Modeling Training - Unit 1 Continued

We also did a number of lab activities to see what type of relationships there might in each scenario.  We also discussed what should belong on a good whiteboard and written lab report.  We came up with the following:

These are the labs that we needed to complete:

Lab #1: Mass vs Length of an iron bar

Lab #2:   Perimeter vs Area of regular and really irregular polygons.  We had to find the area using an "area-ometer" which consisted of a printed sheet of centimeter squares.  This was to drive home the idea of what area really is.

Lab #3:  Mass and Number of objects inside a sealed container

Lab #4: String Length and Period of Pendulum

Lab #5: Angle of Release and Period of Pendulum

Lab #6: Volume vs Mass of Steel Spheres (using water displacement to measure volume)

Lab #7:  Diameter vs Circumference of a circle

Lab #8: Diameter vs Area of a circle

Lab #9:  Mass and Distance from Center of Fulcum on a lever

Here are pictures of some of the whiteboards from these sessions.  Notice there were a variety of relationships represented here.

Notice the for every statements for the linear relationships.  There were sentences to describe the other types of relationships as well.  We also talked about what the meaning of the y-intercept of the data would mean and whether it should have been zero or not and discussed the "5% rule of thumb" which states that if your y intercept is within 5% of the largest y value, and you have a good rational for a direct relationship (where the point (0,0) makes sense in your data), then you can treat your graph as if it crossed through the origin.  We discussed how to help our students determine what type of relationship they have in their data.