MAP Growth Science flashcards
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32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Hypothesis
- A testable, falsifiable prediction that proposes an explanation for an observation and can be supported or rejected by experimental evidence.
- Independent variable
- The factor the experimenter deliberately changes between trials; it is the presumed cause whose effect on the measured outcome is being tested.
- Dependent variable
- The factor that is measured or observed in an experiment; it is the presumed effect and responds to changes in the independent variable.
- Control group
- The comparison group that receives no treatment or a placebo, providing a baseline to judge whether the experimental treatment actually caused the observed change.
- Controlled variables
- Factors other than the independent variable that are kept identical across all groups so they cannot confound the results of the experiment.
- Scientific theory
- A well-supported explanation built from many repeated observations and experiments, broader than a hypothesis and able to generate new predictions.
- Density formula
- Density equals mass divided by volume, commonly in grams per cubic centimeter or kilograms per cubic meter; it determines whether an object floats or sinks.
- Buoyancy
- The upward force a fluid exerts on an object; an object floats when its average density is less than the surrounding fluid's density.
- Newton's second law
- Net force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma); a larger net force produces greater acceleration, and greater mass produces less acceleration for the same force.
- Newton's third law
- For every action force there is an equal and opposite reaction force; the two forces act on different objects and do not cancel.
- Kinetic energy
- The energy of motion, calculated as one-half mass times velocity squared; doubling speed quadruples kinetic energy while doubling mass only doubles it.
- Potential energy
- Stored energy based on position or condition, such as gravitational potential energy equal to mass times gravity times height above a reference point.
- Conservation of energy
- Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed between forms such as kinetic, potential, thermal, chemical, and electrical; total energy stays constant.
- Conduction
- Heat transfer through direct contact as fast-moving particles collide with slower ones, moving thermal energy from warmer regions to cooler regions.
- Convection
- Heat transfer by the circulation of a fluid, where warmer, less dense material rises and cooler, denser material sinks, forming looping currents.
- Radiation
- Heat transfer by electromagnetic waves, which can travel through empty space and does not require a medium such as air or water.
- Physical change
- A change in state, shape, or size without forming a new substance, such as melting ice or dissolving sugar; the material's identity stays the same.
- Chemical change
- A change that produces one or more new substances with different properties, often signaled by color change, gas, precipitate, or heat release.
- Law of conservation of mass
- In a closed system, the total mass of reactants equals the total mass of products because atoms are rearranged, not created or destroyed, during a chemical change.
- Atom
- The smallest unit of an element that retains that element's properties, consisting of protons and neutrons in a nucleus surrounded by electrons.
- Element
- A pure substance made of only one kind of atom, defined by its atomic number, and not separable into simpler substances by chemical means.
- Compound
- A substance formed when two or more different elements bond in fixed proportions, such as water or carbon dioxide, and can be broken down chemically.
- Mixture
- Two or more substances combined without chemical bonding in variable proportions, separable by physical means such as filtration or evaporation.
- Cell theory
- The principle that all living things are made of cells, cells are the basic unit of life, and new cells arise from existing cells.
- Photosynthesis
- The process where plants use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen inside chloroplasts, storing energy in chemical bonds.
- Cellular respiration
- The process where cells break down glucose with oxygen to release usable energy, producing carbon dioxide and water as byproducts.
- Food chain
- A sequence showing energy flow from producers to consumers to decomposers, with arrows pointing in the direction energy is transferred.
- Ecosystem
- A community of living organisms interacting with one another and with nonliving factors such as water, soil, sunlight, and temperature in a given area.
- Adaptation
- An inherited trait that improves an organism's chance of surviving and reproducing in its environment, arising over generations through natural selection.
- Natural selection
- The process where individuals with advantageous inherited traits survive and reproduce more, so those traits become more common in later generations.
- Rock cycle
- The ongoing process where igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks change from one type to another through melting, cooling, weathering, erosion, and heat and pressure.
- Water cycle
- The continuous movement of water through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection, driven mainly by energy from the Sun.