Name: ______Date: ______Period: ____

Now that's using your head!

Background: Did you ever wonder if the size of your head is related to how far you can jump? Your teacher has been wondering just the same thing, so he decided that we would take on this question in today's lab.

Problem: Is the size of your head related to how far you can jump if so, what is the relationship?

Hypothesis:______

______

Materials: a piece of graphing paper, a pencil, a large piece of string, a ruler.

The first read through all the procedures.

Procedure:

1-Make a data table for head size and jump distance you need enough for a total of 10 people.

2-The next thing you should do is take the piece of string and, using only your left hand, wrap thestring around the back of your head & touch that end to your nose as well. Make sure to mark the string so you know how long it is.

3-Take that piece of string and using a ruler measure the length of that string (in centimeters). You should now; put this value for head size in the proper place on the data chart you created.

4-Next here comes the fun, you will get a chance to do a standing broad jump. You will get three chances to jump.

5-After you have the results of all your jumps, average them out and write average jump distance in the appropriate space of the data chart you created.

Trial / Jump Distance (Centimeters)
1
2
3
Average

6-Your next objective is to share your data with the nine friends from this class. You will write your friends data (head size & length of jump)on the data table.

7-Using this data you will compose a bar graph to compare head size to length of jump.

After completing the graph, is there a relationship between head size and length of jump? Was your hypothesis correct?RESTATE HYPOTHESISand explain your answer from the data you collected.

______

Line Graph Tutorial
Constructing Line Graphs
  • One of the best ways to see what is happening with the data you collect in an experiment is to represent it visually as in a graph.
  • There are many types of graphs used in science, line graphs being just one.
  • For this lesson we'll be using some time and temperature data and construct a line graph using that data.
  • Since most of the graphs you'll construct in science this year are time / temperature graphs it's a good choice.
  • Two students have done an experiment comparing how the temperature of white and black metal cans left out in the sunshine change over a period of time.
  • Their data is shown below:

Line Graph Tutorial
Constructing Line Graphs
  • Before you start, it's best to use pencil since we all make mistakes.
  • On your graph paper, the horizontal X axis is the independent variable which in this case is time in minutes.
  • The vertical Y axis is the dependent variable which is temperature in degrees Celsius for this graph.
  • Look at your range of data to decide how to number each axis.
  • It's best to use as much of the paper as possible so you don't have to start the temperature at Zero degrees or go much higher than your highest temperature.
  • To make your task easier keep the numbered temperature intervals as multiples of 2, 5, or 10 degrees. For this graph we'll use 5 degrees.
  • For time ,we'll have the numbered intervals be every minute.

Line Graph Tutorial
Constructing Line Graphs
  • After numbering the axis' you need to label them. Always remember to include the proper units, in this case Degrees C for temperature and Minutes for time.

Line Graph Tutorial
Constructing Line Graphs
  • We also need to give our graph a title. It should tell what kind of information is being graphed and what it was based on. We'll title ours"Affect of Color on Temperature".

TABLES

When you have finished this page, try the Tables Quiz.

Tables are an excellent way to display data or information in an organized fashion. By putting data in tables one can easily from there set up a graph to illustrate the data.

Tables have several features in common. First, all tables as well as graphs should have a title to let the reader know the subject of the table or graph. Most tables consist of a series of rows and columns. These rows and columns intersect to form cells, the basic unit of the table in which a piece of data is placed.

A row is a series of cells going horizontally across the table. A column is a series of cells going vertically or up and down the table. One can tell where a particular piece of data is by describing the row and column the cell that contains the data is located. A whole table with the crossed lines to form the rows and columns is sometimes referred to as a grid.

We will examine some sample tables below and then discuss how the data might be used for a graph.

The first table is entitled "Favorite Pets of Students" based on a survey of students. In the first row across are the names of the various pets named by students. In each column underneath the various categories of responses are the numbers of responses for each pet. Notice the final category in the last cell in the first row is entitled "Other". This is frequently used as a sort of catchall category for various responses that do not fall into the categories cited by most of the people responding to the survey. This sort of table lends itself to a bar or column graph as the information is a one time response. A circle graph could be used but as the population of students is not clearly defined here, it may be difficult to say what the whole group is that is being surveyed for their results.

FAVORITE PETS OF STUDENTS

DOGS / CATS / FISH / BIRDS / OTHER
820 / 700 / 350 / 320 / 615

This next table has the title "Favorite Student After School Activity" based on a survey. In this case, the categories of activities are listed in the first column and the numbers or values for each activity in the second column. Once again, this would be a bar or column graph would be an excellent illustration of this data as it is a one time survey of the student population.

Favorite Student After School Activity

Activity / Number
Visit W/Friends / 175
Talk on Phone / 168
Play Sports / 120
Earn Money / 120
Use Computers / 65

In the third table, the title is "Average Daily Temperature for January 1-7 in Degrees Fahrenheit" Once again, the date is in the first column and the temperature in the second. This sort of data lends itself well to a line graph as the temperature is a continuous item that fluctuates.

Average Daily Temperature for January 1-7 in Degrees Fahrenheit

Date / Temperature
1 / 10
2 / 25
3 / 30
4 / 42
5 / 23
6 / 25
7 / 40

The final table is titled "Percent of Hours of a Day Spent on Activities". In this table there are three columns. In the first column is the activity, in the second column the number of hours spent on the activity and in the last the percent of the whole day spent on that activity. This sort of table's data would be well illustrated by a circle or pie graph as it show the parts of a whole - in this case hours of a day and how they were spent.

Percent of Hours of a Day Spent on Activities

ACTIVITY / HOURS / PERCENT OF DAY
Sleep / 6 / 25
School / 6 / 25
Job / 4 / 17
Entertainment / 4 / 17
Meals / 2 / 8
Homework / 2 / 8
Tables & Graphs Main Page / Tables / Bar Graphs
Column Graphs / Line Graphs / Circle/Pie Graphs