Theory and Law

This law describes how the forces of gravity work in the universe.

• Law of Gravity

• Theory of Evolution

• Theory of Plate Tectonics

• Theory of Natural Selection

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Scientists create both scientific theories and scientific laws as they make observations and conduct experiments about the natural world. Which of the following statements most accurately compares the difference between scientific theories and scientific laws?

• Scientific laws are based on evidence, while scientific theories are not.

• Scientific theories involve only biology, while laws involve all types of science.

• Scientific theories involve mathematical equations, while scientific laws are based on observations.

• Scientific theories are ideas that explain natural events, while scientific laws more reliably predict natural events.

Which of these can change when new evidence is presented?

• theory

• law

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Which of these explain how a natural phenomenon works or happens?

• theory

• law

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A set of principles that explains and predicts a phenomena is called a _____. 

• scientific law

• scientific method

• scientific theory

• scientific instructor

Attempts to explain why something happens Explain how a natural phenomenon works based on available evidence.

• Law

• Theory

• Hypothesis

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True/False: “If a hypothesis is supported, it becomes a theory. If a theory is proven it becomes a law”.

• True

• False

True/False. A scientific theory can change with new evidence and cannot change into a law.

• True

• False

The following statements apply to both theory and law: Based on evidence. Cannot change into each other. Widely accepted by the majority of scientists in the given field of study

• True

• False

The development of microscopes allowed scientists to investigate living things in greater detail. Through many investigations, scientists found evidence that all living things are made of one or more basic units that divide to form new units. Scientists used their evidence to explain the relationship between these “building blocks of life” and the organisms to which they belong. What are these explanations called?

• Cell theory

• Germ theory

• Law of biogenesis

• Law of mitosis

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