Scientific method: A set of steps scientists use to answer questions
Observation: Using your senses or tools to notice something
Question: What you want to find out
Research: Learning what is already known about a topic
Hypothesis: A testable prediction or possible answer to a question
Prediction: A statement of what you expect to happen
Experiment: A fair test to check a hypothesis
Variable: Something that can change in an experiment
Independent variable: The thing you change on purpose
Dependent variable: The thing you measure as the result
Controlled variable (constant): A factor kept the same in every trial
Control group: The group that doesn't get the change, used for comparison
Experimental group: The group that gets the change being tested
Data: Information collected during an experiment
Quantitative data: Data in numbers
Qualitative data: Data in descriptions, such as color or smell
Analysis: Looking carefully at data to find patterns
Conclusion: What the results show about the hypothesis
Trial: One run of an experiment
Repeated trials: Doing the test again to make results more reliable
Sample size: The number of items or subjects tested
Bias: An unfair influence on results
Fair test: A test in which only one variable changes
Reproducible: Others can repeat the experiment and get the same results
Peer review: Other experts checking a scientist's work before it is published
Theory: A well-tested explanation supported by lots of evidence
Scientific law: A statement that describes a pattern in nature, often as an equation
Difference between theory and guess: A theory is backed by much evidence; a guess is not
Model: A representation used to explain or predict something
Inference: A conclusion based on evidence and reasoning
Evidence: Facts that support an idea
Anomaly: A result that doesn't fit the pattern
Error: A difference between a measured value and the true value
Accuracy: How close a measurement is to the true value
Precision: How close repeated measurements are to each other
Average (mean): The sum of values divided by how many there are
Median: The middle value of an ordered list
Mode: The value that appears most often
Range: The difference between the largest and smallest values
Line graph: Best for showing change over time
Bar graph: Best for comparing categories
Pie chart: Shows parts of a whole
Scatter plot: Shows how two variables relate
Title of a graph: Tells what the graph is about
Axis labels: Say what is measured and the units
Lab report: A written account of an experiment
Materials list: Tells what you need for an experiment
Procedure: The steps followed in an experiment
Safety first: Follow safety rules in every experiment
Metric system: The measurement system scientists use worldwide
Science fair: A contest where students show their experiments
Why change only one variable?: So you know what caused the result
Hypothesis format: If I do this, then that will happen, because...
Correlation: Two things changing together
Causation: One thing causing another
Does correlation prove causation?: No
Placebo: A harmless pill with no medicine, used for comparison in tests
Double-blind test: Neither the subjects nor the testers know who gets the real treatment
Pseudoscience: Ideas that look like science but aren't tested properly
Skepticism: Asking for evidence before believing a claim
Falsifiable: Able to be proven wrong by evidence

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