collaborative labs

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phy 201

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.

** Collaborative Labs_labelMessages.txt **

3/20 11am

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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 designer comes up with idea and explains how it will be carried out. 

The experimenter will carry it out and collect the data.

The analyzer will look over the data.

The interpreter will explain the results.

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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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Will adding weight to the top of a toy car make it roll faster down a small slope or slower due to friction?

How fast will a car roll when pushed using a rubber band sling shot on a flat surface?

At what distance will a magnet pull a 1inch steel ball on a flat surface?

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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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Book

Quarters

Small washer

Tape

Steel Ball

 First we will set up a ramp using a book and a few quarters to create the slope. Next we will time the decent of the car over 10 runs. Using a small piece of tape, we will place a washer on the top of the car. We will then time the decent of the car over 10 more runs. After finding the mean of the decent we will know if the weight of the washer has made the decent faster or not. If the washer does not make any significant change in the decent of the car then we may need to use a heavier weight, such as a small steel ball.

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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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Flat piece of wood

2 thumb tacks

Rubber Band (cut)

Toy Car

Place 2 thumb tacks at a set distance apart on a piece of flat wood. Tie the ends of a cut rubber band onto the thumb tacks. Draw a line on the wood below the rubber band to mark the starting line. Measure out several distances, such as every 10cm. The car will be placed in front of the rubber band and pulled backwards until the front wheels are on the start line. Next we will time how fast the car goes form the start to the measured distances. By recording several runs at each distance we can find out how fast the car is going at each distance and at which rate the car is slowing down.

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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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Steel Ball

Flat Surface

Magnet

Printed Ruler

 Placing a printed ruler down on a flat surface. Place the steel ball onto the printed ruler at the measurement 0mm. Place a small magnet onto the pap are far enough away, that the steel ball does not move. Slide the magnet until it is just close enough to make the ball roll. Record the distance several times to confirm the data.

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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?

 30 Minutes

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http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/dsmith/forms/collaborative_labs.htm

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Very good ideas, and well expressed.

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