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65 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Information based on one person's experience is called _________ evidence.
anecdotal
The smallest unit of matter that retains the properties of a particular element.
atom
The influence of researchers' or subjects' opinions on experimental results.
bias
The study of living organisms; the study of life.
biology
All regions of the Earth's waters, crust, and atmosphere in which organisms live. All parts of the Earth inhabited by living things, including both living and non living components.
biosphere
The fundamental unit of life; the smallest living unit. An organized unit that can survive and reproduce on its own, given DNA instructions and suitable conditions.
cell
All the populations of different species living and interacting in the same area (habitat).
community
In statistics, a range of values calculated to have a given probability (usually 95%) of containing the true population mean.
confidence interval
Any organism that gets the energy needed for metabolism from the energy-rich molecules made by producer organisms.
consumer
An experiment that tests only one prediction of a hypothesis at a time. It is designed in a way to eliminate nearly all alternative hypotheses, by testing only one variable at a time and by using a control group.
controlled experiment
In a scientific experiment, a group used to evaluate possible side effects of a test involving an experimental group. Ideally, this group differs from the experimental group only by not being exposed to the variable being studied.
control group or control
A mathematical measure of the strength of association between two factors. Qualitatively described as negative (graph falls to the right) or positive (graph rises to the right). Quantitatively it is a decimal fraction (such as 0.43), in which a number closer to 1 indicates a stronger relationship.
correlation
Information collected by scientists during hypothesis testing.
datum (plural: data)
Any organism that breaks down waste products and helps return low-energy materials to the environment, where they can be recycled by producers into new high-energy molecules.
decomposer
Pattern of thinking by which a person makes inferences about specific consequences or specific predictions that must follow from a hypothesis. Characterized by making “if/then” statements.
deductive reasoning or deductive logic
The molecule of inheritance for all cells and many viruses. Consists of two nucleotide strands twisted together and held together by hydrogen bonds. The nucleotide sequence encodes the instructions for assembling proteins.
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
In an experiment, the variable that is measured, but not manipulated directly, by the researcher. It is expected to change as a result of manipulation of a different variable.
dependent variable
A series of stages in multicellular organisms that begins with the formation of gametes, followed by fertilization and embryonic, infant, adolescent, adult, and geriatric phases.
development
An experimental design in which both research subjects and the scientists or technicians performing the measurements are both unaware of either the experimental hypothesis or which individual subjects are assigned to the experimental and control groups.
double blind
A community of living things plus its non-living surroundings. A group of organisms and their physical environment, all of which interact through a flow of energy and a cycling of materials.
ecosystem
Any substance that cannot be decomposed into a different substance or substances with different properties. These are the fundamental forms of matter.
element
A change in the characteristics of a population of organisms over generations as a result of shifts in the relative abundance of various alleles due to mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow.
evolution
Removal of excess or harmful substances or waste material from the body. Mostly accomplished by the kidney.
excretion
A test in which some phenomenon in the natural world is manipulated in controlled ways to gain insight into its function, structure, operation, or behavior.
experiment
In a scientific experiment, a group used to evaluate the effect of a variable. The group that is exposed to the variable of a controlled experiment.
experimental group
Potentially able to be proven false. Applies to a statement that could potentially be proven false by observation of the measurable universe.
falsifiable
Conversion of materials and nutrients acquired from the environment into the specific molecules of the organism’s body, enlarging it.
growth
A physiological state in which the physical and chemical conditions of the internal environment are maintained within tolerable ranges. Maintenance of a reasonably constant or steady-state internal environment.
homeostasis
The genus, species and subspecies of modern humans.
Homo sapiens sapiens
A plausible explanation of a natural phenomenon. A tentative explanation for an observation that requires testing to validate. Cannot be proven to be true, but should be able to be potentially proven false by experimental testing.
hypothesis
In an experiment, the variable which is manipulated by the researcher. A factor which influences another variable.
independent variable
Pattern of thinking by which a person makes a general conclusion based on specific instances or specific examples.
inductive reasoning or logic
The sum total of all the chemical reactions occurring in the body. A cell’s capacity to extract, convert and use energy from its environment by a series of chemical reactions.
metabolism
Non-human organisms, that are easy to manipulate and share some similarities with humans, used in biological studies. Help scientists understand genes or traits the organism shares with humans.
model organism
Two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds.
molecule
A change to the DNA sequence that may result in the production of altered proteins.
mutation
A specialized body structure composed of two or more types of tissue, working together to perform a specific function.
organ
A collection of organs working together to perform a common basic functional process, such as locomotion or digestion.
organ system
A sub-cellular structure found in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells that performs a specific function.
organelle
The process by which reports of scientific research are examined and critiqued by other researchers before they are published in scientific journals.
peer review
A sham treatment used for comparison with an experimental treatment. An example is a pill which has no active ingredients, given to members of the control group instead of the actual medication which is given to the experimental group.
placebo
All individuals of a given species within a given area.
population
The result expected from a particular test of a hypothesis if the hypothesis is true.
prediction
The likelihood that an event will or did occur.
probability
An organism that synthesizes high-energy molecules using inorganic carbon (such as carbon dioxide), water, and energy from the sun.
producer
In an experiment, the placement of individuals into experimental and control groups randomly to eliminate systemic differences between the groups.
random assignment
A single stranded polymer of nucleotides with several functions in the cell: constituent of ribosomes, transport of individual amino acids to ribosomes, and messenger carrying genetic information from the nucleus to the cytoplasm.
ribonucleic acid (RNA)
A small subgroup of a population used in an experimental test.
sample
The number of individuals in both the control and experimental groups, commonly indicated by the capital letter N.
sample size
In an experiment, an error in results that occurs because only part of the population is directly tested.
sampling error
A systematic method of research consisting of testing a hypothesis with an experiment designed to disprove the hypothesis if it is false. A systematic way of gathering information about the natural world.
scientific method
A body of scientifically accepted general principles that explain natural phenomena. A testable explanation of a broad range of related phenomena. Only explanations that have been extensively tested and can be relied on with a very high degree of confidence are accorded the status of theory.
scientific theory
Cellular systems that collect information about the internal and external environment and transmit that information to the central nervous system.
sensory receptor
The value about which a homeostatically controlled parameter varies.
set point
A group of individual organisms that can breed together and produce fertile offspring, and which are generally distinct from other groups of organisms in appearance and/or behavior.
species
A measure of the variability of data in a statistical sample. Essentially, the average distance of any single datum from the mean (average) value of all the data.
standard error
Data which supports a low probability that the experimental and control groups differ only by chance is said to have statistical _____________.
statistical significance
A specialized branch of mathematics used in the evaluation of experimental data.
statistics
Any internal or external environmental change or phenomenon that triggers an action potential in a neuron.
stimulus (pl. stimuli)
Not constrained by the laws of nature. Myth and superstition, ghosts, auras, etc.
supernatural
Applies to statements that can be evaluated through observations of the measurable natural universe.
testable
A group of similar cells with a common function.
tissue
A factor that has multiple possible values within an individual or among a population, or over time.
variable
The horizontal axis of a graph using Cartesian coordinates. Typically describes the independent variable, which is manipulated by the researcher.
x-axis
The vertical axis of a graph using Cartesian coordinates. Typically describes the dependent variable, which is measured by the researcher.
y-axis