Chapter 1 Test

When scientific investigations produce data that show new patterns that contradict existing conclusions, scientists should

• ignore the contradictory data and keep the old conclusions.
• check the data for errors and revise or replace the old conclusions if needed.
• throw out the old data and use the new data only to reach new conclusions
• change the new data so that it fits the old conclusions.

Observations that deal with descriptions that cannot be expressed in numbers are called

• manipulated observations.
• quantitative observations.
• qualitative observations.
• responding observations.

When scientists put things into categories or group together items that are alike in some way, they are

• inferring.
• predicting.
• classifying.
• making models.

To find out why bread left on the kitchen counter eventually molds is an example of

• using scientific inquiry.
• developing a theory.
• making a prediction.
• collecting data.

Interpreting observations based on reasoning from what you already know is called

• classifying.
• predicting.
• inferring.
• observing.

The following are sources of reliable information except

• universities.
• museums.
• government agencies.
• advertisements.

Which describes how opinion and scientific evidence are related?

• An opinion is an idea that may be formed from evidence.
• Evidence is an idea that may be confirmed by an opinion.
• Scientific evidence and opinion are the same thing.
• Scientific evidence and opinion are not related.

Reliable information comes from a person or an organization that is not

• scientific.
• biased.
• educational.
• tested.

When scientists create a representation of a complex process, they are

• inferring.
• predicting.
• classifying.
• making models.

The term used for grouping together items that are alike in some way is a hypothesis

• True
• False