Embedded Files
Internal Assessment - Resources
Internal Assessment - Resources
Research
Research
There are a few questions that I get from students frequently:
What makes a good source?
How do I cite my source in the text and in the bibliography?
How many sources do I need?
Please use this template to evaluate your sources.
Bibliography and Citations
Bibliography and Citations
In academia, we are expected to provide extensive citations even for knowledge that seems commonplace or obvious. If you did not invent the physics or mathematics involved in your IA, then you should provide a source for your knowledge.
Here is an extensive guide to writing citations in MLA style. It's Bushman recommended, and I used the same site in college!
You can use this website to generate nice citations in MLA format: https://www.mybib.com
Selecting your materials
Selecting your materials
A huge part of conducting your experiments will involve selecting the right materials.
Some of the materials will be provided by the school, but you may also need to pick up one or two items yourself. You are not expected to spend a lot of money; a top-shelf Physics IA can be done in a weekend with a smartphone and a shopping trip to your nearest 100 yen store.
All equipment requests must be made via this form. Please fill it out once for each item required from the physics lab.
Not seeing anything above? Reauthenticate
Collecting data
Collecting data
Key Point: All students are required to place all data collection files into your "Data Collection" folder located on Google Drive. Your data collection folder should look very much like the attached screenshots of acceptable examples:
Absolute and Procedural Uncertainty and data collection
Absolute and Procedural Uncertainty and data collection
A quick review of Topic 1.2 will be helpful for both data collection and the analysis portion of your IA.
Remember that all measurements that you make should have the absolute uncertainty clearly recorded!
This video will help you deal with uncertainties in fluctuating measurements taken with Logger Pro
Video Analysis
Video Analysis
Analyzing video is a powerful way of determining position and velocity. It also provides the ability to measure time with a much higher degree of accuracy than a stopwatch.
The video on the right shows how to collect position data with Logger Pro. The two videos that I recorded show two approaches to handling the uncertainty of blurred video. Both are a bit time consuming, so using the highest speed camera possible will be a big time saver.
DATA Analysis
DATA Analysis
You've collected data...now what??
Review Topic 1.2! You will need to include error bars on your charts and propagate uncertainty.
The videos below will show you how to:
Insert beautiful equations!
Handle averages, uncertainty, charts in Excel.
Estimate slope uncertainty in Logger Pro.
Completely forgotten how to insert/format a chart? Start here.
How to MS Word's equation editor
Formatting a basic table in Excel
Averages, procedural uncertainty, basic formulae in Excel
Slope Uncertainty with Logger Pro. Students who want a 7 will be having a look at this video.
ELIMINATE WHITE SPACE: Students frequently waste a lot of space. Here's an example of a graph and a text box combination from MS word in which there is very little white, blank space.
DID I "prove" my theory???
DID I "prove" my theory???
No. We do not "prove" in science, we evaluate evidence. We can make smaller and smaller measurements until we hit a wall called "the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle" in which the certainty with which we can know position or momentum is limited by a very small constant. The consequence of this fact is we can never know EXACTLY where something is or how fast it is going. Proof implies 100% certainty and we will never have that in science.
More reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/11/22/scientific-proof-is-a-myth
draft Ia Checklist
draft Ia Checklist
Please fill out this form before your final submission of the Draft IA on turnitin.com.
Page updated
Report abuse