Following Through...

Physical Science - Haunted by the spectre of lab directions. Several times, again, I noticed groups not following directions for their lab activity. I should never find that you have skipped steps while working through a lab activity or have simply failed to follow what the directions tell you to do. Also, make sure that you pay close attention to the focus of the lab and of the information being collected/presented. I should not, for instance, have to point out axes labels on graphs displayed on the computer monitors. Work towards doing labs efficiently, but correctly. Spend your time on the analysis rather than trying ti figure out what to do when the procedure is written out on your lab sheet.

Physics - Many of you need to get with the following through, also. I looked through the lab sheets submitted today and noticed that a number of individuals just seemed to ignore the actual point of the lab - finding the acceleration due to gravity! Your graphs were hastily constructed and not set up to answer the question. It is good to collect the data, but the data is useless if meaning is not made of it. This time, I knocked a few points off these labs; next time, I will knock off many points. Tonight's homework will allow you to practice your vector resolution techniques. We will discuss this tomorrow and our next lab block will give you an opportunity to practice the vector techniques you have been studying so far in the chapter.

Honors Physics - Tomorrow's lab will require attention to detail, so make sure to read it carefully tonight. Think about all the concepts we discussed about horizontal projectiles as you perform the lab and complete the calculations. If time permits, we may be able to modify the procedure into a study of a projectile launched at an angle. This would facilitate your working through the homework problems. BTW: be willing to use up paper on these problems. They can be brain scratchers. Identify all known and implicit information. Sketch the situation. Break down initial velocity into its x- and y-components, consider the symmetry of the situation, think backwards (it can be a great help) and make use of substitutions to reduce the number of unknown variables.