Pass the Water Lab - Physics Classroom

[Pages:2]TheLaboratory

PasstheWaterLab

Teacher'sGuide

Topic: Newton'sLawsofMotion

Thefollowinginformationisprovidedtothestudent:

Question: Underwhatconditionsiswatermostlikelytospillfromapanwhenthepaniscarriedaroundanoval racetrack? Purpose: Tocarryapanofwateraroundanovalracetrackinanefforttodeterminetheconditionsunderwhich thewaterismostlikelytobespilledfromthepan. Acompletelabwrite-upincludesaTitle,aPurpose,aDatasection(whichincludesadiagramofthe ovaltrackandidentifiedlocationsofwaterspillage),aConclusionandaDiscussionofResults.As usual,theConclusionshouldanswerthequestionproposedinthepurposeofthelab.TheDiscussion ofResultsshouldincludeadiscussionoftherelationshipbetweenyourfindingsandNewton'sfirst lawofmotion.

MaterialsRequired: 1-Lgraduatedcylinders;shallow(andnarrow)bakingdishes;water;spaceforanovaltrack;table.

DescriptionofProcedure: Thiscanbemadeintoarelayraceasfollows.Studentsaregroupedinteamsof3to5students.Each teamisgivenagraduatedcylinderwith1000mLofwaterandacontainertoholdthewater.Anoval racetrackismarkedout-withsomestraightsectionsandsomecurvedsections.Withthecontainerfull ofwater,studentsracearoundtheovaltracktryingnottospillthewater.Whentheyreturntothe startingline,whichisthelongtable,theyplacethecontainerdownonthetable,andthenextmemberof therelayteamfillsittotherim,replacingwhateverwaterwasspilledduringthefirstlegoftherace. Onceapproved,thenextteammemberrunstherelayrace.Whenallmembersoftheteamhavefinished, thewaterispouredfromthecontainerbackintothe100mLgraduateandtheamountofwaterspilledis determined.

AlternativeMaterialsandProcedure: Thecontainersusedtoholdmicrowavedinnersmakeasuitablecontainerforthecarryingthewater.A 1-Lbeakerwouldsufficeformeasuringtheamountofwaterspilled(providedthattherearemarkings every100mLorso).Studentdesks(iflightandportable)makeagoodsurfaceatthestartingline.

SafetyConcern: Thereisalwaysahigherthanusuallevelofriskassociatedwithworkinginasciencelab.Teachers shouldbeawareofthisandtakethenecessaryprecautionstoinsurethattheworkingenvironmentisas safeaspossible.Studenthorseplayandoff-taskbehaviorsshouldnotbetolerated.Extremecaution shouldbetakentopreventthefloorfrombecomingslippery.Itshouldbedriedthoroughlybeforeand aftertheactivity.

?ThePhysicsClassroom,2009

TheLaboratory

Suggestions,Precautions,Notes:

1. Remindstudentstomakecarefulobservationsofwhenthewaterisspillingandwhentheyare tendingtobemostcareful.

2. Iftheschooladministrationapprovesofhallwaylabs,thisisagreattimeforahallwaylab.Besure todrythefloorbeforetheperiodends.

3. Theactivitycanbemadecompetitivebydevisingascoringscheme:forexample,

TeamScore=Time(inseconds)+2*Volume(inmL)ofWaterSpilled

Thelowscorewins.Ifmakingtheactivityintoacontest,warnstudentstoavoidbumpingand aggressivebehavior(disqualificationandfailinggradesisagooddescriptionoftherewardforsuch behaviors).

4. Makesureyourracetrackhasbothstraightandcurvedsections.Studentswillobservethatthe wateriseasytocarryonthestraightsectionsbuteasilyspilledonthecurvedsections.

5. Makesureeverystudenthasafullcontainerofwaterbeforebeginning.Ifthecontainerisn'tfull, thewatertendstobeheldinthecontainerbytheunbalancedforceofthewallpushinginward.

6. Returntothislabexperiencewhenyouarriveatthetopicofcircularmotion.Studentsremember thepassthewaterlab.

AuxiliaryMaterials:

None

ScoringRubric:

NL1. PasstheWaterLab Included,labeledandorganizedallpartsofthelabreport. Datasectionincludesanorganizeddocumentationofobservations.

Observationsarereasonablyaccurateand(mostofall)clear. ConclusionanswersthequestionposedinthePurpose;answeriscorrect. DiscussionofResultsrelatesthefindingsofthelabstoNewton'sfirstlawof

motion.Discussionisclear,thoughtful,andspecifictothelabexperience.

Score

_____/4

ConnectionstoThePhysicsClassroomTutorial: Thefollowingreadingsareasuitableaccompanimenttothislab:

ConnectionstoMindsonPhysicsInternetModules:

Sublevel1oftheNewton'sLawmoduleisasuitableaccompanimenttothislab:



?ThePhysicsClassroom,2009

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