Friday, January 2, 2009

Course Description and Links

Course Description:

Experiment a Week: Hands on Science and Analysis Skills



In this class students will develop a working understanding of components of a scientific experiment. Students will design experiments to test a given hypothesis, process the data, interpret and analyze the results. As the class goes on students will develop their own hypothesis and conduct their own experiment. Students can expect skill building homework that will facilitate their understanding of graphing, analyzing, and interpreting data.



This will be a hands on, fast paced class in which students will develop the skills to:

· Develop a testable hypothesis

· Design an experiment that produces scientifically valid results

· Collect data, calculate averages, and create visual displays to facilitate analysis

· Analyze results



Experiments will include testing which is the most common color in a pack of skittles, how thick is tin foil, what objects biodegrade, what neighborhood areas have the best and worst air quality, what areas have higher acid rain levels, the physics of swing sets and more. Students will contribute and analyze data to local and international data bases to compare their results with students from around the world.

We will work in collaboration with the Illinois based international Inquiry Based Science Project to conduct hands on experiments that reflect real world issues. The project houses data from groups around the world.

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