Labs Unit 1 - Science

Labs  We will be doing many labs in class.  Labs are completed in groups of 3 or 4.  Your group is formed by either your entire table, or a couple tables combined.  It is important for these labs to go smoothly. To help with this, each member of the team will be given a specific role or task.

1. The Leader  The leader's job is to make sure the group stays on task. If the group is unable to finish because of poor time management (also known as goofing off) then it is the leader's fault and they will be penalized.

2. The Police  The policeman's job is to protect the equipment. If something (or someone) is damaged because they were using the equipment in a stupid way it is the policeman's fault and they will be penalized.

3. The Janitor  The janitor's job is to return the equipment and clean up. If the lab group leaves a mess and the teacher has to put it away then it is the janitor's fault.

4. The Peasant  The peasant's job is to do whatever he is told. They are the extra helping hands to assist with whatever is needed.

LAB WRITE-UPS  All labs should be done in your official lab notebook and should follow these guidelines.  (An outline of these steps should have been glued into the front cover of your lab book.)

Title  Always start a new lab on a new page and write the name of the lab (top center), date (top left), and your name (top right).

Objective  Always give a brief summary of what you were trying to accomplish in the lab.

Design  Always draw a diagram of the lab set up and include a list of equipment used.

Procedures  Using at LEAST three sentences summarize what you did during the lab. This section should be written DURING or AFTER your lab (which means you often need to leave space for it in your report and then come back to it later.

Procedures (cont.)  Note: When a scientist performs an experiment in real life she does NOT report it as a series of instructions.  A scientist records a journal of what they actually did.

Recording procedures Examples BAD EXAMPLE: Step 1: Drop in 4 mL of sulfur. Step 2: Shake vigorously. GOOD EXAMPLE: First I measured out 4 mL of sulfur with a pipette and added it to the flask. Then I shook it vigorously until I was sure it had mixed completely in.

Procedures (cont.)  The biggest difference is the verb tense (should be past tense) and the point of view (the word "I" or "we" should be used a lot.) Also, the more details the better. You want other scientists to understand exactly what happened.

Data Collection  This is where you record all measurements and observations. This usually means making a data table.

Data Analysis  This is where you draw graphs and/or use equations to find patterns in your data.

Conclusion  This is where you state your final results and answer all guiding questions. (Most labs come with a set of questions that must be answered in order to get full lab points.)

Evaluation  This is where you decide if your results were reasonable. If you know your results were wacky you need to acknowledge it and give possible explanations. This is also where you should mention anything that went wrong or may have contaminated your results.

Be Careful!  Notice that the lab write-up steps are very similar to the steps in the scientific method. But they are NOT identical. On the test you will be asked to recall the Scientific METHOD (not the lab report).

Pendulum Lab Long before humans invented electric clocks we kept time using pendulums. Imagine that you want to build your own pendulum clock. It is important that it swings at just the right speed or else your clock won’t work. So the question becomes.... what variables affect the time period of a pendulum? How could I make the perfect clock?

Pendulum Lab  Let’s brainstorm some possible variables and how we could test them.

The Three variables we will test: 1.Angle 2.Mass 3.Length

Warnings:  You should only change one variable at a time. Everything else stays constant.  In order to form a good graph you need at LEAST four data points.