5 Minute Earth
Science
“Relative”
WHAT DOES RELATIVE MEAN IN SCIENCE?
(IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR COUSIN, UNLESS YOU ARE
TALKING BIOLOGY, THEN IT DOES)
Relative is used when referring to a comparison.
Let’s watch the video on the next slide for an example.
Let’s take a look at our friend here.
Is he tall? Click below here once to start
video.
Let’s bring in some children and compare
his height to their heights.
Our friend is taller than the children.
Now let’s bring in some
basketball players.
Our friend is shorter than the
basketball players.
So… our friend is relatively tall compared
to children, but he is also relatively short
compared to basketball players.
Using the term relative is to compare
something to something else.
To say this summer was hot, means what?
Is it hot compared to this spring or winter?
Is it hot compered to other summers?
Your hot may not feel hot to another person.
We set our thermostats to 68° F in the winter
to keep us warm, but we also set our ACs to
68° F in the summer to keep us cool.
So, when I say that 68° F is warm am I
referring to summer time or winter?
Saying 68° F is warm is all relative
depending on what I am comparing it to.
If I say “That box is heavy”. It means I am
referring to my perception of what that
box’s weight feels like compared to what I
perceive what it should weigh.
CREDITS
•
5 minute Earth Science is made by:
• Jon Krawiec
• Waterville High School Teacher and Master Teacher Fellow
• Stick Man video was produce using
• Stykz software
• Edited using
• Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5
• Sounds from
• Soundbible.com
• Freesound.org