MadisonScienceMethods

What did you do in lab Today? -In our lab section for this week, we reviewed some things we learned last week, and then we focused on how far the first four planets are from the sun. We did a scale model of the first four planets compared to the sun. We had to convert the distance from kilometers to meters for our classroom scale. Then, we had to convert the sizes of the planets to fit in our scale as well. My group had trial and error when converting the sizes of our planets compared to the sun, but we were close by the end of our class time. We learned that the sun is a lot bigger than we think. We also learned about how big other stars are compared to the sun in our solar system. In a short video, we made the realization of how big the universe really is.  What was the big question? - The big question that we talked about in our lab section was: How big is the solar system? We tried to answer this question by doing our scale model and converting the distances of the planets from...

1. In our lab section for week 6, we were introduced to concepts about the Earth, the sun, and the moon. We talked a lot about the positioning of the Sun and how, before, the church made everyone believe that everything orbited the Earth because that is what god created. Obviously, they were wrong, and we talked about how difficult it was to get the word out that the Earth actually orbits the sun. We talked about how the Earth is slanted, so that's why there are seasons, and they might be different than we initially expected them to be. Lastly, we talked about the moon phases, why there are moon phases, and how they occur. We talked about all these things with a demonstration from our teacher and also talked through with our table groups by figuring out our own personal models. We answered these questions with our table groups and with the help of our professor:  how do the phases of the moon occur?  - As the earth moves around the sun and as the moon moves around the earth, t...

  1. The big question that was to be answered in our lab section was, "How can we design a safe and durable playground surface?." To answer this question, we did an egg drop activity. For this, we were given a bunch of different materials we could choose from with our table groups and create a surface where an egg would not break when we dropped it from a meter above it. My group decided we were going to make a sand mixture bed with the rubber chips, and then to have a soft, bouncy top, we would put saran wrap all at the top of our mixture.  2. Something else that we talked about in our lab section was more about how pendulums work. We talked about what the textbook reading was about in last week's reading and went more in-depth with how kinetic energy and potential energy work throughout the pendulum moving. 

  1. In our lab section for week four, we talked about and answered the question, "What affects how long it takes a swing to go back and forth?". To answer this question, each group created a model and picked something to test. My group picked how to test how the length of the chain affects how long it takes for the swing to go back and forth. By using a model swing, we measured three different strings and timed how long it took the swing to go back and forth ten times, and then we divided that time by ten to get the average. The length of the chain does affect the time it takes a swing to go back and forth. Our data showed that the longer the chain, the slower it goes back and forth.  2. Something that I learned in the week 4 lecture is the energy lens on motion. I was reminded that energy is manifested in a variety of ways like movement, light or electricity. I learned that energy can be transferred from one system to another, and it is never created or destroyed. In lectur...

 1. In the lab section for week 3, we discussed and tried to answer the question, 'What affects a rider's speed down a slide?' To answer this question, we did an experiment by making a model of a slide, and each group picked something to test. When picking what to test, we thought about different things that could impact the rider's speed on a slide. My group picked the weight of a rider to test. We did three trials and timed how fast different weights went down our model slide. At the end of our testing, we made a data table, found the average time for each weight, and then calculated the average speed with the distance of the slide. Our end result was that weight does not affect the average speed of a rider.  2. During the lecture on Thursday, we dove a little deeper into the different things we tested in the lab. We went into a deeper discussion on how the height, steepness, surface/clothing, and rider weight affect the speed of a rider. Something big that I learned ...