Week 2 Vocabulary

1. Week 2 Vocabulary

2. Independent Variable • A factor that is manipulated (changed) by the experimenter. • It is the “if” part of a hypothesis • Example: If a plant is watered on a regular basis, then it will grow. • How often the plant is watered is the independent variable.

3. Dependent Variable • The variable that is measured in an experiment. • It is the “then” part of a hypothesis. • Example: If a plant is watered on a regular basis, then it will grow. • How much the plant grows is the dependent variable.

4. Control • A standard used to check or verify the results of an experiment. • The control group does not receive the independent variable

5. Theory • A set of statements or ideas that explain a group of facts or phenomena. • Understand the difference between a scientific theory and a philosophical theory

6. Conclusion • Judgment based on the results of an experiment • It should either confirm or deny the hypothesis

7. Constants • The variables that remain the same in an experiment • Example: In an experiment testing the use of fertilizer on plants the following should remain the same: type of plants, type of fertilizer, amount of water, sunlight, etc.

8. Rock Cycle • Model that describes how rocks slowly change from one form to another through time

9. Sedimentary Rock • A type of rock, such as limestone, that is most likely to contain fossils and is formed when layers of sand, silt, clay or mud are cemented and compacted together or when minerals are deposited from a solution

10. Igneous Rock • Rock formed when magma cools and hardens

11. Metamorphic Rock • Forms when heat, pressure or fluids act on igneous, sedimentary, or other metamorphic rock to change its form or composition, or both.