Monday, September 14, 2009
Mon-Day 1
Bio 3/6 - VERY IMPORTANT REMINDER/UPDATE: the Unit One exam has been rescheduled to be given this FRIDAY, September 18th (there was a temporary switch to Thursday but that change was almost immediately cancelled). Even so, tonight I will still post the homework answers and additional practice test files on Blackboard. You do not have to hand in the homework for this unit; just use the posted answers as a guideline for the level of detail and quality of homework expected for the upcoming units. Compare your homework answers to the ones posted.
We discussed "Peer Review", the final step in the process of an initial scientific investigation/paper/study. In this case, "peers" are scientists who will look critically at your scientific paper, examining your process for flaws, bias, and sources of random error. We defined random "error" as the unavoidable cause of some variation in any measurement/experiment due to factors that naturally fluctuate randomly. Random error will equally likely skew the results positively or negatively. Random error/variation can never be completely eliminated from any experiment BUT sources of random error can be MINIMIZED in a given experimental setup.
To deal with the problem of random error/variation, scientists perform multiple trials of an experiment and then AVERAGE the results so that the AVERAGE of the random error is closer to zero so that the results are more accurate.
We then discussed the difference between a scientific Law and a scientific Theory. We learned that Theories are much more powerful in that they can explain the how and why of natural phenomena whereas Laws, while very useful, can only describe the "what" of natural phenomena. Laws are often written as mathematical equations.
AP Chem- we finished examples of the Law of Multiple Proportions and then we discussed the influence of Avogadro's Law on the early models of matter, showing that atoms must combine in specific, whole number ratios.
We also got an initiation into the correct method for drawing Lewis dot structures.
Tomorrow, we will begin moles, stoichiometry, and the more advanced problems that can be solved with these tools.
We discussed "Peer Review", the final step in the process of an initial scientific investigation/paper/study. In this case, "peers" are scientists who will look critically at your scientific paper, examining your process for flaws, bias, and sources of random error. We defined random "error" as the unavoidable cause of some variation in any measurement/experiment due to factors that naturally fluctuate randomly. Random error will equally likely skew the results positively or negatively. Random error/variation can never be completely eliminated from any experiment BUT sources of random error can be MINIMIZED in a given experimental setup.
To deal with the problem of random error/variation, scientists perform multiple trials of an experiment and then AVERAGE the results so that the AVERAGE of the random error is closer to zero so that the results are more accurate.
We then discussed the difference between a scientific Law and a scientific Theory. We learned that Theories are much more powerful in that they can explain the how and why of natural phenomena whereas Laws, while very useful, can only describe the "what" of natural phenomena. Laws are often written as mathematical equations.
AP Chem- we finished examples of the Law of Multiple Proportions and then we discussed the influence of Avogadro's Law on the early models of matter, showing that atoms must combine in specific, whole number ratios.
We also got an initiation into the correct method for drawing Lewis dot structures.
Tomorrow, we will begin moles, stoichiometry, and the more advanced problems that can be solved with these tools.
# posted by C @ 10:30 AM 
