Ch1 voc science

Experiment

Using controlled conditions to test a prediction.

Scientific Methods

Procedures used to solve problems and answer questions, including stating the problem, gathering information, forming a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis with an experiment, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions.

Hypothesis

A prediction that can be tested.

Control

The standard to which the outcome of a test is compared.

Variable

Something in an experiment that can change.

Theory

An explanation of things or events based on scientific knowledge resulting from many observations and experiments.

Law

A statement about how things work in nature that seems to be consistently true.

Raw Materials

Substances needed by organisms to make other necessary substances.

Organism

Any living thing.

Cell

The smallest unit of an organism that can carry on life functions.

Homeostasis

The regulation of an organism's internal, life-maintaining conditions.

Contaminate

To make impure by coming into contact with an unwanted substance.

Spontaneous Generation

The idea that living things come from nonliving things.

Biogenesis

The theory that living things only come from other living things.

Common Name

A nonscientific term that may vary from region to region.

Phylogeny

The evolutionary history of an organism, used today to group organisms into 6 kingdoms.

Kingdom

The first and largest category used to classify organisms.

Binomial Nomenclature

A two-word naming system that gives all organisms their scientific name.

Genus

The first word of the two-word scientific name used to identify a group of similar species.