Physical Science NSCI 101/103 - Laboratory 1: Introduction to Science

Exercise 1: Data Interpretation

Dissolved oxygen is oxygen that is trapped in a fluid, such as water. Since many living organism requires oxygen to survive, it is a necessary component of water systems such as streams, lakes and rivers in order to support aquatic life. The dissolved oxygen is measured in units of ppm (parts per million). Examine the data in Table 2 showing the amount of dissolved oxygen present and the number of fish observed in the body of water the sample was taken from; finally, answer the questions below.

Questions

1. What patterns do you observe based on the information in Table 2?

2. Develop a hypothesis relating to the amount of dissolved oxygen measured in the water sample and the number of fish observed in the body of water.

3. What would your experimental approach be to test this hypothesis?

4. What would be the independent and dependent variables?

5. What would be your control?

6. What type of graph would be appropriate for this data set? Why?

7. Graph the data from Table 2: Water Quality vs. Fish Population (found at the beginning of this exercise).

8. Interpret the data from the graph made in Question 7.

Exercise 2: Testable Observations

Determine which of the following observations are testable. For those that are testable:

Determine if the observation is qualitative or quantitative

Write a hypothesis and null hypothesis

What would be your experimental approach?

What are the dependent and independent variables?

What are your controls - both positive and negative?

How will you collect your data?

How will you present your data (charts, graphs, types)?

How will you analyze your data?

Observations

When a plant is placed on a window sill, it grows 3 inches faster per day than when it is placed ona coffee table in the middle of the living room.

1. The teller at the bank with brown hair and brown eyes is taller than the other tellers.

2. When Sally eats healthy foods and exercises regularly, her blood pressure is 10 points lower than when she does not exercise and eats fatty foods.

3. The Italian restaurant across the street closes at 9 pm but the one two blocks away closes at 10 pm.

4. For the past two days, the clouds have come out at 3 pm and it has started raining at 3:15 pm.

5. George did not sleep at all the night following the start of daylight savings.

Exercise 3: Conversion

For each of the following, convert each value into the designated units.

Exercise 4: Accuracy and Precision

For the following, determine whether the information is accurate, precise, both or neither.

1. During gym class, four students decided to see if they could beat the norm of 45 sit-ups in a minute. The first student did 64 sit-ups, the second did 69, the third did 65, and the fourth did 67.

2. The average score for the 5th grade math test is 89.5. The top 4th graders took the test and scored 89, 93, 91 and 87.

3. Yesterday the temperature was 89 °F, tomorrow it’s supposed to be 88 °F and the next day it’s supposed to be 90 °F, even though the average for September is only 75 °F degrees!

4. Four friends decided to go out and play horseshoes. They took a picture of their results shown to the right:

5. A local grocery store was holding a contest to see who could most closely guess the number of pennies that they had inside a large jar. The first six people guessed the numbers 735, 209, 390, 300, 1005 and 689. The grocery clerk said the jar actually contains 568 pennies.

Exercise 5: Significant Digits and Scientific Notation

Part 1: Determine the number of significant digits in each number and write out the specific significant digits.

Part 2: Write the numbers below in scientific notation, incorporating what you know about significant digits.