Experiment
Using controlled condition to test a prediction.
Scientific Methods
Procedures used to solve problems and answer questions that can include stating the problem, gathering information, forming a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis with an experiment, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions.
Hypothesis
Prediction that can be tested.
Control
Standard to which the outcome of a test is compared.
Variable
Something in an experiment that can change.
Theory
Explanation of things or events based on scientific knowledge resulting from many observations and experiments.
Law
Statement about how things work in nature that seems to be true consistently.
Raw Materials
Substances needed by organisms to make other necessary substances.
Organism
Any living thing.
Cell
Smallest unit of an organism that can carry on life functions.
Homeostasis
Regulation of an organism’s internal, life-maintaining conditions.
Contaminate
To make impure by coming into contact with an unwanted substance.
Spontaneous Generation
Idea that living things come from nonliving things.
Biogenesis
Theory that living things come from other living things.
Common Name
A nonscientific term that may vary from region to region.
Phylogeny
Evolutionary history of an organism; used today to group organisms into six kingdoms.
Kingdom
First and largest category used to classify organisms.
Binomial Nomenclature
Two-world naming system that gives all organisms their scientific names.
Genus
First word of the two-word scientific name used to identify a group of similar species.