Comprehensive Scientific Inquiry & Cosmology Study Guide for Students

Inductive reasoning

Builds general conclusions from specific observations.

Deductive reasoning

Starts with general premises and makes specific predictions.

Observation

Observe a problem or phenomenon and collect initial information.

Qualitative data

Descriptions rather than numerical measurements.

Quantitative data

Numerical measurements, often organized into tables and graphs.

Hypothesis

A proposed explanation based on observations and existing knowledge.

Independent variable

The factor manipulated by the researcher.

Dependent variable

The effect/result that is measured or observed.

Controlled variable/constant

A factor kept the same throughout an experiment.

Control group

A group/test subject that is not manipulated.

Experiment

A controlled test of a hypothesis, comparing an experimental group with a control group.

Scientific Theory

A broader explanation supported by a large body of evidence.

Spontaneous generation

The old idea that living things can come from non-living matter.

Francesco Redi

Showed evidence that life comes from preexisting life rather than nonliving matter.

Lazzaro Spallanzani

Showed boiled meat broth in sealed containers stayed clear of microorganisms.

Louis Pasteur

Disproved spontaneous generation with swan-neck flasks.

Standard Model

A framework describing known elementary matter particles and three fundamental forces.

Fundamental particle

A particle that cannot be broken down into smaller particles.

Fermions

Particles that make up matter, including quarks and leptons.

Bosons

Particles that carry or mediate fundamental forces.

Quarks

Fundamental particles that combine to form larger particles such as protons and neutrons.

Six quarks

Up, down, charm, strange, top, bottom.

Leptons

Six fundamental matter particles: electron, muon, tau, and their corresponding neutrinos.

Photon

Carries the electromagnetic force.

Gluon

Carries the strong nuclear force.

Higgs boson

An excitation/ripple in the Higgs field.

Big Bang theory

The cosmological model in which the universe has expanded over time.

Hubble's Law

Distant galaxies move away at speeds proportional to their distance.

Dark matter

Invisible matter inferred from its gravitational effects.

Black hole

A collapsed region where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape.

Young Earth Creationism (YEC)

The belief that God created the universe in six literal 24-hour days.

Old Earth Creationism (OEC)

Accepts that Earth and the universe are billions of years old while maintaining that living organisms were created through direct divine intervention.

Day-age interpretation

Interprets the 'days' of Genesis as long, indeterminate periods rather than literal 24-hour days.

Gap theory

Places a large temporal gap between the initial creation of Earth and the creation week, specifically between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.

Progressive Creationism

Accepts scientific timelines for an ancient Earth and universe and proposes that God intervened directly to create new species in stages over long periods.

Intelligent Design

Accepts natural selection but argues that mutation and natural selection are not adequate to explain some major biological changes or the origin of life, leaving a role for an intelligent designer.

Evolutionary Creationism / Theistic Evolution

Holds that God created the universe and used evolution to produce life's diversity over billions of years.

Concordism

Attempts to harmonize religious texts with modern scientific discoveries, arguing that scripture and science align and mutually support one another.

Biological evolution

Genetic change in a group of organisms.

Biological species concept

A species is a group whose members can interbreed but are reproductively isolated from members of other species.

Scientific method steps

Observation → hypothesis → experiment/test → measure & analyze → communicate findings.

Controlled variable

A factor kept the same throughout the experiment.

Major limitation of science

It is limited to processes that can be measured/reproduced and cannot test supernatural phenomena.

Who disproved spontaneous generation?

Louis Pasteur, using swan-neck flasks.

Variable on the x-axis

The independent variable, normally.

Variable on the y-axis

The dependent variable, normally.

Scatter plot

Graph that shows relationships between two numerical variables.

Line graph

Graph that is best for change over time.

Bar graph

Graph that is best for comparing categories.

Pie chart

Graph that shows parts of a whole.

Standard deviation

Measures how spread out values are relative to their average.