Blog Sept. 4
August 31, 2009
You need to decide on a science fair project next month. Do you ahve any ideas about what you are interested in investigating?
Blog Sept. 3
August 31, 2009
Why are models important in science?
Blog Sept. 2
August 31, 2009
What is a controlled experiment?
Blog Sept. 1
August 31, 2009
How do you use the scientific method in your everyday life?
Blogs August 31
August 31, 2009
What is the importance of asking questions in science?
Scientific Lab Report
August 31, 2009
Lab Report Form
(Name)__________________ (Partner’s name)________
Period:________
(Date)month/day/year
Title: ______(the name of the lab or experiment)
Purpose: (won’t always have this section)
Problem: (won’t always have this section)
The purpose or problem states the reason(s) why you are doing the experiment. Write down exactly the problem that will be investigated or experimented. Purposes can be stated as a question and the problem is always stated as a question. You can have a purpose or a problem or both.
Introduction: (won’t always have this section)
In a few words tell what you already know or have found about the problem that will let you make an educated guess. This is your background information from the text, teacher, or other sources. It gives the reader an understanding of underlying principles and content information of the laboratory
.
Hypothesis:
What do you expect to find? The hypothesis can be stated as an “If…, then…,because.” statement. The ‘If’ part of the statement is based on related facts that you know to be true. The ‘then’ part of the statement is an educated guess on the outcome of the experiment. The ‘because’ is the why it will work. The hypothesis does not have to guess the correct outcome, but the experiment must be set up to test the hypothesis.
Research: (won’t always have this section)
In this section, you will research information pertaining to your experiment.
Materials
This is a list of all equipment and chemicals used to do the experiment. Please include quantities (amounts). Always list the items.
Procedure:
The procedure tells exactly what you did. Be specific. The procedure you use affects the results. So, it is important to be accurate in explaining what you did. The procedure can be written in paragraph form or step by step.
Results and Data:
The results tell exactly what happened when you did the lab and observed. Results include experimental (raw) data in the form of well-labeled tables, graphs, drawings and other observations. Place your observations and data in this section without discussion or comment. This is where you include any calculations made during the experiment. Answer any questions here.
Conclusion:
Conclusions explain your observations and describe how your data relates to the problem. It is written in paragraph/essay form and should include why you did this experiment (restate the purpose/problem). You should explain in your own words what you found out or discovered. Your conclusion should state whether or not the data confirms or rejects your hypothesis. Restate your hypothesis. Discuss any errors as well as any patterns you see. Part of the conclusion may be a new hypothesis based on your findings and suggestions for testing the new hypothesis in a different experiment. You may also make any predictions you would expect based on what you discovered.
Do draw a picture of the experiment, if appropriate.
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- Don’t say that the purpose was accomplished and then say nothing substantially more. You must include data from the lab results to demonstrate that the purpose was accomplished.
- Don’t give the procedure again.
- Don’t list the data again. It was already listed in the data (chart, table, etc.). You are to discuss and draw conclusions from the data.
- Don’t forget to break up your ideas with more than one paragraph, if necessary. (This is referred to as an essay!)
- Report is to be typed unless otherwise instructed.
- Font size is 14 and use either Arial, Courier or Times New, or Verdana
Stems for September 1st and 8th
August 28, 2009
Stems for September 1
Cyt (cell) erythrocyte, leucocyte, cytology, cytoplasm, melanocyte
Eco (house) ecology, economy, ecosystem, ecotone, economist, ecologist
Stems for September 8
Emia (blood) bacteremia, anemia, hypoglycemia, toxemia
Enter (intestine) enteritis, dysentery, gastroenteritis, enterozoen
Exo (out) exotoxin, exogenous, exodus, exorbitant, exorcism, exotic, exobiology
Lower-cost Solar Cells To Be Printed Like Newspaper, Painted On Rooftops
August 25, 2009
Solar cells could soon be produced more cheaply using nanoparticle “inks” that allow them to be printed like newspaper or painted onto the sides of buildings or rooftops to absorb electricity-producing sunlight.
Brian Korgel, a University of Texas at Austin chemical engineer, is hoping to cut costs to one-tenth of their current price by replacing the standard manufacturing process for solar cells – gas-phase deposition in a vacuum chamber, which requires high temperatures and is relatively expensive.
“That’s essentially what’s needed to make solar-cell technology and photovoltaics widely adopted,” Korgel said. “The sun provides a nearly unlimited energy resource, but existing solar energy harvesting technologies are prohibitively expensive and cannot compete with fossil fuels.”
For the past two years, Korgel and his team have been working on this low-cost, nanomaterials solution to photovoltaics – or solar cell – manufacturing. Korgel is collaborating with professors Al Bard and Paul Barbara, both of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Professor Ananth Dodabalapur of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. They recently showed proof-of-concept in a recent issue of Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Fly Eyes Help Researchers ‘See’ New Proteins Involved In Memory
August 25, 2009
With more than 1,500 eyes, not much escapes the fruit fly’s sight. Now, a new research report in the journal Geneticsdescribes how researchers from the United States and Ireland used those eyes to “see” new proteins necessary for memory. In addition to shedding light on this critical neurological process, the study also provides information on a form of mental retardation in humans.
“Understanding translational control mechanisms in the brain teaches us how the brain learns and adapts, and will inform the design of treatments for specific types of neurologic disease,” said Dr. Anne-Marie Cziko, at the University of Arizona and co-author of the study.
Specifically, the scientists found that the “fragile X mental retardation protein,” which plays a crucial role in the cellular processes involved in learning and memory, needs five other proteins to function normally. The scientists identified these proteins using an artificial system of increasing fragile X mental retardation protein in the eyes of fruit flies. Its high level leads to visible deformities in a fly’s eyes. To test the requirement of various candidate proteins for function of the fragile X mental retardation protein, the researchers genetically modified the flies to prevent them from making each candidate protein. They found that loss of any one of the five proteins caused the fruit fly’s eye to be significantly less deformed, revealing that each is required for function of the fragile X mental retardation protein.
Blog August 25th
August 24, 2009
What are some very important lab safety rules?
