Practical 00 An Introduction to using Data Studio
Introduction
This practical is an introduction to using a datalogger (pasco) to take measurements. Since this is the first practical in the programme I have chosen something very simple, measuring the temperature rise of an electric kettle so even if students have never studied physics before they can understand that water gets hot when you switch on the kettle.
Method
The temperature of the water in a kettle is measured using a temperature probe connected to a computer. The kettle is then switched on and the temperature logged at regular intervals. A graph of temp. vs time is then plotted using "data studio" software and the gradient determined. This value is entered into a table. It is important to realise that this level of data analysis is not enough for the IB assessment, the student must do more than just read off a value from a computer generated graph, to add depth to this investigation students then repeat the measurement with different masses of water, the mass and rate of temp. rise are then entered into a table and a graph plotted using "graphical analysis".
Assessment
This practical is not used to to assess any of the criteria
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