6 Study Guide: Process of Science
Study Questions
Use this page to check your understanding of the content.
Objective: Apply the process of scientific inquiry to design experiments, analyze data, and evaluate sources of information.
Vocabulary:
- Science
- The scientific method
- Psuedoscience
- Hypothesis
- Theory
- Independent variable
- Dependent variable
- Standardized variable
- Experimental group
- Control group
- Positive control
- Negative control
- Observation
- Inference
Study Guide Questions
- Be able to answer (and explain) any of the “What is Science” survey questions.
- What is the scientific definition of the word “theory”? How does this differ from the casually used definition of the word “theory”?
- What is the difference between a hypothesis and a theory?
- Be able to clearly describe the types of questions that SCIENCE can be used to answer…and the types of questions that SCIENCE cannot be used to answer.
- What do you think about The Scientific Method? Should it be taught in this class? Why or why not?
- Be able to determine if a claim is pseudoscience, and defend your position.
- What are the critical components of experimental design?
- Distinguish between positive and negative controls.
- Distinguish between observations and inferences.
- Distinguish between independent, dependent and standardized variables.
- Be able to analyze the design of a given experiment and make suggestions for improvement.
- Design an experiment to answer any question.