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Phy 121
Your 'collaborative labs' report has been received. Scroll down through the document to see any comments I might have inserted, and my final comment at the end.
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You will participate during the semester in two series of collaborative lab activities.
The first is designed to be relatively painless, and to begin to develop a degree of teamwork and collaboration.
These activities are designed for teams of four individuals, each with a specific function:
The designer will come up with the idea for the activity and will specify for other team members how the activity is to be conducted.
The experimenter will follow the designer's instructions to set up the experiment and collect data.
The analyzer will analyze the data.
The interpreter will describe what the results mean.
For each series of activities, you will participate in four different investigations, one as designer, another as experimenter, another as analyzer and another as interpreter.
As each investigation progresses, you will follow the work of your fellow team members.
Please summarize the above, as best you can, in your own words:
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The first series of activities will be spread out over the first half of the semester, the second series over the second half of the semester.
The first series will be based on systems you have seen in the Key Systems videos.
You will begin by describing at least three ideas for investigations related to the Key Systems videos. Valid ideas will ultimately be developed proposals, each of which will describe a question that could be investigated and tested using simple materials such as those seen in the videos. You will eventually develop three proposals, one of which will be chosen for an investigation. You will be the designer for that investigation.
At this point we're just beginning to explore ideas for the first series of investigations. Your instructor will work with you to further develop your ideas, and perhaps to explore other related possibilities.
Right now you don't have a wide variety of experimental techniques available to you, so this first series of investigations will be relatively simple.
List below three ideas for things you think might be fairly easy to test, based on the systems you have seen so far.
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Discuss your first idea. How do you think it might be tested? What sort of items do you think might be required? How do you think your idea might be tested?
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My first idea has to do with the pendulum vs the ball rolling down a ramp. I want to adjust the incline of the ramp, and the length of the pendulum rope and compare the results to find how much of an angle is needed to make the ball reach the end of the ramp before the pendulum does.
It will require a tape measure, a flat surface to be used as a ramp, some spacers (quaters, nickels etc) and a pendulum (ball tied to string), and a timer
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Discuss your second idea. How do you think it might be tested? What sort of items do you think might be required? How do you think your idea might be tested?
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My second idea has to do with the cylinder that has water draining out of it. I would like to try different fluids, like vegetable oil, and compare how the viscocity differences affect the rate of liquid that drains.
It will require at least three different types of liquid, a cylinder with a hole in the side (I have some extra PVC pipes) and a timer
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Discuss your third idea. How do you think it might be tested? What sort of items do you think might be required? How do you think your idea might be tested?
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My third idea involves the rubber band chain. I think it would be interesting to test the rate that it wobbles back and forth. At least three types of chains will be tested, they will all be at a set length.
One will contain all rubberbands with no paper clips. Another will contain a few paper clips, and the third will contain many paper clips. I would like to test how much of a difference there is in how many times
the band will pass its equilibrium when using different materials. It will require rubberbands, paper clips, a timer, and some measuring tape.
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Your instructor is trying to gauge the typical time spent by students on these activities. Please answer the following question as accurately as you can, understanding that your answer will be used only for the stated purpose and has no bearing on your grades:
Approximately how long did it take you to complete this activity?
Around an hour and a half to brainstorm, and I re-watched a few of the videos to help come up with ideas.
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Copy your document into the box below, be sure you have filled in your name and other identifying information at the top of this form, and submit:
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I like your proposals.
I'll be arranging groups as soon as I have a sufficient number of late responses. I'll get back to you soon.
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