1.1 What Is Science?

Understand Key Concepts

1. Which of the following statements about the image shown below is NOT an observation?

   1. The insect has three legs on the left side.

   2. The insect has a pattern on its back.

   3. The insect's pattern shows that it is poisonous.

   4. The insect is green, white, and black.

      

2. The statement “The worm is 2 centimeters long” is a(n)

   1. observation.

   2. theory.

   3. inference.

   4. hypothesis.

3. An inference is

   1. the same as an observation.

   2. a logical interpretation of an observation.

   3. a statement involving numbers.

   4. a way to avoid bias.

4. To be useful in science, a hypothesis must be

   1. measurable.

   2. observable.

   3. testable.

   4. correct.

5. Which of the following statements about a controlled experiment is true?

   1. All the variables must be kept the same.

   2. Only one variable is tested at a time.

   3. Everything can be studied by setting up a controlled experiment.

   4. Controlled experiments cannot be performed on living things.

6. What are the goals of science?

7. How does an observation about an object differ from an inference about that object?

8. How does a hypothesis help scientists understand the natural world?

9. Why does it make sense for scientists to test just one variable at a time in an experiment?

10. Distinguish between an experimental group and a control group.

11. What steps are involved in drawing a conclusion?

12. How can a graph of data be more informative than a table of the same data?

Think Critically

13. Design an Experiment Suggest an experiment that would show whether one food is better than another at speeding an animal's growth.

14. Control Variables Explain why you cannot draw a conclusion about the effect of one variable in an investigation when the other key variables are not controlled.

1.2 Science in Context

Understand Key Concepts

15. A skeptical attitude in science

    1. prevents scientists from accepting new ideas.

    2. encourages scientists to readily accept new ideas.

    3. means a new idea will only be accepted if it is backed by evidence.

    4. is unimportant.

16. The purpose of peer review in science is to ensure that

    1. all scientific research is funded.

    2. the results of experiments are correct.

    3. all scientific results are published.

    4. published results meet standards set by the scientific community.

17. A scientific theory is

    1. the same as a hypothesis.

    2. a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations.

    3. the same as the conclusion of an experiment.

    4. the first step in a controlled experiment.

18. Why are scientific theories useful?

19. Why aren't theories considered absolute truths?