrong |
| Personal Bias | An outlook influenced by a person's likes and dislikes |
| Cultural Bias | An outlook influenced by the beliefs, social forms, and traits of a group |
| Experimental Bias | A mistake in the design of an experiment that makes a particular result more likely |
| Objective | Describes the act of decision-making or drawing conclusions based on available evidence |
| Subjective | Describes the influence of personal feelings on a decision or conclusion |
| Deductive Reasoning | A way to explain things by starting with a general idea and then applying the idea to a specific observation |
| Inductive Reasoning | Using specific observatonsto make generalizations |
| Scientific Inquiry | The ongoing process of descovery in science; the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on evidence they gather |
| Hypothesis | A possible explanation for a set of observations or answer to a scientific question; must be testable |
| Variable | A factor that can change in an experiment |
| Manipulated Variable | The one factor that a scientist changes during an experiment; also called indepndent variable |
| Responding Variable | The factor that changes as a result of changes to the minipulated, or independent, variable in an experiment; also called dependent variable |
| Controlled Expirement | An experiment in which only one variable is minipulated at a time |
| Data | Facts, figures, and other evidence gathered through observations |
| Scientific Theory | A well-tested explanation for a wide range of observations or experimental results |
| Scientific Law | A statement that describes what scientists expect to happen every time under a particular set of conditions |