Learning Objectives:
- Core Concepts: Understanding speed, acceleration, gas laws, buoyancy, energy, and forces.
- Data Skills: Deeper interpretation of live data, multi-variable analysis, and making predictions based on experimental results.
Session Grouping:
- Bootcamp (Sessions 1-2): Practice graph interpretation, reviewing experimental methods.
- Investigating Forces & Motion (Sessions 3-7): Explore advanced physics concepts like acceleration, gas expansion, and buoyancy.
- Practical Measurements (Sessions 8-9): Hands-on activities in digital measurements and light sensors.
- Capstone Project (Session 10): Students design a project, take readings, analyze live data trends, and report their findings.
Data Analysis Skills:
- Advanced Trend Detection: Students learn to extract meaningful data from complex plots, detect advanced trends, and apply these trends to predictions.
Session 1: Speed and Acceleration
Details:
Students measure the speed of a free-falling ball using photogate sensors connected to MeasureLab. By recording time and distance data, they calculate speed and acceleration. This session focuses on understanding motion, practicing live data plotting, and interpreting graphs.
Session 2: Observing Diffusion
Details:
Using the humidity sensor in MeasureLab, students measure the rate of diffusion of water vapor. They observe humidity changes over time in a closed container, learning about diffusion processes and factors that affect the rate of diffusion.
Session 3: Expansion of Air with Heat
Details:
Students measure how air expands when heated. Using the pressure sensor and temperature sensor, they heat a sealed container of air and record pressure changes with temperature increases, demonstrating the relationship between temperature and gas volume.
Session 4: Exploring Centripetal Force
Details:
Students observe and measure the relationship between speed and centripetal force. They use MeasureLab to control a motor that spins an object on a disc at varying speeds and measure the force needed to keep the object moving in a circle, introducing concepts of circular motion.
Session 5: Fuels and Foods—Energy Content
Details:
Students measure the energy content of different foods using a simple calorimeter setup connected to MeasureLab. By safely burning small food samples to heat water, they measure temperature changes and mass loss to calculate the energy released, learning about combustion and energy transfer.
Session 6: Investigating Buoyancy
Details:
Using the load cell in MeasureLab, students verify Archimedes’ principle by measuring the apparent weight of objects submerged in water. They observe how the weight changes when the object is immersed, exploring buoyant force and displacement.
Session 7: Human Heart—Measuring Pulse Rate
Details:
Students measure their pulse rates using MeasureLab and an ECG probe. They record heart rates at rest and after exercise, analyzing how physical activity affects the heart, linking biology with data measurement and analysis.
Session 8: Measuring Voltages
Details:
Students measure the voltages of different batteries and electronic components using the voltage probe in MeasureLab. They learn about electrical potential, voltage differences, and how to use digital measurement tools effectively.
Session 9: Building a Light Sensor
Details:
Students create a simple light sensor using a breadboard and a Light Dependent Resistor (LDR). They build a potential divider circuit and connect it to MeasureLab to measure voltage changes as light intensity varies, introducing basic electronics and sensor technology.
Session 10: Capstone Project—Design and Conduct an Experiment
Details:
In this final session, students apply the knowledge and skills they’ve gained to design and conduct their own experiment using MeasureLab. They choose a scientific question or problem of interest—such as investigating factors affecting reaction rates, exploring energy transformations, or measuring environmental conditions.