Review the key ideas from Lessons 11-16, then test yourself with 10 multiple-choice questions and 3 short-answer questions.
Quick Review
Focus: A claim is a statement or conclusion that answers a scientific question. Reasoning explains why the evidence supports the claim using scientific principles.
Key terms: Claim, Evidence, Reasoning
Focus: High-quality data is reliable, valid and sufficient to support a conclusion. Bias and error can reduce data quality at any stage of collection and analysis.
Key terms: Data quality, Reliability, Validity
Focus: Scientific communication must be clear, logical and appropriate for the audience. Good communication allows others to repeat, evaluate and extend your work.
Key terms: Scientific report, Abstract, Method
Focus: A primary source is data you collect yourself, while a secondary source is data others collected, such as the Bureau of Meteorology or the ABS. A digital footprint is the trail of data each person leaves online, and reliability and ethics matter as much as the data itself.
Key terms: Primary source, Secondary source, Digital footprint
Focus: A model is a simplified representation that helps us understand, explain or predict. The three main types are physical, conceptual and mathematical, and every model has limitations because it leaves out detail.
Key terms: Physical model, Conceptual model, Mathematical model
Focus: A computer-based model represents a real system using rules and data, then runs to show what happens. Simulations follow an inputs, calculate, outputs cycle and must be validated against real observations, since a model is only as good as its data and assumptions.
Key terms: Simulation, Validation, Garbage in garbage out
Multiple Choice (10 questions)
1. Which component of a scientific argument explains why the evidence supports the claim?
2. A student says 'The metal expanded because heat increases particle vibration.' What part of CER is 'heat increases particle vibration'?
3. Which best describes valid data?
4. Why is peer review important for scientific data?
5. Which section of a scientific report tells others how to repeat the experiment?
6. Why should scientific conclusions use cautious language like 'suggests' rather than 'proves'?
7. A student downloads 50 years of rainfall records from the Bureau of Meteorology website to use in their investigation. For that student, this data is best described as a:
8. Which of the following best describes a person's digital footprint?
9. The equation speed equals distance divided by time, a diagram of the water cycle, and a plastic model of the heart are, in that order, examples of which types of model?
10. The Bureau of Meteorology runs a computer model called ACCESS to forecast the weather. Why is its 3-day forecast usually more reliable than its 14-day forecast?
Short Answer (3 questions)
Put what you have reviewed to the test! Jump through the checkpoint questions in game form.
Play GameTick the box when you have finished the questions and played the game.