Scientific argument involves three components. Which of the following are…

A scientific argument is the reasoning chain that connects an idea to evidence. It has three linked parts: a HYPOTHESIS (the proposed explanation for a phenomenon), the PREDICTIONS that hypothesis generates (the specific, testable outcomes expected if it is true), and the EVIDENCE (the actual observations checked against those predictions). All three parts together make the argument complete; removing any one breaks the chain linking idea to test.

The stem states plainly that a scientific argument has three components, and the three statements offered -- Hypothesis, Predictions, Evidence -- are exactly those three parts. Since the argument is only complete when all three are present and linked, the option listing all three together is the complete, correct set.

Checking the two-item combinations confirms why each is incomplete on its own:

• Hypothesis and evidence alone skip the predictions that connect the idea to what was actually observed.

• Predictions and evidence alone skip the hypothesis that the predictions were derived from in the first place.

• Hypothesis and predictions alone skip the evidence needed to test whether the prediction actually held.

Only the combination carrying all three -- Hypothesis, Predictions, and Evidence -- represents a complete scientific argument, matching the stem's own statement that there are three components.