SNC 3MO LESSONS

This unit reviews knowledge and skills needed for this course, such as the process of scientific inquiry.

Day #0
-Course outline
-Classroom & Assignment expectations

Day #1:  Scientific Method
- “Tell me about yourself” info sheet
- Scientific Method (emphasize observation, discussion, errors and conclusion)
- Variables (independent and dependent)
- ACTIVITY:  “People Hunt”
- ACTIVITY:  Create a chart indicating different types of technologies in our society that are positive and/or negative  (collect if students are not working well)

Day #2:  Lab Reports
- Writing lab reports
o “Writing a Lab Report” handout
o NOTE:  Never use pronouns, such as I, we, you (e.g. Pour 2 mL of distilled water into a beaker)
o Typed (preferred for formal) or written neatly
- Making Graphs
o Independent variable (x-axis) and Dependent variable (y-axis)
o mark breakdown (e.g. title, labels & units on axes, data, line of best fit)
o line of best fit  (e.g. straight line vs. sigmoid curve)
- ACTIVTIY:  Make a graph using the following data
Time (days) Plant Height (cm)
0                    1.43
7                    2.16
14                  2.67
21                  3.25
28                  4.04
35                  4.67

- Units
o  k, h, da, standard unit, d, c, m, u, m  (“king henry dares U, drink chocolate milk”)
o conversions (e.g. 1m = 100 cm; 1 cal = 4.18 J; 1 kcal = 1000 cal = 1 Cal = 4.18 kJ)
o ACTIVITY:  Students write down tables 1-2 and 1-3 on page 16 of Science Spectrum
o ACTIVITY:  Practice Conversion Problems #1-8 pg17 of Science Spectrum
o scientific notation (e.g. 1234 = 1.234 x 103)
o ACTIVITY:  Science Spectrum pg 23 #1-2

Writing a Lab Report
 

The following are the guidelines for writing a lab report in an organized and logical manner.  Follow them closely in order to gain maximum marks.

1. Title Page:  begin with a title page, including a title, your FULL name, teacher’s name, class, date and your partner’s name.
2. Start your lab on another piece of paper.  Include the following sections:
(A) Purpose:  State the purpose or problem to solve by using a question or statement (e.g. “To…..”)
(B) Hypothesis:  Before you start your experiment, determine what you think will happen in the experiment—write this hypothesis down.
(C) Materials:  List the materials you used during the experiment.
(D) Procedure:  Use the past tense without using “I” or “We” to describe what you did to carry out the experiment.  Be sequential (i.e. in order).
(E) Observations:  Use a chart to show these AND include graphs where appropriate (if you do a graph, the chart must be included in the appendix).
(F) Discussion:  Write out any questions you are given and immediately below each question, include your answer using your own words.
(G) Errors:  List your errors in the lab.
(H) Conclusion:  Answer your hypothesis and suggest what application the new knowledge may have.  Your conclusion should essentially point out what you have learnt from the lab.
(I) Appendix:  This optional section is for any rough work, calculations or charts that are used for graphs in the observation section.

DON’T FORGET TO USE BOLDED SUB-HEADINGS FOR EACH SECTION!!