Week 1 Packet
KBAT (Know, Be Able To)
Vocabulary: Define Each Word and give an Example.
Science
Open System
Hypothesis
Closed System
Independent Variable
Resilience
Dependent Variable
Bar Graph
Mean
Scatter Plot
Positive Feedback
Pie Chart
Negative Feedback
Line Graph
Homeostasis
Manipulated Experiments
Statistics
Throughput
Normal Distribution
Controlled Study
Be Able To
***Identify and diagram the scientific method and how it works.
***Identify the independent and dependent variables in a controlled experiment.
***Contrast deductive and inductive reasoning. Give examples of each.
***Compare and contrast positive and negative feedback loops. List specific environmental examples of
each type of loop.
***Explain systems and their uses in science, including disturbances and emergent properties.
***Identify bias and limitation in science.
***Evaluate the role of science consensus and conflict.
Reading Assignment:


Chapter 2: Principles of Science and Systems (P.37-50)
Complete Study Guide for Chapter 2
Due: September 3, 2013
Study Guide for Chapter 2
What is Science?
2.1
What is Science?
1. Explain science.
2. Give a brief history of science.
3. Fill in the following table.
Basic Principles of Science
4. Why are scientists skeptical?
5. Explain reproducibility.
6. A significant number tells the level of ____________________________________________________.
7. In logical reasoning from general to specific is called________________________________________.
8. Reasoning from many observations to produce a general rule is called
______________________________________________________________________________.
9. What are inductive and deductive reasoning? Describe an example in which you have used each.
10. Create your own example of using the scientific method.
Book example
Flashlight doesn’t work
3 main components of flashlight
If the flashlight doesn’t work,
then the batteries must be
dead.
I will replace the batteries and
the flashlight should turn on.
Scientific step
Observation
Your example
Hypothesis
Develop experiment to test
hypothesis
After you replaced the batteries
did the light turn on?
Gather data
If the light works now, then
your hypothesis was right; if
not, then you should formulate
a new hypothesis.
Interpret you results
11. Why is it almost always easier to prove a hypothesis wrong than prove it unquestionably correct?
12. What happened with the swans? Come up with your own example.
13. What is a scientific theory? How do scientists view the word “theory”?
14. One strategy to improve confidence in the face of uncertainty is to focus on
_____________________________________________________________________________________
15. Probability estimates are based on
_____________________________________________________________________________________
16. Probability does not tell you what WILL happen, but it tells you what is ________________________
to happen.
17. What is a random chance in probability?
18. How can circumstances change probability?
19. Why is it better to have a large sample group?
20. What is a natural experiment? A manipulative experiment? A controlled experiment?
21. Explain model in science? Give an example
2.2
Systems Describe Interactions
22. A system is a
_______________________________________________________________________________.
23. Give an example of a system.
24. A simple system consists of state variables or compartments. In your own words describe the
example in figure 2.9.
25. Open systems receive ____________________ from their surroundings and produce
_____________________ that leave the system.
26. In your own words explain throughput.
27. Draw figure 2.11 and explain energy flow.
28. Using the grassland ecosystem as your example, explain positive and negative feedback.
29. Remember that positive feedback leads to exponential growth or decay, while negative feedback
leads to homeostasis. What is homeostasis?
2.3
Scientific Consensus and Conflict
30. Scientific consensus is:
31. Explain paradigm shift. Give an example.
32. Read about pseudoscience. Why is it important to understand bias in environmental issues?