Earth Systems Scientific Method And Intro Terms Ch 1
Study Guide
You will have mastered the content of this unit when you
KNOW:
the definitions and uses of the following terms
1. observation
10.
2. inference
11.
3. quantitative
12.
4. qualitative
13.
5. experiment
14.
6. control
15.
7. independent variable
16.
8. dependent variable
17.
9. data
18.
x-axis
y-axis
hypothesis
conclusion
theory
scientific method
geology
astronomy
meteorology
19. environmental
science
20. oceanography
21. biosphere
22. geosphere
23. atmosphere
24. hydrosphere
25. latitude
26. longitude
UNDERSTAND:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The various disciplines of science under the “earth sciences” umbrella.
What each of the “–spheres” include (biosphere, etc)
How to use latitude and longitude to locate positions on maps
The various parts of a graph and how best to arrange the data points on a graph
BE ABLE TO:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Differentiate between quantitative and qualitative data
differentiate between observations and inferences
Compare and contrast longitude and latitude and use them to locate positions on Earth
Identify the various parts of a controlled experiment
Identify the independent and dependent variables, given an experimental set-up
Create a graph from a set of data
Identify the independent and dependent variable for the following experiments. Also describe two
possible controls or constants for the experiment.
1. A group of college students were given a short course in speed-reading. The instructor was
curious if a monetary incentive would influence performance on a reading test taken at the end
of the course. Half the students were offered $5 for obtaining a certain level of performance on
the test, the other half were not offered money.
2. It is January and Haley, Sarah and Becky are tired of having cold feet while waiting for the school
bus to come in the morning. They decide to design an experiment to test the effectiveness of
wool, cotton and nylon as insulators. They fill identical bottles with 200 ml of water at 100oC and
place inside each sock. They take the temperature of the water after 20 minutes.
3. A social psychologist thinks that people are more likely to conform to a large crowd than to
a single person. To test this hypothesis, the social psychologist had either one person or five
persons stand on a busy walking path on campus and look up. The psychologist stood
nearby and counted the number of people passing by who also looked up.
Complete the following crossword puzzle to check your knowledge of the unit vocabulary!
Read the experiment below and use the data to answer the following questions:
An Earth Science teacher wants to see what affect homework has on a student’s performance in class.
The teacher makes homework worth different amount for five classes: 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. The
teacher than sees what the students’ average tests scores are at the end of 6 weeks. They collect the
data below:
Homework Percentage
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
1. What are the independent and dependent variables?
2. Graph this data in the area to the right.
3. Draw a best-fit line for the data.
Test Average
64%
68%
76%
81%
88%
definitions for crossword puzzle
observation information gathered by using any one of the senses
inference based on observations and prior knowledge
quantitative having to do with numbers, measurements
qualitative descriptive, not numerical
experiment A test of a hypothesis
control The side of an experiment in which no factors are changed. Used for comparison.
independent The variable that the scientist changes. It’s what is being tested.
dependent The variable that is measured or observed to understand the outcome of the experiment. It
changes as a result of the experiment.
data information gathered and recorded during an experiment
x-axis this is where the independent variable or time is usually plotted
y-axis this is where the dependent variable is usually plotted
hypothesis a testable prediction of outcome of an experiment
conclusion Restates hypothesis and experiment’s outcome. May include analysis and experimental error.
theory an explanation for a large body of evidence
scientific method a logical series of steps for answering scientific questions
geology the study of rocks, minerals, their formation and cycling, and the history of the earth
astronomy the study of the universe and the objects outside of the earth’s atmosphere
meteorology the study of the atmosphere, weather and climate
environmental science the interaction of humans and the environment
oceanography the study of salt water bodies, including their chemical and physical properties, such as tides,
currents, salinity, temperature and biology
biosphere all of the earth’s living organisms and the environment in which they live
geosphere includes the core, magma and crust
atmosphere the blanket of gases that surrounds the earth
hydrosphere includes oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, polar ice caps and groundwater
latitude run parallel to the Equator and give directions North and South
longitude run parallel to the Prime Meridian and give directions East and West