Freefall Data for Earth, Pluto, and Jupiter By Alix F, Caitlin J, Beth R, Briana D.

For the first graph we had to input data for the distances and times of Earth, Pluto, and Jupiter. For Earth we had to figure out the average velocity, so we had to divide distance over time and that gave us the average velocity. Then we used the equation Vf=2Vave in order to find the final velocity for Earth. Then we used the equation A=(Vf-Vi)/(Ti-0) and it gave us our acceleration for all acceleration boxes.We followed these same steps for planets Pluto and Jupiter. The second graph above shows all the final velocities on the y-axis and on the x-axis it shows the time. Then we calculated the slopes for Earth, Pluto, and Jupiter. The slope for Earth on the graph is 9.8, Pluto is 0.61, and Jupiter is 26. This information will allow us to make further calculations if necessary in the future. Our group feels comfortable using excel, final velocity, average velocity, and acceleration calculations.

Thoughts About Class and Physics

First, I was sad that I missed out on Tuesdays class because I enjoy experiments with motion and using math equations. This reminds me of my physics class I took my senior year at West Mesa High School with Mrs. Marcus because we did a lot of physics experiments and a lot of math. I like how the math looks complicated but once you figure out where to plug in certain numbers it flows and makes sense. When I do math it helps unravel the experiment because I see how numbers change and how they all fit together to make sense of what each term means like final velocity, average velocity, and acceleration. I enjoy this class and I like all the people because everyone is nice. Also I enjoy the group work because we get to talk about whats going on, we learn from each others perspectives, and everyone has something different to say so I feel this helps us think more about the activities. I am also starting to like the blogging because I feel comfortable to say whatever is on my mind. This class is awesome and I am excited to do future experiments, blogging, and learn more material. Lastly, I love how the class is so use to working in groups that each student is able to help a student like myself get caught up. Even though I missed the actual toy cars in motion I still feel like I was there because my group gave me all the information and they told me what they did and how they got their numbers for the data. With all this information I could visualize the activity and I felt like I was their and this helped me understand how everything worked and the math came easy because I knew what everything was. It was a productive day on Thursday and I loved it because we used up all the class time to figure out calculations and make graphs. I always love the groups I'm in because I work with a lot of amazing intelligent people who I hope to see in the future.

Scientific Process #4

From chapter 1 The Nature of Science from Science for All Americans Online explains that science is developed by observing, thinking, experimenting, and validating. When conducting science it will never be linear and there is no fixed set of steps that needs to be followed. This lets us know that we can go from communicating with the group, make a hypothesis, form questions, investigate the known, carry out the study, observe, examine results, define the problem, communicate, reflect on the data, form more questions, carry out the study, observe more data, and examine the results. The process of science can take minutes, hours, months, and years because data is subject to change and because science demands evidence. It is important to gain lots of evidence to support your hypothesis of an experiment because it makes the experiment valid. When any kind of scientific experiment has valid evidence then it gives it value. If a scientific experiment has valid evidence then it could be useful for other scientists to use in their science experiments. Other scientist can use other valid evidence to examine, help them form new questions, validate their evidence, or it can change their original information, which would lead them to carry out another study. However, using other scientists valid evidence can be subjective because the information that is gathered to support a hypothesis is all based on how that certain person observes and thinks. For example, the many different facial products that are made to diminish the appearance of pores, dark spots, wrinkles, and scars were made by a certain person and tested on certain people. A person who made a certain facial product could be Asian and so they would probably test their product on Asian skin. The product could be successful and diminish any facial imperfection. Now if the product was sold in stores and a Native American read good reviews about that certain product they would want to buy it. The Native American would go home and try the product and a month later sees little or no results. This would show that the Asian scientist didn’t use different variables for skin types like Native, African, and Caucasian skin. From here we could guess that the Asian scientist feels that all skin is the same and can be treated with the same product. Also this information can be used by another scientist to help diminish facial imperfections on only Asians and Caucasians . Understand that validating science is important because it gives it value and can be used as a resource for other science experiments. The most important thing we need to remember when using someone else’s evidence is that it can be subjective and bias because of the way that scientist have certain beliefs and attitudes about what they do and how they do their work. Also scientist can control conditions deliberately and precisely to obtain their evidence. All this information about the process of science helps me to be open with future experiments because what I think is one answer could be another answer or just part of the answer. Also when conducting science I will always be looking for the correct answers but I need to accept some uncertainty because I won’t have all the answers to my questions. As I conduct future science experiments it will not always be one persons work because science is a complex social activity where work involves many individuals doing many different kinds of work.

Another important point I want to make about the process of science is how to show other people the data you have collected from an experiment. From the TED video of The Beauty of Data Visualization informs us about the different ways to be creative when showing/explaining data. It is important to have graphs, videos, data tables, pictures and anything that applies to the experiment. Having multiple graphs shows the different variables in an experiment. This is easy for your audience to look at the graphs and see a relationship or no relationship between variables. Also using storytelling to explain data is interesting because it captures your audience’s attention and they are willing to participate and learn about a certain science experiment. Also when showing your data it is good to recognize the different way people learn which is through the affective, psycho-motor, and cognitive domains. For people who learn through the affective domain it would be wise to use storytelling because they will be willing to listen/participate and they seem to relate it to other experiences. This helps them make learning memorable because it becomes personal. For people who learn through the psycho-motor domain it would be best to use resources they could touch or give them a chance to talk about the data and how they understand it. For people who learn through the cognitive domain it would be best to show them graphs and data tables because they like to evaluate the information and apply it to other information. Everyone learns through all domains but some people find that one domain works better at comprehending information than another. That is why it is always good to be creative with presentations and think about your audience and what kind of learners they are.

The Beauty of Data Visualization Discussion

By: Alix Fernando, Yvonne Portillo, Beth Reecer

We thought the video was interesting because of all the points he made about Data is the oil and he changed it to data is the new soil. Yvonne said an example of how back in the day if people wanted to cook up a recipe they couldn't because they wouldn't know all the ingredients. Nowadays a person can google a recipe and it gives them all the ingredients to make it. Data can also help you grow as a learner or a Creator. Data can also prove people wrong and change your opinions and perspectives. Also when people google information it can be bias. As learners this video shows us that information can be exaggerated or misinterpreted. Also we learned that people can manipulate data to their convenience. An example from the video would be the amount of soldiers in china and the U.S. In the video china has more soldiers but has less budget for their military and in the U.S they have less soldiers but more budget. Then in the video it shows that even though China has the highest amount of soldiers they also have less soldiers than North Korea. Also we learned that if the information is presented in a more creative way people are more likely to read it and remember the information. This relates back the Prezi's in class because each group made their presentations stand out with pictures, videos, different color texts, and music. Also we learned that when presenting data its would be useful to present it in a way where we reach out to all types of audiences and learners. In conclusion, it is important to present data in a way to prevent information overload because in the video he says our society has a problem with information overload. Also it is important to make data interesting by incorporating it into a story or something creative.

Ken Robinson individual post

Ken Robinson states good points about education blocking a childs creativity. I agree with Robinson when he states that creativity in education is as important as literacy and we need to treat them with the same status. This is true because being creative in class helps students enjoy a lesson or assignment and they seem to learn quicker than just reading and writing. Also I believe when a child has a chance to be creative they fell more confident to speak up and share ideas with their classmates. Also, in the Ken Robinson video I love when he says if your not prepared to be wrong then you will never come up with anything original. This made me think of a couple of teachers I had in elementary, middle, and high school. When our class was trying to figure out something together the teacher would tell us to yell out anything even if it we thought it was wrong or right. Then from there we would make the wrong information understandable and connect it with what was right. As a kid I thought class times like these were fun because everyone got to speak, share thoughts, make learning memorable, and no one was afraid of being wrong. Later on, when I become an educator I want to let my students know that being wrong is nothing to be embarrassed of because you can always make it right. Also Ken Robinson has made me rethink how I want to set my class environment for my students that I will be teaching in the future. Reason I am changing is because our society really does put math first and the arts last. This is not right because every subject is equal and we need to have an equal knowledge about everything. I aslo agree with Robinson that academic ability has come to dominate our view of intelligence. I believe this is true because as a society we would think the scientist, historian, or mathemetician is more intelligent than a veterinarian, ballerina, chef, or some type of artist. In my class I would incorporate music, drawing, painting, photography, building, and different computer programs with science, math, reading, and writing. I believe this would help each child flourish differently and learn in their own way about a lesson because each person is different and we have many learning styles. When I teach I am excited to break the old habit of a quiet traditional classroom with books and constant writing. Educators nowadays need to understand that if a child is moving around and being disruptive it does not mean they cannot learn or that they have ADHD. It means that the lesson should have some creativity and hands on work for the students to do besides sitting and listening for hours. Therefore I agree with Ken Robinson that we need to see creative capacities for the richness they are. I believe being creative with any of the arts in the classroom really does make learning memorable, helps students focus, and the students enjoy coming to class.