I think I've named everything. Please tell me in the comments if I'm missing something. I'm still missing HWs from some of you. If you're not sure of what your missing please come talk to me.
Aristotle and his physics
Galileo and Copernicus (optional)
Lab #1
Galileo’s Dialogue
Newton’s Laws
2 Dimensional Kinematics (Velocity, acceleration and forces)
Bridges and Forces
Kepler’s Laws and Universal Gravitation
Excepts from Bertrand Russel’s ‘The Rise of Science’
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Bridges
Here are some pictures of different bridges exemplifying different styles and architecture. Ms. J knows this stuff way better than me, but it's pretty cool anyways I think.
These are some suspension and arch bridges:
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Bridges
Sorry for the late post. I'll prepare some notes and stuff for Friday and Monday's class about the different kinds of bridges and the way the forces interact with them. We'll also have a really short quiz on the math we've been doing with displacement and acceleration and what not. Finally on Friday we'll spend the forty five minutes seeing how well your bridges do.
s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEQrt_w7gN4
s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEQrt_w7gN4
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Long Break
Over the two days I'm not there, Mr. J will be watching you guys. I've prepared a video for you guys to watch and I want you to watch it and then write a little one page paper that answers the question as best as you can, "what is a scientific theory and how does a 'theory' in the sense talked about in the nova episode compare to Galileo's thought experiment? Is he scientific?" There is no exact right answer to this question so quality of thought is what I'm looking for.
Also there is a quiz which he will give you on thursday.
">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9wQVIEdKh8
This video is something like what we talked about in class today.
Also there is a quiz which he will give you on thursday.
">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9wQVIEdKh8
This video is something like what we talked about in class today.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Lab Write Up
Sorry to get to this so late, but here is the bit about formal labs mentioned earlier in class. It's not a perfect lab or anything, but it gets the point across. Your main goal in writing a lab report is to explain the relationship between our experience and our interpretation when we do an experiment. Treat it as though you were explaining it to a mystical magical person known as "the reader." This fellow isn't the brightest chap, and he gets distracted and bored easily. Keep him entertained by focusing all of your sentences and writing to prove a point or show him something important to the overall purpose. Treat him as though he knows nothing about mechanics unless you've explained it earlier in your MLB.
HOW TO WRITE UP A FORMAL LAB – Instructions and Sample
Note: This is an oversimplified example, designed to just communicate the basic idea. Your lab write-ups will be more detailed and will included drawings as well.
When creating an entry for your Main Lesson Book that is required to be in ‘Lab Write-Up Format’ you will need to include the following aspects:
Title
Introduction (purpose, original observations/question, and hypothesis if applicable)
Materials
Procedure
Observations and Data
Analysis
Conclusions
Note: I am not rigid on the order of these things, because I am more interested in seeing you explain what you did and with what materials, and then moving from what you saw towards understanding it through laws. Many labs read more intelligibly if your procedure section and you observation section bleed together.
I will be working together with you throughout the block trying to work with your scientific writing..
Title
Usually the title is given in class, otherwise make one up that succinctly describes the experiment.
EX. Banana Slip Experiment
Introduction
State in a sentence or two the overall purpose of the experiment. Include any background information that would help someone to understand the context surrounding the experiment.
The question to answer is: “Why are you doing this particular experiment?” and “What are the primary phenomena you are trying to explore?” Document any original observations that give rise to these questions.
State your hypothesis (if applicable) that you are trying to test. Sometimes you don’t have an explicit hypothesis and you are just performing a particular procedure to ‘see what happens’.
EX. This experiment is designed to test whether or not a passer-by will slip on some banana peels placed on a slick tile floor.
Materials
List all materials used, and any pertinent information about the materials as well.
The question here is: “What are the things involved in the experiment?”
EX. 1 long hallway with 90° turn. Tiled.
5 banana peels, fresh
1 unsuspecting passer-by
Procedure
Explain how the materials are set up in relation to each other, and what you did with the materials so that any other reasonably intelligent person could fully re-create your experiment. Include a drawing of the setup. DO NOT tell “what happened” when you performed the experiment, just explain how it was set up and the steps needed to run the experiment. “What happened” goes in section 3, observations.
The question is: “How are the materials set up in relation to each other?” and “What did you actually do with the materials?”
EX. The banana peels were placed in the middle of the tiled floor just around the corner of the hallway, making sure to keep as much of the inside of the peel in contact with the ground as possible. I then waited until an unsuspecting passer-by walked down the hallway and made contact with the banana peels, and observed what happened.
Observations and Data
State exactly “what happened” when the experiment was performed. Tell only what you observed with your senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, etc). If you have direct technical data (measurements), please record the data in a table that is clearly labeled. Include drawings (with labels) and graphs (with labels) if they help communicate the facts.
EX. At 5:02pm a passer-by started walking down the hall. The person turned the corner and stepped on one of the banana peels. The person slipped a little but quickly regained balance, and immediately noticed me observing nearby. The person approached and glared at me, then walked off. The banana peels left sticky trails on the tile where they had been stepped on.
Analysis
Here is where you can “interpret” and explain your results. Include any ideas on why you observed what you did, and any ways you could improve the experiment by noting sources of error. In particular, include any unexpected, unusual, or important aspects, as well as reasons why your hypothesis was or was not accurate. This section will be based primarily on in-class discussion carried out on the following day, and you should include much of the in-class discussion in your own lab write-up.
EX. The person slipped a little because when trying to move forward while stepping on the banana peels, they could not gain much traction. This happened because the banana peels reduced the friction between the peel and the floor, so that instead of remaining in one place, the peel slid across the floor in a direction opposite to the direction in which the person was trying to move. Because the person had two legs, it was possible for the person to stabilize himself with his other leg. Additionally, the person seemed to suspect that I had purposefully placed the peels there, and gave me a dirty look. I think I could have made the slip-factor increase if I had let the peels sit for a few days, to get more mushy. I could also use many more peels, perhaps getting the person to step on one with each foot. One source of error was that the walking speed of the person could not be controlled. I suspect that the faster they walk, the more likely it is that they will slip.
Conclusion
Here is where you sum up the major conclusion of the whole lab in one or two sentences. In other words, state here the most important thing that we learned.
EX. The banana peels did not make the person fall, but the banana peel did cause some slipping to occur.
HOW TO WRITE UP A FORMAL LAB – Instructions and Sample
Note: This is an oversimplified example, designed to just communicate the basic idea. Your lab write-ups will be more detailed and will included drawings as well.
When creating an entry for your Main Lesson Book that is required to be in ‘Lab Write-Up Format’ you will need to include the following aspects:
Title
Introduction (purpose, original observations/question, and hypothesis if applicable)
Materials
Procedure
Observations and Data
Analysis
Conclusions
Note: I am not rigid on the order of these things, because I am more interested in seeing you explain what you did and with what materials, and then moving from what you saw towards understanding it through laws. Many labs read more intelligibly if your procedure section and you observation section bleed together.
I will be working together with you throughout the block trying to work with your scientific writing..
Title
Usually the title is given in class, otherwise make one up that succinctly describes the experiment.
EX. Banana Slip Experiment
Introduction
State in a sentence or two the overall purpose of the experiment. Include any background information that would help someone to understand the context surrounding the experiment.
The question to answer is: “Why are you doing this particular experiment?” and “What are the primary phenomena you are trying to explore?” Document any original observations that give rise to these questions.
State your hypothesis (if applicable) that you are trying to test. Sometimes you don’t have an explicit hypothesis and you are just performing a particular procedure to ‘see what happens’.
EX. This experiment is designed to test whether or not a passer-by will slip on some banana peels placed on a slick tile floor.
Materials
List all materials used, and any pertinent information about the materials as well.
The question here is: “What are the things involved in the experiment?”
EX. 1 long hallway with 90° turn. Tiled.
5 banana peels, fresh
1 unsuspecting passer-by
Procedure
Explain how the materials are set up in relation to each other, and what you did with the materials so that any other reasonably intelligent person could fully re-create your experiment. Include a drawing of the setup. DO NOT tell “what happened” when you performed the experiment, just explain how it was set up and the steps needed to run the experiment. “What happened” goes in section 3, observations.
The question is: “How are the materials set up in relation to each other?” and “What did you actually do with the materials?”
EX. The banana peels were placed in the middle of the tiled floor just around the corner of the hallway, making sure to keep as much of the inside of the peel in contact with the ground as possible. I then waited until an unsuspecting passer-by walked down the hallway and made contact with the banana peels, and observed what happened.
Observations and Data
State exactly “what happened” when the experiment was performed. Tell only what you observed with your senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, etc). If you have direct technical data (measurements), please record the data in a table that is clearly labeled. Include drawings (with labels) and graphs (with labels) if they help communicate the facts.
EX. At 5:02pm a passer-by started walking down the hall. The person turned the corner and stepped on one of the banana peels. The person slipped a little but quickly regained balance, and immediately noticed me observing nearby. The person approached and glared at me, then walked off. The banana peels left sticky trails on the tile where they had been stepped on.
Analysis
Here is where you can “interpret” and explain your results. Include any ideas on why you observed what you did, and any ways you could improve the experiment by noting sources of error. In particular, include any unexpected, unusual, or important aspects, as well as reasons why your hypothesis was or was not accurate. This section will be based primarily on in-class discussion carried out on the following day, and you should include much of the in-class discussion in your own lab write-up.
EX. The person slipped a little because when trying to move forward while stepping on the banana peels, they could not gain much traction. This happened because the banana peels reduced the friction between the peel and the floor, so that instead of remaining in one place, the peel slid across the floor in a direction opposite to the direction in which the person was trying to move. Because the person had two legs, it was possible for the person to stabilize himself with his other leg. Additionally, the person seemed to suspect that I had purposefully placed the peels there, and gave me a dirty look. I think I could have made the slip-factor increase if I had let the peels sit for a few days, to get more mushy. I could also use many more peels, perhaps getting the person to step on one with each foot. One source of error was that the walking speed of the person could not be controlled. I suspect that the faster they walk, the more likely it is that they will slip.
Conclusion
Here is where you sum up the major conclusion of the whole lab in one or two sentences. In other words, state here the most important thing that we learned.
EX. The banana peels did not make the person fall, but the banana peel did cause some slipping to occur.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Here's a few cool videos related to gravity and tomorrow. The last one is the best. The teachertube ones have commercials in front of them which sucks.
http://www.bharatstudent.com/ctv/watchvideo.php?vid=kfbqpchoogim
http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=52258
http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=41342&title=Hammer_and_Feather_Drop_on_Moon
http://www.bharatstudent.com/ctv/watchvideo.php?vid=kfbqpchoogim
http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=52258
http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=41342&title=Hammer_and_Feather_Drop_on_Moon
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