| A | B |
|---|
| hypothesis | an educated guess - an explanation to a problem that can be formally tested |
| observation | information witnessed or learned that causes a scientist to form a hypothesis |
| experiment | an investigation that tests a hypothesis by collecting information under controlled conditions |
| control | the variable in an experiment that is kept constant or the group that does not receive the variable being tested |
| independent variable | controlled by the experimentor - the X axis on a graph or the left side of a data table |
| dependent variable | changes due to the independent variable - the Y axis on a graph or the right side of a data table |
| conclusion | the results of an experiment - does not have to prove a hypothesis right |
| data | information obtained during an experiment |
| theory | explanation based on observations and tested results |
| fact | an idea that can be proved by testing |
| law | rule of nature summed up by observations and test results (always true and proven by many experiments) |
| manipulated variable | the variable that is deliberately changed in an experiment (independent) |
| responding variable | the variable that changes because of changing the manipulated variable (dependent) |
| How to spot an experimental group? | This is the group that receives the independent variable - testing fertilizer on plants? this group DOES get the fertilizer |
| How to spot a control group? | This is the group that does NOT get the independent variable - testing fertilizer on plans? this group DOES NOT get the ferlizer |
| What makes a GOOD experiment? | an experimental group AND a control group, high sample numbers |
| What makes a BAD experiement? | missing a control group, low sample numbers |
| What makes a scientist begin to agree with experiment results? | Other scientists do the experiment EXACTLY the same and get similar results |
