How Science Works

Question 1

what do you do in the aim

Answer 1

ask a question
identify a problem
formulate an aim

Question 2

what do you do in the hypothesis

Answer 2

research what is known already

formulate a hypothesis

Question 3

what do you do in the plan

Answer 3

plan experiment/observation

materials, method, variable, controls

Question 4

what do you do in the data

Answer 4

carry out experiment / make observations
record data (table)

Question 5

what do you do in the analysis

Answer 5

display data (graph)
analyse data

Question 6

what do you do in the conclusion

Answer 6

interpret results
write a conclusion
compare to hypothesis
report results

Question 7

independent variable

Answer 7

the variable that you change in an experiment

Question 8

dependent variable

Answer 8

the variable that is measured (observed)

Question 9

control variable

Answer 9

the variable that you keep the same in an experiment

Question 10

categorical variable

Answer 10

non-numerical variable

Question 11

discrete variable

Answer 11

the numerical variable a whole number values

Question 12

continuos variable

Answer 12

numerical variable that can be any value

Question 13

fair test / valid

Answer 13

when there is only one independent variable (all of other variables are kept constant, so they don’t affect the experiment (= control variables)

Question 14

which variable is colour

Answer 14

categoric

Question 15

which variable is height

Answer 15

continuos

Question 16

which variable is age

Answer 16

continuos

Question 17

which variable is number of children

Answer 17

discrete

Question 18

which variable is left/right handed

Answer 18

categoric

Question 19

which variable is leg number

Answer 19

discrete

Question 20

for making tables, which variable goes in the left column?

Answer 20

independent variable

Question 21

for making tables, which variable goes in the right column?

Answer 21

dependent variable

Question 22

when calculating the mean do you include or exclude anomalies?

Answer 22

exclude

Question 23

when drawing graphs, do you use a bar or line graph for a categorical variable?

Answer 23

bar graph

Question 24

when drawing graphs, do you use a bar or line graph for a discrete variable?

Answer 24

bar graph

Question 25

when drawing graphs, do you use a bar or line graph for a continuos variable?

Answer 25

line graph

Question 26

when drawing a graph, which variable goes on the x axis

Answer 26

independent variable

Question 27

when drawing a graph, which variable goes on the y axis

Answer 27

dependent varibable

Question 28

with the dependent variable, which value do you only plot on the graph

Answer 28

the mean value

Question 29

on a bar graph, you should have … widths of columns

Answer 29

same

Question 30

on a line graph, you should connect points with a …

Answer 30

ruler

Question 31

reliable

Answer 31

when results are consistent when repeated

Question 32

anomalies

Answer 32

results that are very different from the rest

Question 33

accurate

Answer 33

when results are correct (close to true value)

Question 34

which two things help to achieve accuracy

Answer 34

a goof method of getting results

correctly functioning and sensitive equipment

Question 35

aim

Answer 35

the purpose of an experiment

Question 36

hypothesis

Answer 36

a suggestion for what you think you will observe

Question 37

method

Answer 37

the way you’re doing an experiment

Question 38

observation

Answer 38

what you notice during an experiment

Question 39

data

Answer 39

the results you collect

Question 40

conclusion

Answer 40

a summary explanation of the results