space.template.Practical+Instruction+Template

=Practical 1 (Statistics)=

Criteria to be assessed (D, DCP, CE):
- none (introductory, practice practical)

Aim:
Students will practice determining error from common laboratory instruments and incorporate this into practical application of using statistics. Teacher will provide a lot of support for this initial non-assessed practical.

Method:
1) Gather your own measurements and report to teacher 2) Collect summarized measurements of all students in Mr. Reimer's science classes (on handout or on Googel Doc) 3) Group measurements by height: all students of height in the 150-159 cm, 160-169 cm, 170-179 cm, 180-189 cm. On a spreadsheet you can just sort height column by height. 4) Determine __range__ of heights, __mean__ of heights, __uncertainty__ (ie. error) in height measurement and __standard deviation__ in height. 5) Determine same parameters for another selected responding variable (like mass or maximum lung capacity). 6) Set up a data table to summarize all results. 7) Graph data (a) one time using data range and error for error bars and (b) second time using SD for error bars.
 * We recorded:
 * **mass** (kg -using bathroom scale),
 * **height** (cm - using meter stick tapes to wall),
 * **age** (in months - to make data more specific),
 * **maximum lung volume** (in cc - using dry spirometer)
 * Girls are sensitive to "mass" measurement, so I had each student collect their own dimensions and hand them in on post-it notes.
 * From this I compiled the data of all the students in all my classes (this made a simple introduction to science to have everyone measuring something interesting - themselves!) and after removing names and sorting several times to mix up data, I shared it with students on a Google Doc and in [|hard copy (student physical data-2009)].

Apparatus:
paper, pencil, Ti84

Data Collection:
Show the results in a suitable table form. Include uncertainties where possible.

Data Processing and Presentation:
Analyse your data and present it in an appropriate form. Include uncertainties where possible.

Conclusion and Evaluation.
Include in your write up, various ways to improve the investigation and possible errors that might have occurred.