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S&T chapter 1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| science | a way of learning about the natural world through observations and logical reasoning leads 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 in 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 past 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 | a outlook influenced by a persons 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 of 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 observations to make generalizations |
| scientific inquiry | the ongoing process of discovery 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 experiement |
| manipulated variable | the one factor that a scientist changes during an experiment; also called independent variable |
| responding variable | the factor that changes as a result of changes to the manipulated or independent variable in an experiment; also called dependent variable |
| controlled experiment | an experiment in which only one variable is manipulated at a time |
| data | facts, figures, and other evidence gathered through observations |
| scientific theory | a well tested explanations 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 |