Working Scientifically Flashcards
What is peer-review?
Where other scientists check results and scientific explanations to make sure they’re ‘scientific’ (e.g. that experiments have been done in a sensible way) before they’re published.
What does a peer-review help to detect?
False claims- this doesn’t mean that the findings aren’t correct though but they’re just not wrong in an obvious way.
What are accepted hypotheses often referred as?
Theories
Reports about scientific discoveries in the media (e.g. newspapers or TV) aren’t…
Peer-reviewed
This means they can be presented in a way that’s over-simplified or inaccurate, making it open for misinterpretation
Scientific developments can lead to issues such as
1)Economic issues- society can’t afford things scientists recommend
2)Social issues- Decisions based on scientific evidence affect people e.g. banning alcohol and the effect on peoples’ lifestyles
3)Personal issues- Decisions affecting individuals
4)Environmental issues- Human activity often affects the natural environment.
Hazards from experiments in Biology include:
-Microorganisms, eg some bacteria can make you ill
-Chemicals, eg sulfuric acid can burn your skin and alcohols catch fire easily (can reduce risk by wearing gloves/goggles)
-Fire, eg an unattended Bunsen burner is a fire hazard (reduce risk by stand bunsen burner on heatproof mat)
-Electricity, eg faulty electrical equipment could give you a shock
What is the SI base unit for:
-mass
-length
-time
-Mass=kilogram, kg
-Length=metre, m
-time=second, s
What are the conversions for:
-kg to g
-mm to μm to nm
-min to s
-m^3 to dm^3 to cm^3
-Mass can have units of kg and g.
kg to g= x1000
g to kg=/1000
-Length can have lots of units, including mm, μm and nm.
mm to μm=x1000 μm to nm=x1000
nm to μm=/1000 μm to mm=/1000
-Time can have units of min and s.
min to s=x60
s to min=/60
-Volume can have units of m^3, dm^3 and cm^3.
m^3 to dm^3=x1000 dm^3 to cm^3=x1000
cm^3 to dm^3=/1000 dm^3 to m^3=/1000
