Introduction to Physical Science Vocabulary for Chapter 1 /SOL PS1

What is Physical Science? Answer= The study of matter and energy, and the changes that happen to matter and energy

Scientific Theory A well tested idea that explains and connects many observations

Big Bang Theory Based on research performed by Edwin Hubble, Georges Lemaitre and Albert Einstein, among others, the big bang theory postulates that the universe began almost 14 billion years ago with a massive expansion event.big bang theory

Archimedes' Buoyancy Principle After he discovered his principle of buoyancy, the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes allegedly yelled out "Eureka!" and ran naked through the city of Syracuse. The discovery was that important. The story goes that Archimedes made his great breakthrough when he noticed the water rise as he got into the tubwater According to Archimedes' buoyancy principle, the force acting on, or buoying, a submerged or partially submerged object equals the weight of the liquid that the object displaces

Evolution and Natural Selection Populations of organisms developed different traits, through mechanisms such as mutation. Those with traits that were more beneficial to survival such as, a frog whose brown coloring allows it to be camouflaged in a swamp, were naturally selected for survival; hence the term natural selection. Populations It's possible to expand upon both of these theories at greater length, but this is the basic, and groundbreaking, discovery that Darwin made in the 19th century: that evolution through natural selection accounts for the tremendous diversity of life on Earth.Darwin

Observation The process of gathering information using the five senses

Independent Variable aka= Manipulated Variable The variable a scientist changes in an experiment!!!!!

Dependent Variable aka= Responding Variable The variable that is expected to change because of the independent variable changes

Inference A logical interpretation of an observation

Scientific Inquiry Various methods of investigating and answering scientific questions

Data Facts, figures, and other evidence gathered through observation

Hypothesis A testable explanation for observations relating to a scientific question

Classifying Process of grouping together items that are alike in some way

Quantitative Observation Deals with numbers or amounts

Qualitative Observation Deals with descriptions that cannot be expressed in numbers.

Predicting Process of forecasting what will happen in the future based on past experience or evidence Example-Most of us will try to predict the outcome of a movie! Scientist will predict that a certain drug can reduced a cancer tumor

Analyzing Evaluating observations and data to reach a conclusion

Skepticism Attitude of having doubt

Pseudoscience Set of beliefs that make use of science but whose conclusions and predictions are not based on observation, objective reasoning, or scientific evidence.

Astrology is a pseudoscience

Objective Reasoning Relies on gathering and evaluating evidence

Subjective Reasoning Reasoning that is based on personal feelings or personal values

Empirical evidence Data that is collected using scientific process that describe particular observations

Controlled Experiment An experiment in which one variable is manipulated at a time

Bias Subjective belief that affects a person’s attitude toward something; an error in the design of an experiment that affects the results of an experiment

Repeated trial Repetition of an experiment to gather data and determine whether the experiment’s results support the hypothesis

replication An attempt to repeat a scientist’s experiment by different scientist or a group of scientist

Evidence Includes observations and conclusions that have been repeated

Opinion Idea about a decision that is not supported by evidence