Friday, September 23, 2011

Motion Sensor

1.The lines were different because when you back away fast the line goes up more than if you were to back away slow.
2. The line would descend.
3.To match the line you must walk backward at times and be still at times.
4.When walking faster on the velocity graph, the line spikes.
5.Acceleration is the rate at which an object gains velocity.
6.The detector was too sensitive, thus it was impossible to match.
7.

A hop, skip, and a jump

1.How do the x,y,z acceleration vary over time? Why?
The large spikes are constant with the "z" graph, the small spikes are constant with the "x" graph, and the small spikes commence at the end of the "y" graph. This is because the motion sensor is held by the arm, which is constantly swinging up and down.
2.What happens to force over time? Patterns?
The force goes in a pattern of up to down because there is no force being applied to the sensor in the air, however when the sensor hits the ground, force is exerted through the body, and into the motion sensor.
3.Explain the relationship between force and acceleration in your data.
The force reflects the upward and downward acceleration.
4.Compare and contrast data for each individual.
In both tests, the lines spiked at the same time. What was different was the straight lines. Some were spikier than others.

Monday, August 22, 2011

The Moving Man: Distance, Displacement, Speed, and Velocity

2a. 4 meters 2b. reference point: 4 meters 2c.2d.
DISTANCE FROM Walking Man
(reference point)
to….
The House
The Wall
The tree


4 meters
6 meters

-8 meters

3. a. The moving man would be moving backward to the tree and forward to the house. d.
DISPLACEMENT FROM Walking Man
(reference point)
to….
The House
The Wall
The tree
 4 meters
 Distance is how much ground has been covered in a motion, displacement is how far an object has moved from the reference point.                                                                  
6 meters 
 8 meters
                              

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Size of Women's Brains to Men

 1. What is the general point that Gould is presenting?
The general point that Gould is presenting is that no race or gender is intellectually superior to another.
 2. What is the general evidence on that which the conclusion is based?
The general evidence is that the smarter pupils, which could have been an equal mix of males and females, had larger brains than those that were not as gifted.

 3. What is the gender of all the researchers producing those data and conclusions?
 All those that concluded that men were smarter were males, and those those that said women were smarter were women. This raises the question on whether or not these people were biased.
 4. What weaknesses or problems with those data and their interpretation does Gould point out?
 In Broca's study, he used older more deteriorated female brains, and younger, healthier male brains.  
 5. a) Name the one woman anthropologist mentioned who studied the subject of this essay. b) What did she find after proper correction of Broca's data? c) What were her conclusions from that finding?
 a) Maria Montessori b) Montessori measured her students' brains. c)She found that women's brains were larger than men's.
 6. What conclusion does Gould reach about the central issue?
 Gould concluded that no race or gender is intellectually superior to another.
 7. Make a general statement about the role of bias and assumptions in the collecting, processing, and interpretation of data in scientific studies.
 Having a bias as a scientist can give yourself a bad name because you could really be misleading the audience.
 8. What other kinds of bias can you think of that might influence observations and interpretations in science?
 I can think of gender bias, research bias, and experiment bias.
 9. Describe your initial feelings (about the subject, the author, etc.) after reading the first 4 pages.
 I was thinking that Gould was bias for men.
10. Describe your feeling after finishing the entire article.

My position on the issue is the same as before I read this article, that no race or gender is intellectually superior to another. My feeling about this is that I read a good article and I learned something.