Life on Planet Earth Exam 1 Study Guide What is scientific literacy The knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making participation in civic and cultural affairs and economic productivity Why is literacy in science important You will encounter 1000s of scientific claims in your life need to have the tools to determine the quality of these claims in order to make educated decisions What is science A collection of knowledge a method for gaining that knowledge and using it to understand the natural world Know the six steps of the scientific method and what occurs in each Understand the concept of experimenter s bias and how elimination of bias separates everyday use of the scientific method from use in scientific research Know the four principles of intellectual honesty Know what a hypothesis is the if then form and the most important characteristic of good scientific hypotheses Given an observation be able to come up with a testable hypothesis to explain your observation Don t worry about science knowledge just use good reason and logic Understand what falsification is and why scientists set out to disprove Know and be able to define the three characteristics of good scientific their own hypotheses experiments Control of variables Randomization Repetition Know what a control group and treatment group are and what Know what an independent and dependent variable are and be they are used for able to identify them If given an example experiment be able to identify which one of these is violated if any Independent variable The thing that is different between experimental groups Dependent variable s The thing that is measured as the outcome of the experiment Researchers identify six sufferers of the disease and split them evenly in to a control group that avoids exercise and a treatment group that exercises every day They measure the amount of nerve degeneration after six months Independent amount of exercise Dependent nerve degeneration breakdown Researchers identify six sufferers of the disease and split them evenly in to a control group that avoids exercise and a treatment group that exercises every day They measure the amount of nerve degeneration after six months Independent amount of exercise Dependent nerve degeneration breakdown Why is life hard to define Not a thing but a complex process Organization Seven characteristics of living things Life is organized into complex patterns at many levels Most important level is the cell Know what unicellular and multicellular mean Know the purpose of the cell membrane and cytoplasm Know the Cell Theory Seven characteristics of living things Metabolism Chemical processes that sustain life Know the difference between catabolism and anabolism ATP is how energy is stored and traded in living organisms Be able to define homeostasis and give a few examples of what humans do to maintain it Be able to define stimulus response Seven characteristics of living things Growth Growth is an increase in cell size or cell number Growth occurs by means of cell division Know the difference between growth and development Define reproduction its purpose and the differences between asexual and sexual reproduction Define adaptation Living things become more suited to their environments by responding to natural selection evolution