Faris Livingstone
8-25-14
Save fred
Purpose
In this lab we had to save Fred The Gummy Worm after his boat had crashed. He had to be saved using the life saver gummy. The life saver and Fred had to be weighed and measured. We also had to figure out the volume and circumference of the boat. This was also in my mind a starting lab to get us used to labs in our chemistry class.
Procedure
For this lab we had to save Fred using only four paperclips. These paperclips couldn't harm Fred in anyway, Fred couldn't be drowned (touched the table) or he couldn't be stabbed (paperclips). After the life saver was put around Fred you and your partner could eat Fred so you can survive.
Pre-Lab Questions
1.Why is it important in science to follow an agreed-upon procedure?
- In my mind there are many reasons for this and two of them are safety and so that all students learn the same material. I feel that if you have an agreed-upon procedure it will be safer because it might be a more well known plan that people will know. It is also important for all students to follow the same procedure so that they can share information and compare with other students to strengthen their understanding of the experiment.
2. Why is it important to document your procedure and any errors or differences?
- I believe it is important to document errors, procedures and differences so you can compare your experiment with others similar to yours. It is also important to know if something didn't go as expected and why it went the way it did.
3. Why do we not normally have food in chemistry class?
- We don't eat food in chemistry because of all the chemicals that we might be using in the classroom. We don't eat for our own safety. Sometimes we might be using bad chemicals or doing labs with "toxins", if any of these chemicals get in our food we could be very sick.
Data Tables and Observations:
In this lab we had to save Fred The Gummy Worm after his boat had crashed. He had to be saved using the life saver gummy. The life saver and Fred had to be weighed and measured. We also had to figure out the volume and circumference of the boat. This was also in my mind a starting lab to get us used to labs in our chemistry class.
Procedure
For this lab we had to save Fred using only four paperclips. These paperclips couldn't harm Fred in anyway, Fred couldn't be drowned (touched the table) or he couldn't be stabbed (paperclips). After the life saver was put around Fred you and your partner could eat Fred so you can survive.
Pre-Lab Questions
1.Why is it important in science to follow an agreed-upon procedure?
- In my mind there are many reasons for this and two of them are safety and so that all students learn the same material. I feel that if you have an agreed-upon procedure it will be safer because it might be a more well known plan that people will know. It is also important for all students to follow the same procedure so that they can share information and compare with other students to strengthen their understanding of the experiment.
2. Why is it important to document your procedure and any errors or differences?
- I believe it is important to document errors, procedures and differences so you can compare your experiment with others similar to yours. It is also important to know if something didn't go as expected and why it went the way it did.
3. Why do we not normally have food in chemistry class?
- We don't eat food in chemistry because of all the chemicals that we might be using in the classroom. We don't eat for our own safety. Sometimes we might be using bad chemicals or doing labs with "toxins", if any of these chemicals get in our food we could be very sick.
Data Tables and Observations:
An observation that I made during this lab was that it was very hard to get Fred up into the air using paperclips. The life saver also had to be removed from under the cups to be placed onto Fred. These were all very hard to do with tiny paperclips.
Calculations
Like I said before we had to calculate the weight and length of the life preserver and Fred we did these using a weighing scale and a ordinary ruler. The boat (cup) was also measured.
Fred - 7.5 grams - 8.3 centimeters
Life Preserver - 7600 milligrams - 35 millimeters
Boat - 266 milliliters - 25.12 centimeters
These measurements are also plotted on the table above.
Post Lab Questions
1. What areas of expertise can you bring to a project? (What are you good at?)
- I am a very good leader and good at starting and coordinating work. I am also a good organizer and am mostly very organized when it comes to how I do my work so that I don't get confused.
2. What do you feel you might struggle with in chemistry?
- I feel that I might struggle more with the math side of chemistry, for example solving and remembering how to solve equations and also converting units. Those are two topics that I have a hard time with, but I am finding myself to be improving with them.
Conclusion
As I said in the beginning I thought that this was supposed to get me used to labs in chemistry and give a good understanding of what they will look like. This lab definitely did just that. I was able to learn how to calculate objects and also learned how to take notes and observe in chemistry.
Calculations
Like I said before we had to calculate the weight and length of the life preserver and Fred we did these using a weighing scale and a ordinary ruler. The boat (cup) was also measured.
Fred - 7.5 grams - 8.3 centimeters
Life Preserver - 7600 milligrams - 35 millimeters
Boat - 266 milliliters - 25.12 centimeters
These measurements are also plotted on the table above.
Post Lab Questions
1. What areas of expertise can you bring to a project? (What are you good at?)
- I am a very good leader and good at starting and coordinating work. I am also a good organizer and am mostly very organized when it comes to how I do my work so that I don't get confused.
2. What do you feel you might struggle with in chemistry?
- I feel that I might struggle more with the math side of chemistry, for example solving and remembering how to solve equations and also converting units. Those are two topics that I have a hard time with, but I am finding myself to be improving with them.
Conclusion
As I said in the beginning I thought that this was supposed to get me used to labs in chemistry and give a good understanding of what they will look like. This lab definitely did just that. I was able to learn how to calculate objects and also learned how to take notes and observe in chemistry.