GED Science flashcards
GED Science · Build recall with a focused review session.
30 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Hypothesis
- A testable, falsifiable prediction about what will happen under specified conditions. It is stated before an experiment and evaluated against the resulting data.
- Independent Variable
- The factor a researcher deliberately changes or manipulates in an experiment. Its effect on the outcome is what the study is designed to measure.
- Dependent Variable
- The factor that is measured or observed in an experiment. It is expected to respond to changes in the independent variable.
- Control Group
- The comparison group in an experiment that does not receive the treatment being tested. It shows what would happen without the independent variable.
- Correlation
- A statistical relationship in which two variables tend to change together. Correlation alone does not prove that one variable causes the other.
- Photosynthesis
- The process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar, releasing oxygen as a byproduct.
- Cellular Respiration
- The process cells use to release energy from sugar, typically consuming oxygen and producing carbon dioxide and water. It is essentially the reverse of photosynthesis.
- Food Chain
- A sequence showing how energy moves from producers to consumers as organisms eat one another. Energy decreases at each step because much is lost as heat.
- Observation
- Information gathered directly through the senses or with instruments, such as a measurement, color change, or sound; observations are the raw evidence scientists use to draw conclusions.
- Inference
- A logical explanation or interpretation based on observations and prior knowledge rather than on direct sensing; inferences go beyond what was actually observed.
- Scientific theory
- A well-tested, broad explanation for a set of related observations, supported by much evidence and accepted by most scientists; it is not a guess.
- Bias
- A systematic error or slant that pushes results or interpretations in a particular direction, often caused by how a study is designed, measured, or reported.
- Data
- Recorded observations or measurements that scientists collect and analyze; data can be numbers or descriptions and are used as evidence to support or reject a hypothesis.
- Cell
- The smallest living unit of an organism; cells have a membrane, contain genetic material, and carry out life processes such as obtaining energy and making proteins.
- DNA
- The molecule that carries genetic instructions in living things; DNA is made of two strands twisted together and its sequence of bases encodes information for building proteins and traits.
- Gene
- A section of DNA that provides instructions for making a protein or for controlling a trait; genes are passed from parents to offspring and can exist in different versions.
- Natural selection
- The process by which individuals with traits better suited to their environment tend to survive and reproduce more, so those helpful traits become more common in later generations.
- Ecosystem
- All the living organisms in a particular area together with the nonliving parts of their environment, such as water, soil, air, and sunlight; organisms interact with each other and with these parts.
- Food web
- A diagram or model showing many interconnected food chains in an ecosystem, illustrating how energy and matter move from producers to various consumers and decomposers.
- Homeostasis
- The ability of a living thing to keep its internal conditions, such as temperature or water balance, within a stable range even when the outside environment changes.
- Rock cycle
- The ongoing set of processes that change rocks among igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic forms through melting, cooling, weathering, erosion, deposition, compaction, and heat and pressure.
- Plate tectonics
- The scientific model that Earth's outer shell is broken into large moving plates; their interactions cause earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain building, and the shifting of continents over time.
- Weathering
- The breakdown of rocks and other materials at or near Earth's surface by physical, chemical, or biological processes; it does not involve transporting the broken pieces away.
- Erosion
- The movement or carrying away of weathered rock, soil, and other materials by agents such as water, wind, ice, or gravity; it often follows weathering and can reshape landscapes.
- Water cycle
- The continuous movement of water through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection on Earth; it transfers water between the oceans, atmosphere, land, and living things.
- Greenhouse effect
- The warming of Earth's surface and lower atmosphere when certain gases trap heat that would otherwise escape to space; this natural process helps keep Earth warm enough for life.
- Solar system
- The Sun and all the objects that orbit it, including planets, moons, asteroids, and comets; gravity holds the system together and keeps objects in orbit.
- Gravity
- A force of attraction between any two objects that have mass; on Earth it pulls objects toward the planet's center and keeps the Moon and satellites in orbit.
- Climate
- The typical weather conditions of a region over many years, including average temperature and precipitation patterns; climate differs from day-to-day weather and can be affected by the greenhouse effect.
- Moon phases
- The changing appearance of the Moon as seen from Earth, caused by the relative positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon; the Moon does not actually change shape.