Virginia SOL Biology
Vocabulary
hypothesis
- a theory or explanation drawn from evidence
- but not yet proven
observation
- in the lab
- in the field (nature)
valid / validity
analysis = to look into something to see how it works
scientific reasoning
nature of science
> science = identifying knowledge
>> science is the investigation into how stuff works and why (rocks, biology, electricity, etc. )
= a process
scientif reasoning = ways to think about and do science
1. observation (in lab or in the field)
2. hypothesis > to make an "idea" (thesis)
= a theory or to make theory
> an educated guess about an observation
> = estimate of what the evidence tells us
> a theory drawn from evidence
<< hypothesis is not proven (not confirmed)
testing confirms a hypothesis
3. variable = is the thing we want to test
variables are what we do not know
4. constants = what we arleady know
in a lab we observe, we make hypothesis, and we test it...
we test is 1. variable and other constants
variable = what will change
constant = what stays the same
we conduct an experiment to test the validity of our hypothesis
contaminate
>> to add something that does not belong
>> to infect, or make impure (= not pure, not 100% of something. Ex.: touching my fyfiniger in the beaker of water "contaminates" it bc what was on my fin\ger is not in the water... (so I've introduced a new variable now, since my water is no longer pure (it is contaminated)
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test taking skills
ELIMINATE WRONG ANSWERS!DO NOT CHOOSE RIGHT ANSWERS!!