The Scientific Method

Example

Modern science deals only with physical quantities, 

which we can express in quantitative rather than qualitative terms.  

Laws are generalizations, principles, or patterns in the natural world. Theories are explanations of those generalizations. 

Laws are discovered. Theories are developed.

Scientists in History

                                                                                                        by Eric Weisstein

Galileo's Inventions

Galileo Galilei

Though the study of science and the natural world goes back to pre-history, its tradition of scientific processes and methods were first introduced in the late 1500's by Galileo.

Measurement in Science

All measurements in Science need to be METRIC

Mega Converter

Graphing in Science

You are expected to graph in science to show your results.  Make sure you understand the basics of graphing line graphs, lines of best fit, scatter plots, and spread sheets. 

You will need to know the difference between the independent variable and dependent variable and label your graph properly.

Some Common Temperatures

  to the nearest whole degree

*Remember, there is no such thing as negative in the Kelvin scale or °K, it's just K.

Kelvin scale begins at absolute zero, (-273.15^oC).

Absolute Zero is the coldest temperature, that means it's the temperature at which molecules (of any substance) have no more kinetic energy they can give up.

Converting Temperature Scales

Matter, Energy and the Chemical Processes of Life

Strand A: The Nature of Matter

See General Chemistry page

Conservation of Mass Lab

SC.B.1.4.2

The law of conservation of mass states that energy is not be created or destroyed, it only changes form.  The students above are experimenting to test this law.

pH Lab

Organic Lab

Testing for organic compounds in foods

Mole Day Project

6.02 x 10²³

Chromatography Lab

coming soon

Nuclear Energy

SC.A.2.4.3, SC.A.2.4.4

Coming Soon

Alpha & Beta Particles

Nuclear/ Radioactive Decay & Halflife

Nuclear Fission & Fusion

Newton's Laws

Strand C: Force and Motion

See the Physical Science page.

This is also where kinematics comes into play. Kinematics is the science of describing the motion of objects using words, diagrams, numbers, graphs, and equations. One dimensional means in motion in a straight line.  Therefore, when we talk about one dimensional kinematics, we will use graphs on a x-axis.  Motion can be forward or backward.

Mouse Trap Cars

Simple Machines

Levers & Pulleys

Work, Energy and Power

Strand B: Energy

Work is measured in Joules

 work = force x distance       W = F x d     

Power is measured in watts

power = work/time   P = W/t  

Roller Coaster Physics

Potential Energy

PE = mgh

where m = mass, g = acceleration due to freefall(9.8 m/s²) and h = height

Kinetic Energy

KE = 1/2mv²,
where m is the mass of object and v is the speed of the object.

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Stand B: Energy

electromagnetic energy (electromagnetic radiation) is energy that moves through space or a material as a wave. Electromagnetic energy includes light, radio waves, infrared radiation, and x-rays. Electromagnetic energy travels at the speed of light, or 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per second).

Speed of Light in Vacuum: 3x10x8 m/s, 186,000 miles/sec
Speed of Light in Water: 2.25x10x8 m/s, 140,000 miles/sec
Speed of Light in Diamond: 1.24x10x8 m/s, 77,000 miles/sec

Frequency is the  property of a wave that describes how many wave patterns or cycles pass by in a period of time. Frequency is often measured in Hertz (Hz), where a wave with a frequency of 1 Hz will pass by at 1 cycle per second.

Visible Light

Acronyms, like ROY G BIV,  help us to remember the spectrum in order. 

700 nm                                                                                                   400nm

Red          Orange          Yellow           Green            Blue          Indigo         Violet

The rainbow is really a continuous spectrum that shows us the different energies of light (from red to blue) present in visible light. But the electromagnetic spectrum encompasses more than just optical light - it covers all energies of light extending from low-energy radio waves, to microwaves, to infrared, to optical light, to ultraviolet, to very high-energy X- and gamma-rays.

White light is the combination of red, blue and green light.  As seen in the image above, adding different combinations of light, like red and blue to make magenta, will display varied frequencies of the light spectrum. 

Plants respond differently to frequencies (or colors) of light. This is why we use a plant grow light in the classroom terrarium.

Let's put this light thing into perspective using optics. 

By combining red, blue and green light in certain ways we can perfectly simulate any color the human eye can see.  The colors you see on this computer screen is an example of how video equipment leverages the color combinations. Most video equipment offers 256 intensities each of red, green & blue (RGB) light.  By altering the intensity of red, blue or green light would provide you with over 16 million combinations... way more colors than you can see with your own eyes.

Lenses

Flame Lab

More coming soon

Doppler Effect & Sound Waves

Electricity & Magnetism

Pushing & Pulling Forces of an Electric Field

Types of Electric Cells

Ohm's Law

V = I R

Voltage = Current x Resistance

When two bulbs are connected in series charges must pass through both light bulbs to complete the circuit.

When devices are connected in parallel, charges have more than one path to follow.  The circuit can be complete even if one light bulb burns out.

Magnets

Lodestone

A naturally occurring magnetic rock, composed of iron based material called magnetite.

Electromagnetic Field

Faraday's Law

An electric  current can be produced 

in a circuit by a changing magnetic field.

Earth's Geologic Time

The Rock Cycle

Courtesy of the Mineralogical Society of America

Rocks & Minerals

Testing Physical Properties

Design and build a bridge that can withstand an earthquake

Weather

Weather Page

Maps in Science

Topographical Maps

The Solar System

Strand E: Earth and Space

The words solar system refer to the Sun and all of the objects that travel around it. This includes planets, natural satellites like the Moon, the asteroid belt, comets, and meteoroids.   

The Sun is the center of the solar system. It contains 99.86% of all of the mass in our solar system. Consequently, it exerts a tremendous gravitational pull on planets, satellites, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids.

Visit the page dedicated to our solar system.

Alien Invasion Project

Rocketry

Newton's 3rd Law

Rocket Car Lab

Human Anatomy

Strand F: The Processes of Life

Ecosystem

Strand G: How Living Things Interact With Their Environment

Comparing independent and dependent variables to find cause and effect patterns

  Classification

Strand H: The Nature of Science

 Classification, or taxonomy, is a system of categorizing living things. There are seven divisions in the system:

Kingdom is the broadest division. There is no agreement about the number of kingdoms, but most scientists support either a four-kingdom (Animalia, Plantae, Protista, and Monera) or five-kingdom (Animalia, Plantae, Protista, Monera, and Fungi) system. For our purposes, we will use the five-kingdom system.

See Biology page for more Taxonomy Information.

Dissection

Barn Owl Tytonidae tyto alba

Owls are Birds of Prey, which means that they must kill other animals to survive. Their diet includes invertebrates (which include insects: spiders, earthworms, snails and crabs), fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and other small mammals such as rats, moles, voles, etc.

Owl pellets are masses of bones, teeth, hair, feathers, scales, and insect skeletons.  These materials are blocked from reaching the intestines by the pyloric opening.  They are produced and regurgitated, not only by owls, but also by hawks, eagles, and other predatory birds that swallow their prey whole or in large pieces.  Because owls swallow their prey whole, each owl pellet contains virtually complete skeletons of the animals the owl ate the day before the pellet was formed.  By examining the bones of the animals eaten, the types of animals eaten, and the number of each species, the varied diet of an owl can be determined as well as the ecosystem in which it hunted its prey.

Owl Pellet Dissection

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frog Dissection

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Class Amphibia
Order Anura
Family Ranidae
Genus Rana
Species catesbeiana

History of the Microscope

The invention of the microscope has allowed us to investigate a whole new world of tiny objects.

Microscopes magnify and resolve, which  are two very different things.

Magnification  \mag-ne-fe-'ka-shen\ n 1. apparent enlargement of an object 2. the ratio of image size to actual size
A magnification of "100x" means that the image is 100 times bigger than the actual object.

Resolution  \rez-e-loo-shen\ n 1. clarity, sharpness 2. the ability of a microscope to show two very close points separately              

resolution example below

 

Scientific Photography through the Microscope

Prepared  Specimen Slides

 

 

Recording Your Field of View, aka FOV

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Stains used for Gram + and Gram - techniques

                                                                        Olympusmicro.com

 

 Cell Review

Strand F: Processes of Life