MAP Growth Science cheat sheet

Science

• Scientific method sequence: question → hypothesis → controlled experiment → data analysis → conclusion → peer review; a hypothesis must be testable and falsifiable, not merely a guess.

• Variables: independent variable is manipulated by the experimenter, dependent variable is measured, and controlled variables are held constant; only one independent variable per valid experiment.

• Control group receives no treatment or a placebo and establishes the baseline against which the experimental group is compared.

• Measurement rules: use SI units (meter, kilogram, second, kelvin, mole, ampere, candela); mass is kilograms, weight is newtons, and 1 N = 1 kg·m/s².

• Density = mass ÷ volume; an object floats in a fluid when its density is less than the fluid's density and sinks when greater.

• Speed = distance ÷ time; velocity adds direction; acceleration = change in velocity ÷ time, and a net force is required to change motion (F = ma).

• Newton's third law: forces act in equal and opposite pairs on different objects, so the pair never cancels on a single object.

• Energy is conserved but transforms among kinetic (½mv²), potential (mgh), thermal, chemical, and electrical forms; energy flows and matter cycles in ecosystems.

• Cell theory: all living things are made of cells, the cell is the basic unit of life, and all cells arise from existing cells; mitochondria release energy and chloroplasts capture light.