AP Enviormental (Chptr. 2) Flashcards

432987810	Science	A process for producing knowledge methodically and logically
432987811	Reproducibility	Making an observation or obtaining a particular set result more than once
432987812	Replication	Repeating studies or tests to verify reliability
432987813	Significant Number	Meaningful numbers whose accuracy can be verified
432987814	Deductive Reasoning	Deriving testable predictions about specific cases from general principles
432987815	Inductive Reasoning	Inferring general principles from specific examples
432987816	Hypothesis	A provisional explanation that can be tested scientifically
432987817	Scientific Theory	An explanation supported by many tests and accepted by a general consensus of scientists
432987818	Natural Experiment	A study of events that have already happened
432987819	Manipulative Experiment	One in which some conditions are deliberately altered while others are held constant to study cause-and-effect relationships
432987820	Controlled Study	Those in which comparisons are made between experimental and control populations that are identical except for the variable being studied
432987821	Blind Experiment	Those in which those carrying out the experiment don't know until after data has been gathered and analyzed which was the experimental treatment and which was the control
432987822	Double- Blind Experiment	One in which neither the experimenters or the the subjects know until after the data has been gathered and analyzed which was the experimental treatment and which was the control
432987823	Dependent Variable	A variable that is affected by the condition being altered in a manipulative experiment
432987824	Independent Variable	A factor not affected by the condition being altered in a manipulative experiment
432987825	Model	Simple representations of a more complex situation
432987826	Systems	Networks of interactions among many independent factors
432987827	Throughput	A flow of energy and matter into, through, and out of a system
432987828	Positive Feedback Loop	A situation in which a factor or condition causes changes that further enhance that condition or factor
432987829	Negative Feedback Loop	A situation in which a factor or condition causes a change that reduce that factor or condition
432987830	Homeostasis	Maintaing a dynamic, steady state in a living system through opposing, compensating adjustments
432987831	Disturbances	Periodic, destructive events such as fires or floods: changes in an ecosystem that affects the organisms living there
432987832	Resilience	The ability of a community or ecosystem to recover from a disturbance
432987833	State Shift	A permanent or long-lasting change
432987834	Emergent Properties	Characteristics of whole, functioning systems that are quantitively or qualitatively greater than the sum of the systems' parts
432987835	Scientific Consensus	A general agreement among informed scholars
432987836	Paradigm Shifts	A model that provides a framework for interpreting observations