Vocabulary Flashcards
(24 cards)
Correlation
Relationship between one event or action and another.
Causal Relationship
One event directly produces another event.
Organization
the act or process of organizing.
Adaptation
any alteration in the structure or function of an organism or any of its parts that results from natural selection and by which the organism becomes better fitted to survive and multiply in its environment.
Reproduction
The natural process among organisms by which new individuals are generated and the species perpetuated.
Development
the act or process of developing; growth; progress: child development; economic development.
Homeostasis
the tendency of a system, especially the physiological system of higher animals, to maintain internal stability, owing to the coordinated response of its parts to any situation or stimulus that would tend to disturb its normal condition or function.
Metabolism
any basic process of organic functioning or operating: changes in the country’s economic metabolism.
Observation
an act or instance of noticing or perceiving.
Predicting
to foretell the future; make a prediction.
Hypothesis
a proposition assumed as a premise in an argument.
Experiment
to try or test, especially in order to discover or prove something: to experiment with a new procedure.
Peer Review
evaluation of a person’s work or performance by a group of people in the same occupation, profession, or industry.
Scientific Method
a method of research in which a problem is identified, relevant data are gathered, a hypothesis is formulated from these data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested.
Evidence
that which tends to prove or disprove something; ground for belief; proof.
Indicator
a pointing or directing device, as a pointer on the dial of an instrument to show pressure, temperature, speed, volume, or the like.
Sustainability
the ability to be sustained, supported, upheld, or confirmed.
Trade Off
the exchange of one thing for another of more or less equal value, especially to effect a compromise.
Land Degradation
Decline in overall quality of soil, water, or vegetation caused by human activities or natural events.
Independent Variable
Also called: predictor the variable which an experimenter deliberately manipulates in order to observe its relationship with some other quantity, or which defines the distinct conditions in an experiment
Dependent Variable
the event studied and expected to change when the independent variable is changed. Compare independent variable control variable
Eutrophication
characterized by an abundant accumulation of nutrients that support a dense growth of algae and other organisms, the decay of which depletes the shallow waters of oxygen in summer.
Experimental Group
A group of subjects that are exposed to the variable of a control experiment.
Control Group
in an experiment or clinical trial) a group of subjects closely resembling the treatment group in many demographic variables but not receiving the active medication or factor under study and thereby serving as a comparison group when treatment results are evaluated.