Earth Science Laboratory Program: BLOCK 2

Getting Ready for Lab

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Field Testing Soil

Books, lectures and videos are good. We can learn from each of them, but actually doing something is even better. As we perform something real our minds can tune in much more completely than if we are only reading words or watching someone else do the action.

The concepts we cover in laboratory work fall into main categories of qualitative and quantitative observations. Qualitative observations are in the "what's in like?" mode and quantitative obervations are "how much?" actual numeric measurements.

The Language of Lab

Laboratory work focuses on observation, measurement & description and then analyzing the results to produce meaningful conclusions.

The mathematics we use in Earth Science labs is not difficult, but you do need to be comfortable with using those math skills as you perform and report on your work.

The following video gives an overview of many of the measurements we will be making during our laboratory activities.

ACTIVITY ASSIGNMENT: As you watch the video, make a LIST of the various measurements mentioned.

Scientific Measurement





ACTIVITY ASSIGNMENT: After watching the following video, copy each of the following numbers and then indicate the number of significant digits in each.

1.20
200,000
1004
0.000003
0.0030000
1.34 X 10¹⁰

Measurement and Uncertainty

Here comes a really important concept!

The work we do in our laboratory activities combines the quantitative measurement with conceptual ideas. Thus it is critical to be comfortable and skilled with the quantitative nature of science. Simply put, we don't want to need to be learning the math concepts at the same time we are trying to understand the science.

Therefore, we will do enough "drill & practice" on the quantitative skills to become comfortable and correct in our use of those math skills.

ACTIVITY ASSIGNMENT: Using the system explained in the following video, convert 1.6 years to seconds. Show all your work including units.

Unit Conversion & Significant Figures

Use the following video to prepare your lab notebook

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