WGU C389 (QUESTIONS N ANSWERS
RATED A+) 2025/2026
SCIENCE - ANS ✔✔Our knowledge of the natural world and the process through which that
knowledge is built. The process of science relies on the testing of ideas with evidence gathered
from the natural world. Science as a whole cannot be precisely defined but can be broadly
described by a set of key characteristics.
FACTS - ANS ✔✔Statement that is known to be true through direct observation. Since scientific
ideas are inherently tentative, the term fact is more meaningful in everyday language than in
the language of science.
NATURAL WORLD - ANS ✔✔All the components of the physical universe — atoms, plants,
ecosystems, people, societies, galaxies, etc., as well as the natural forces at work on those
things. Elements of the natural world (as opposed to the supernatural) can be investigated by
science.
TECHNOLOGIES - ANS ✔✔Designed innovations that serve some practical function. Science and
technology frequently contribute to one another — with scientific advances leading to the
design of new technologies, and new technologies enabling new observations or tests that
advance scientific knowledge.
MULTIPLE LINES OF EVIDENCE - ANS ✔✔Evidence drawn from one sort of test result that bears
on the accuracy of an idea. In science, it is often desirable to use multiple lines of evidence
(drawn from different sorts of tests and even different fields of study) to evaluate a scientific
idea.
INFER - ANS ✔✔To figure out through logical reasoning. Inferences are often based on
established knowledge and/or assumptions.
,OBSERVE - ANS ✔✔To note, record, or attend to a result, occurrence, or phenomenon. Though
we typically think of observations as having been made "with our own eyes," in science,
observations may be made directly (by seeing, feeling, hearing, tasting, or smelling) or indirectly
using tools
DEDUCE - ANS ✔✔To figure out through logical reasoning. Deductions are often based on
established knowledge and/or assumptions.
EVIDENCE - ANS ✔✔Test results and/or observations that may either help support or help
refute a scientific idea. In general, raw data are considered evidence only once they have been
interpreted in a way that reflects on the accuracy of a scientific idea
TEST - ANS ✔✔In science, an observation or experiment that could provide evidence regarding
the accuracy of a scientific idea. Testing involves figuring out what one would expect to observe
if an idea were correct and comparing that expectation to what one actually observes.
PURE SCIENCE - ANS ✔✔Research undertaken to build knowledge and understanding,
regardless of its potential applications. The boundary between pure and applied science is fuzzy.
Research undertaken in the pure pursuit of knowledge often ends up having useful applications,
and research begun with an application in mind often ends up informing our understanding of
the natural world more broadly.
APPLIED SCIENCE - ANS ✔✔Research undertaken with the explicit goal of solving a problem or
developing a technology. The boundary between pure and applied science is fuzzy. Research
undertaken in the pure pursuit of knowledge often ends up having useful applications, and
research begun with an application in mind often ends up informing our understanding of the
natural world more broadly.
ACCEPT - ANS ✔✔To take as the best explanation based on the evidence. In the scientific
community, an idea is generally accepted when it is supported by many lines of evidence and
meets other criteria (e.g., consistency with well-established ideas in related fields).
,SCIENCE CHECKLIST - ANS ✔✔- Focuses on the natural world
- Aims to explain the natural world
- Use testable ideas
- Relies on evidence
- Involves the scientific community
- Leads to ongoing research
- Benefits from scientific behavior
TESTABLE - ANS ✔✔Capable of being tested scientifically. An idea is testable when it logically
generates a set of expectations about what we should observe in a particular situation. Ideas
that are not testable cannot be investigated by science.
EXPECTATION - ANS ✔✔In science, a potential outcome of a scientific test that is arrived at by
logically reasoning about a particular scientific idea (i.e., what we would logically expect to
observe if a given hypothesis or theory were true or false). The expectations generated by an
idea are sometimes called its predictions. Observations that match the expectations generated
by an idea are generally interpreted as supporting evidence. Mismatches are generally
interpreted as contradictory evidence.
ASSUMPTION - ANS ✔✔In science, an auxiliary hypothesis that is taken as true for the purposes
of interpreting a particular test. All tests involve making assumptions. If an assumption of a test
turns out to be inaccurate, it can cause the test results to be incorrectly interpreted. However,
assumptions can be independently tested to help establish their accuracy.
EXPERIMENT - ANS ✔✔A scientific test that involves manipulating some factor or factors in a
system in order to see how those changes affect the outcome or behavior of the system.
Experiments are important in science, but they are not the only way to test scientific ideas.
SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL - ANS ✔✔Publication that contains firsthand reports of scientific research,
often reviewed by experts. In these articles, scientists describe a study and any details one
might need to evaluate that study — background information, data, statistical results, graphs,
, maps, explanations of how the study was performed and how the researchers interpreted their
results, etc.
CONFERENCE - ANS ✔✔An event, usually organized by a scientific society or a group of
researchers, at which scientists give short presentations describing their research. Conferences
are one way in which scientists share their ideas, results, and research methods with the
scientific community.
MODEL - ANS ✔✔In science, the term model can mean several different things (e.g., an idea
about how something works or a physical model of a system that can be used for testing or
demonstrative purposes). However, as a research method, modeling often means creating a
mathematical model — a set of equations that indirectly represents a real system. These
equations are based on relevant information about the system and on sets of hypotheses about
how the system works. Given a set of parameters, a model can generate expectations about
how the system will behave in a particular situation. A model and the hypotheses it is based
upon are supported when the model generates expectations that match the behavior of its real-
world counterpart. Modeling often involves idealizing the system in some way — leaving some
aspects of the real system out of the model in order to isolate particular factors or to make the
model easier to work with computationally.
ANOMALY - ANS ✔✔In science, the term model can mean several different things (e.g., an idea
about how something works or a physical model of a system that can be used for testing or
demonstrative purposes). However, as a research method, modeling often means creating a
mathematical model — a set of equations that indirectly represents a real system. These
equations are based on relevant information about the system and on sets of hypotheses about
how the system works. Given a set of parameters, a model can generate expectations about
how the system will behave in a particular situation. A model and the hypotheses it is based
upon are supported when the model generates expectations that match the behavior of its real-
world counterpart. Modeling often involves idealizing the system in some way — leaving some
aspects of the real system out of the model in order to isolate particular factors or to make the
model easier to work with computationally.
PREDICTION - ANS ✔✔In science, a possible outcome of a scientific test based on logically
reasoning about a particular scientific idea (i.e., what we would logically expect to observe if a
RATED A+) 2025/2026
SCIENCE - ANS ✔✔Our knowledge of the natural world and the process through which that
knowledge is built. The process of science relies on the testing of ideas with evidence gathered
from the natural world. Science as a whole cannot be precisely defined but can be broadly
described by a set of key characteristics.
FACTS - ANS ✔✔Statement that is known to be true through direct observation. Since scientific
ideas are inherently tentative, the term fact is more meaningful in everyday language than in
the language of science.
NATURAL WORLD - ANS ✔✔All the components of the physical universe — atoms, plants,
ecosystems, people, societies, galaxies, etc., as well as the natural forces at work on those
things. Elements of the natural world (as opposed to the supernatural) can be investigated by
science.
TECHNOLOGIES - ANS ✔✔Designed innovations that serve some practical function. Science and
technology frequently contribute to one another — with scientific advances leading to the
design of new technologies, and new technologies enabling new observations or tests that
advance scientific knowledge.
MULTIPLE LINES OF EVIDENCE - ANS ✔✔Evidence drawn from one sort of test result that bears
on the accuracy of an idea. In science, it is often desirable to use multiple lines of evidence
(drawn from different sorts of tests and even different fields of study) to evaluate a scientific
idea.
INFER - ANS ✔✔To figure out through logical reasoning. Inferences are often based on
established knowledge and/or assumptions.
,OBSERVE - ANS ✔✔To note, record, or attend to a result, occurrence, or phenomenon. Though
we typically think of observations as having been made "with our own eyes," in science,
observations may be made directly (by seeing, feeling, hearing, tasting, or smelling) or indirectly
using tools
DEDUCE - ANS ✔✔To figure out through logical reasoning. Deductions are often based on
established knowledge and/or assumptions.
EVIDENCE - ANS ✔✔Test results and/or observations that may either help support or help
refute a scientific idea. In general, raw data are considered evidence only once they have been
interpreted in a way that reflects on the accuracy of a scientific idea
TEST - ANS ✔✔In science, an observation or experiment that could provide evidence regarding
the accuracy of a scientific idea. Testing involves figuring out what one would expect to observe
if an idea were correct and comparing that expectation to what one actually observes.
PURE SCIENCE - ANS ✔✔Research undertaken to build knowledge and understanding,
regardless of its potential applications. The boundary between pure and applied science is fuzzy.
Research undertaken in the pure pursuit of knowledge often ends up having useful applications,
and research begun with an application in mind often ends up informing our understanding of
the natural world more broadly.
APPLIED SCIENCE - ANS ✔✔Research undertaken with the explicit goal of solving a problem or
developing a technology. The boundary between pure and applied science is fuzzy. Research
undertaken in the pure pursuit of knowledge often ends up having useful applications, and
research begun with an application in mind often ends up informing our understanding of the
natural world more broadly.
ACCEPT - ANS ✔✔To take as the best explanation based on the evidence. In the scientific
community, an idea is generally accepted when it is supported by many lines of evidence and
meets other criteria (e.g., consistency with well-established ideas in related fields).
,SCIENCE CHECKLIST - ANS ✔✔- Focuses on the natural world
- Aims to explain the natural world
- Use testable ideas
- Relies on evidence
- Involves the scientific community
- Leads to ongoing research
- Benefits from scientific behavior
TESTABLE - ANS ✔✔Capable of being tested scientifically. An idea is testable when it logically
generates a set of expectations about what we should observe in a particular situation. Ideas
that are not testable cannot be investigated by science.
EXPECTATION - ANS ✔✔In science, a potential outcome of a scientific test that is arrived at by
logically reasoning about a particular scientific idea (i.e., what we would logically expect to
observe if a given hypothesis or theory were true or false). The expectations generated by an
idea are sometimes called its predictions. Observations that match the expectations generated
by an idea are generally interpreted as supporting evidence. Mismatches are generally
interpreted as contradictory evidence.
ASSUMPTION - ANS ✔✔In science, an auxiliary hypothesis that is taken as true for the purposes
of interpreting a particular test. All tests involve making assumptions. If an assumption of a test
turns out to be inaccurate, it can cause the test results to be incorrectly interpreted. However,
assumptions can be independently tested to help establish their accuracy.
EXPERIMENT - ANS ✔✔A scientific test that involves manipulating some factor or factors in a
system in order to see how those changes affect the outcome or behavior of the system.
Experiments are important in science, but they are not the only way to test scientific ideas.
SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL - ANS ✔✔Publication that contains firsthand reports of scientific research,
often reviewed by experts. In these articles, scientists describe a study and any details one
might need to evaluate that study — background information, data, statistical results, graphs,
, maps, explanations of how the study was performed and how the researchers interpreted their
results, etc.
CONFERENCE - ANS ✔✔An event, usually organized by a scientific society or a group of
researchers, at which scientists give short presentations describing their research. Conferences
are one way in which scientists share their ideas, results, and research methods with the
scientific community.
MODEL - ANS ✔✔In science, the term model can mean several different things (e.g., an idea
about how something works or a physical model of a system that can be used for testing or
demonstrative purposes). However, as a research method, modeling often means creating a
mathematical model — a set of equations that indirectly represents a real system. These
equations are based on relevant information about the system and on sets of hypotheses about
how the system works. Given a set of parameters, a model can generate expectations about
how the system will behave in a particular situation. A model and the hypotheses it is based
upon are supported when the model generates expectations that match the behavior of its real-
world counterpart. Modeling often involves idealizing the system in some way — leaving some
aspects of the real system out of the model in order to isolate particular factors or to make the
model easier to work with computationally.
ANOMALY - ANS ✔✔In science, the term model can mean several different things (e.g., an idea
about how something works or a physical model of a system that can be used for testing or
demonstrative purposes). However, as a research method, modeling often means creating a
mathematical model — a set of equations that indirectly represents a real system. These
equations are based on relevant information about the system and on sets of hypotheses about
how the system works. Given a set of parameters, a model can generate expectations about
how the system will behave in a particular situation. A model and the hypotheses it is based
upon are supported when the model generates expectations that match the behavior of its real-
world counterpart. Modeling often involves idealizing the system in some way — leaving some
aspects of the real system out of the model in order to isolate particular factors or to make the
model easier to work with computationally.
PREDICTION - ANS ✔✔In science, a possible outcome of a scientific test based on logically
reasoning about a particular scientific idea (i.e., what we would logically expect to observe if a
