Science Vocabulary

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Estimate

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A careful guess used when exact measurements are not needed or are difficult to obtain.

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Systems and systems models

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An organized group of related objects or components; models help understand and predict system behavior.

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Patterns

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Observed patterns guide organization and classification, prompting questions about relationships and underlying causes.

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Scale and proportion

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Recognizing relevant factors at different size, time, and energy scales, and understanding proportional relationships as scales change.

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Energy and matter

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Tracking energy and matter flows into, out of, and within systems helps understand their behavior.

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Cause and effect

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Understanding how one event (cause) leads to another event (effect) in a system.

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Controlled variable

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A variable that is kept constant during an experiment to ensure that the results are valid.

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Manipulated variable

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The variable that is changed or controlled in a scientific experiment to test its effects.

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Structure and function

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The relationship between the shape (structure) of an object and its purpose (function) in a system.

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Hypothesis

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A proposed explanation for a phenomenon, which can be tested through experimentation.