SCIENCE NOTE
Science skills and safety
6 MAIN STEPS -
1.
Identify a question
Types of questions:
a. Relationships: How does one thing affect another?
b. Investigations: Which common substances dissolve in water? (Exploring a topic )
2. Collect information
3. Form a hypothesis
How to write a good hypothesis?
IF, THEN, BECAUSE Formate
If we change our independent variable, how will our dependent variable change, because … ?
4. Design and carry out the experiment
5. Do observations
a. A qualitative observation
b. A quantitative observation (Example: a sentence with numbers)
6. Sources of Error
a. Sources should not be made by the experimenter
7. Make conclusions
All conclusions should do three things:
a. Answer the question referring to the hypothesis, and indicate if it is correct or not
b. State your specific data including specific numbers, that support or refute your original
hypothesis.
c. Next, possible experiments usually use the same dependent variable.
Ecology
- ENERGY TRANSFER IN ECOSYSTEMS
1.Trophic (feeding) Levels
● Producers: 1st trophic level (most energy available) → autotrophs
● Primary consumers: feed on producers (2nd trophic level) - herbivore, heterotroph
● Secondary consumers: feed on primary consumers (3rd trophic level) - carnivore,
predator, heterotroph
● Tertiary consumers: (4th trophic level) carnivore, predator, heterotroph
If the top of the food chain: Top carnivore, apex predator
- PHOTOSYNTHESIS, CELLULAR RESPIRATION &NUTRIENT CYCLING
Recap:
● PRODUCERS - turn the Sun’s energy into chemical energy that can be used through
photosynthesis
● HERBIVORES – eat only plants
● CARNIVORES – eat only animals
● OMNIVORES – eat both plants and animals
Science skills and safety
6 MAIN STEPS -
1.
Identify a question
Types of questions:
a. Relationships: How does one thing affect another?
b. Investigations: Which common substances dissolve in water? (Exploring a topic )
2. Collect information
3. Form a hypothesis
How to write a good hypothesis?
IF, THEN, BECAUSE Formate
If we change our independent variable, how will our dependent variable change, because … ?
4. Design and carry out the experiment
5. Do observations
a. A qualitative observation
b. A quantitative observation (Example: a sentence with numbers)
6. Sources of Error
a. Sources should not be made by the experimenter
7. Make conclusions
All conclusions should do three things:
a. Answer the question referring to the hypothesis, and indicate if it is correct or not
b. State your specific data including specific numbers, that support or refute your original
hypothesis.
c. Next, possible experiments usually use the same dependent variable.
Ecology
- ENERGY TRANSFER IN ECOSYSTEMS
1.Trophic (feeding) Levels
● Producers: 1st trophic level (most energy available) → autotrophs
● Primary consumers: feed on producers (2nd trophic level) - herbivore, heterotroph
● Secondary consumers: feed on primary consumers (3rd trophic level) - carnivore,
predator, heterotroph
● Tertiary consumers: (4th trophic level) carnivore, predator, heterotroph
If the top of the food chain: Top carnivore, apex predator
- PHOTOSYNTHESIS, CELLULAR RESPIRATION &NUTRIENT CYCLING
Recap:
● PRODUCERS - turn the Sun’s energy into chemical energy that can be used through
photosynthesis
● HERBIVORES – eat only plants
● CARNIVORES – eat only animals
● OMNIVORES – eat both plants and animals
