Question | Answer |
what is the hypothesis? | idea that will be tested by an investigation |
what is an example of a hypothesis? | why do icebergs float |
when can a hypothesis not be tested ? | when the technology needed does not exist |
what is an example of a hypothesis that cannot be tested? | life exists in other solar systems |
what do scientists set out to do with their hypothesis? | not to prove its true but to show at this point in time it is not false |
what is the scientific method ? | a series of steps scientists follow to investigate natural occurrences that can be tested |
what is a natural occurrence? | anything that happens in nature that is not controlled by humans |
what is an example of a natural occurrence? | an iceberg floating on water |
what is an observation? | a clear question that must be asked to begin a scientific investigation |
what is a theory? | a hypothesis that has been tested by scientists many times and has yet to be proven false |
what is an example of a theory? | the big bang |
whats another word for natural occurrences? | natural phenomea |
what are the first things you need to do before you carry out your investigation? | decide what equipment to use and what method to follow and be able to give good reasons as to why you have made these decisions |
what is a variable? | is any factor that can be changed measured or controlled in an investigation |
what are they different types of variables? | independent variable(the one that you change) the dependent variable(the one you change as a result of changing the independent variable) controlled(fixed)variables ( all the other variables that are kept the same) |
what should a reliable method be? | reproducible(if somebody follows your method they should be able to collects data similar to yours) and repeatable (if you repeat the investigation you should collect and record similar data each time |
what is primary data? | the data collected by the person carrying out the investigation eg roll call at the start of class as your teacher is collecting it |
what is secondary data? | data is collected by someone other than the person carrying out the investigation |
what is quantitative data? | the data collected in numbers |
what is the other name for quantitative data? | numerical? |
what is qualitative data? | data recorded using descriptive words eg eye colour or gender |
what is another name for qualitative data? | categorical data |
what are some ways of presenting data in a qualitative (nominal or ordinal) way? | pie chart, bar chart and line plot |
what are some ways of presenting data in a quantitative (discrete)
way? | bar charts, pie charts and stem and leaf diagrams |
what are some ways of presentin g data in a quantitative (continuous) way? | scatter plot and histogram |