Pendulum Data:

Use the data in this table to create two graphs: L vs. T, and L vs. T2. For L vs. T, on the x-axis one interval equals 5 cm. On the y-axis, one interval equals 0.1 second. For L vs. T2, on the x-axis one interval equals 5 cm. On the y-axis, three intervals equals 1 second. Use pages 46 and 47 in your lab manual. For L vs. T2, use a straightedge to draw the "line of best fit".

Group Project Brainstorming Continues

The brainstorming process is a continual one. Remember to log-on to Google Docs and add some more ideas to your list. You can also take one of your general topics and try to make it more specific. Ask a more specific question or propose a hypothesis for a question asked by a team member. Some groups have already started writing proposed procedures for some of their SOPs. This is also a good idea. Keep the ideas coming!

Summary of Delta Mass Experiments:

In each of the experiments we did involving a question that began with the words: "Does mass change when. . .?", we found that mass did not change. In each experiment (ice & water, dissolving salt, and copper & sulfur) some type of a change took place. We made sure that the change took place within a closed container. This was important because we were trying to find out if the change in matter caused the difference in mass--we wanted to make sure that evaporation and spillage were not the reason for any measured change in mass.

Because we are not perfect, and our balances are not perfect, and mistakes are inevitable, we tried to collect as much data as possible so that we could minimize the effects of those imperfections on our results. Even though some groups' measurements would indicate that mass either increased or decreased, there were many more groups that found that there was no change in mass. We used histograms to help find the pattern in the data--and in every experiment the vast majority of data "stacked up" around the zero on the x-axis, indicating that the mass did not change.

In all of this, remember that our EABs are only reliable to (approximately) +/- 0.05 grams. Any time our measurements changed within that range we still considered that test to show "no change in mass".

Experiments like these 3 helped scientists establish a very important law of nature--the "Law of Conservation of Mass". This law states: In all changes, mass is exactly conserved. Please know this law for the next quiz and be able to offer some experimental evidence that supports it.

If you have any questions about this summary, please ask before the next quiz (which will be late next week).

Problems to Avoid. . .

Time Table for GROUP PROJECTS

Last week's poll is closed. . .

Try to visit every night!

New Video Bar Feature!!!! SCIENCE PROJECT IDEAS

Be sure to check out the Video Bar feature at the bottom of the page--there are some good project ideas to get you thinking about your own project. You could get extra points on a quiz if you watch these videos and pay attention!

Section 7H-ORANGE

Since we "forgot" the quiz on Friday, we will have a quiz on Monday. Naturally, since you had an extra week-end to study, your quiz will be a bit longer and more thorough than the quiz scheduled for Friday. Know your histograms! Be sure to check out the study tips on the Thayer website.

Histogram for Copper & Sulfur Experiment

You can use this histogram in the Data section of your Lab Report (so you don't have to make a new histogram from scratch).

Possible Diagrams for Lab Reprot #2

You can use the "command, shift, 4" short cut to include these diagrams in your report. Don't forget to label them.

This week's QUIZ:

Be sure you know your histograms. Know how to enter data into a histogram. Know how to determine the value of an interval on the x-axis. Know what to do when a data point lands directly on a boundary between two intervals. Know how to define a boundary and an interval. For practice, make a histogram using the data from the "Dissolved Salt" experiment. (Use an interval size of 2 one-hundredths of a gram, and put zero at the center of an interval.) Know what the label is on the y-axis of a histogram. Know what the "gray area" on the x-axis represent on the "Mass of Ice & Water" histogram. Ask questions in class if you are confused. . .(be smart and ask your questions BEFORE the quiz).

Mass of Dissolved Salt Data

Due 12/12/2008:

Lab Report #2: Using the lab report template (provided last term and available in Mr. Hamilton's public folder) and the Lab Report Rubric, prepare a lab report addressing any of the Delta Mass experiments (Ice & Water, Dissolved Salt, Copper & Sulfur) that you have completed in the lab. Data tables and histograms should be available on this site and in the DOWNLOADS section of the Thayer site.

HISTOGRAM: Mass of Ice to Water

The Mass of Ice and Water Data

Use these data for the mass of ice and water to make a histogram of the 7th grade results .

Test Preparation

Please know the importance of THEORIES and EVIDENCE as they relate to science and scientists. There will be a couple of related questions on Monday's test. Re-read pages 9 thru 13 in the Lab Manual if you need to brush up . . . Forgot your Lab Manual? Visit the Thayer website and downlaod a copy!

Mass of Ice and Water Data Now Available

The data collected by all sections is now in. Go to the Thayer website to get your copy of the "Ice to Water" data. You will need this data to create a histogram for your lab notebook. Be sure to print copies of the column titled "Delta Mass".

More Test Preparation!

Be sure to review page 26 in your Lab Manual--you should know how to read these scales and others like these. You should also know how to read the EAB--see Quiz 6 for examples (problems 1,2 & 3). If you lost that quiz, you can find some more examples in the Downloads section on the Thayer website.

Remember: tens, ones and tenths come from the right hand pan. Hundredths and thousandths come from the reading you take from the scale on the right hand arm of the balance. 100, 200 and 500 represent MILLIGRAMS, NOT grams!

Test Preparation

You can do well on Monday's test:

• Study!! Pay particular attention to past quizzes and measuring assessments
  
• Make sure you know: course expectations, safety procedures, the format of a lab report, ratios and proportions, mass is not weight, how to read scales, accuracy vs. precision, how to set up your Lab Notebook, how to use balances
• Expectations (what to bring to class)
  
• General lab safety (books, work area, floor space)
• Define: ratio, proportion, mass, precision, accuracy
• Be able to: solve proportions, cross multiply & isolate the variable, use correct units, convert from cm to m, and from m to cm and/or Km
• Know the strengths and weaknesses of the three types of balances
  

EAB, TBB & Top Loader Reproducibilty Data now available!

All of the data collected to determine balance reproducibility is now available on the Thayer website. You must have your user name and password to access this information. It is available in the Downloads section of the site. A quick look at the document should help you understand how we determine the reliability of our balances.

Week of Monday, November 17:

This week we finish collecting the data (penny and stopper) which will help us determine the reproducibility of the balances we will be using in the lab. By Tuesday afternoon we should have determined the reliability of each of the three different types of balances in the lab. This information will be posted as soon as it becomes available, and it should be recorded in your Lab Manual on page 36. We also began the inquiry process related to the questions on page 37 in the Lab Manual. As of Monday afternoon, the Orange section had already collected data in an attempt to answer the first question: "Does mass change when ice melts?". By the end of the week we should begin a discussion on the use of Histograms in presenting and analyzing data.

Remember that there will be a short, single period, term TEST given on Monday, November 24th.