Test Week!

It's test week!  Time to put all of the knowledge that you have acquired together.  The Unit A test will be Wednesday (9/28) and will include all of the topics that we have explored in class since the beginning of school.
Topics like:

• scientific investigations 
• controlled experiments 
• data
• quantitative versus qualitative data
• observations versus inferences
• independent and dependent variables
• data collection and analysis
• and reading/interpreting graphs and charts

  A good practice would be to go back over all Unit A quizzes and ask questions about items that remain unclear.  Good Luck! And please let us know how we can best help you to prepare!
Homework: Homework #4 is due Wednesday (9/28).  HW #4 must be signed to receive credit.  HW #5 will be distributed also and will be due next Wednesday (10/5).

Quizzes/Tests: UNIT A TEST - WEDNESDAY (9/28).  NO QUIZ FRIDAY!

Designing and Conducting an Experiment

Information for the week of 19-24 September.

Do not try at school, try it at home first!

This week we will put our new found knowledge together and design a controlled experiment in class.  Activity 9, Data Toss is our main focus this week. Student's will work in groups of 2-3 and design, test, analyze, and write up their own experiments in class.  Once designed, another group will follow their procedures and try out another groups experiment.  We will also simulate evaluating insect repellents to see which ones are the most effective at protecting us from those pesky mosquito's!

Key Words

Qualitative- data that describes what happened.

Quantitative- data that can be described using numbers.

Independent Variable (IV) The variable that is changed or manipulated in an experiment.  The Cause.

Dependant Variable (DV) The variable that responds to the change or manipulation in an experiment. The Effect

Control- a standard used for comparison that is not changed in the experiment

Controlled Experiment- An experiment that tests only one variable at a time. 

Homework #4 assigned 9/21 and Due 9/28 Print out from Moodle

Quiz 4, Friday 9/23. Covers key components of Quizzes 1-3!

Designing and Testing a Controlled Experiment

Good Science Requires Good Thinking!

Information for the week of 12-16 September.

Over the past three weeks, we have been learning about how scientists use the scientific method to solve problems and conduct controlled experiments.   This week you will be designing and testing your own controlled experiment with a partner in Activity 9. "Data Toss".  We will also introduce you to 3 new key words: Data, Quantitative, and Qualitative.

Key Words

Data- facts and evidence used to describe our findings.

Qualitative- data that describes what happened.

Quantitative- data that can be described using numbers.

Independent Variable (IV) The variable that is changed or manipulated in an experiment.  The Cause.

Dependant Variable (DV) The variable that responds to the change or manipulation in an experiment. The Effect

Control- a standard used for comparison that is not changed in the experiment

Controlled Experiment- An experiment that tests only one variable at a time. 

Homework #3 assigned 9/14 and Due 9/21 Print out from Moodle

Quiz 3, Friday 9/9. Covers key components of Quizzes 1 & 2. Use these quizzes to prepare for Quiz #3.

Conducting Controlled Experiments

Information for the week of 6-9 September

We have been learning about how scientists set up and conduct experiments.  In activity 2, we learned about controls, variables, and how to look at and analyze data.  This week you will conduct a controlled experiment using the scientific method.  In the Goldfish Respiration Lab, we will use a control to compare the respiration rate of goldfish. We will also graph our results using different sample sizes (our class and  all classes) to gather evidence to support or disprove our hypothesis. The Goldfish lab is a good example of a controlled experiment because we only test one variable.   

Key Words

 Independent Variable (IV) The variable that is changed or manipulated in an experiment.  The Cause.

Dependant Variable (DV) The variable that responds to the change or manipulation in an experiment. The Effect

Control- a standard used for comparison that is not changed in the experiment

Controlled Experiment- An experiment that tests only one variable at a time. 

Homework #2 assigned 9/7 and Due 9/14 Print out from Moodle

Quiz 2, Friday 9/9.