Branches of Science Web-Quest
7th Grade Environmental Science
Mrs. Krempa and Mrs. Spiegel
Name ______KEY_______________
Date & Period ____10 POINTS TOTAL_
Complete this sheet with the help of the Branches of Science Web-Quest. Please use complete sentences
when possible and include detail in your answer. Enjoy!
1. Science : definition _______THE PROCESS OF GAINING KNOWLEDGE BY MAKING
REPEATED OBSERVATIONS THROUGH EXPERIMENTS. SCIENCE’S ONLY
PURPOSE IS TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE!________________________________
2. What is the Latin word for science? What does it mean?
Latin word for science ______SCIENTIA OR SCERE________________
Meaning ___________KNOWLEDGE_______________________________________________
3. Complete the following chart on the branches of science. The first one has been started for you...
A. Main Branch:
Sub-Branches:
Physical Science
Physics
Study of:
Chemistry
Study of:
____ASTRONOMY____
B. Main Branch:
Sub-Branches:
C. Main Branch:
Study of:
matter and energy
PROPERTIES &
STRUCTURE OF MATTER
THE UNIVERSE
EARTH SCIENCE
GEOLOGY
Study of:
THE EARTH
OCENOGRAPHY
Study of:
THE OCEAN
__PALEONTOLOGY
Study of:
PREHISTORIC LIFE
___METEROLOGY__
Study of:
THE ATMOSPHERE
LIFE SCIENCE (BIOLOGY)
Study of:
PLANTS
____ZOOLOGY_________
Study of:
ANIMALS
____GENETICS________
Study of:
HEREDITY
Sub-Branches: ____BOTONY_______
Study of: ILLNESS, DISEASE,
INJURY
Turn the page over… there’s a back!
____MEDICINE_________
4. Find and list three (3) branches of science that you think are unique, funny, odd, goofy… list what it
studies too! HERE’S THE LINK: http://natureniche.tripod.com/ology.html THERE’S A
TON OF “OLOGIES”!
Example : Ichthyology – the study of fish!
A. _____________________________________________________________________________
B. ______________________________________________________________________________
C. ______________________________________________________________________________
5. What is a scientific fact? _____AN OBSERVATION THAT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED
REPEATEDLY AND IS ACCEPTED AS TRUE.______
Example _______THE GRASS IS GREEN_________________________
6. What is a scientific theory? _______A WELL-TESTED EXPLANANTION OF
SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS & EXPERIMENTS. IT IS SUPPORTED BY A
LARGE BODY OF WORK.
--(BUT, THE NATURE OF THE BEAST IS THAT FURTHER RESEARCH CAN
CHANGE IT! A THEORY DESCRIBES AN ENTRIE GROUP OF RELATED
PHENOMENA.__A SCIENTIFIC THEORY IS COMPLEX AND DYNAMIC.)_______
Example ___THEORY OF EVOLUTION, THEORY OF RELATIVITY, ATOMIC
THEORY, QUANTUM THEORY, STRING THEORY_______________________
7. What is a scientific law? _______A STATEMENT OF FACT THAT DESCRIBES AN
ACTION OR SET OF ACTIONS WITHOUT ATTMEPTING TO EXPLAIN._
--(A LAW GOVERNS A SINGLE ACTION; IT IS SIMPLE, TRUE, AND
UNIVERSAL; WE ALWAYS EXPECT IT TO BE TRUE; you don’t break the law.
Example _______LAW OF GRAVITY, NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION (A BODY AT
REST TENDS TO STAY AT REST), LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS (MATTER AND ENRGY CAN
BE COVNERTED BUT NOT CREATED OR DESTROYED), BOYLE’S GAS LAWS (INCREASING
HEAT WILL INCREASE PRESSURE)_____________________
A scientific _____THEORY ________ is supported by the work of many, many scientists doing many,
many different types of experiments. Because it is supported by so much scientific evidence, a scientific
____THEORY _____ is generally accepted as true. However, because of the nature of science, new
evidence could be presented at any time that cast doubt upon a scientific __THEORY ___, and scientists
would then do more experiments to see if the __THEORY __ needs to be revised.
A scientific ___LAW ______ is something that scientists always expect to happen in a given situation. For
example, because of the ___LAW _ of Gravity, we always expect pencils to drop when they roll off the
table.