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Spring 2016, Physics 131, Reminder from 3-25 Training

Page history last edited by Kim Moore 8 years ago

Reminders from 3/25/2016 Training, for Lab 3, Part 3, week of 3/28

 

1) Recitation: Electrophoresis 

For those working with "Electrophoresis": 

(And check out that cool image of gel structure linked below!)

(It might help students if you discuss, after the recitation has concluded, the power of a 'null' result.  Finding out what doesn't work or that a conclusion can't be made is often as powerful (i.e., instructive, generative) as finding something that works!)

 

From Ben Geller, Oct. 2013: "So Vashti and I spent an hour talking about electrophoresis after I talked to you guys today.  We were tying to figure out exactly what agarose looks like at the microscopic level.  There's a pic on this page:

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biological-engineering/20-109-laboratory-fundamentals-in-biological-engineering-spring-2010/labs/module-1-day-2-purify-aptamer-encoding-dna/

So basically, the little stuff gets through this mesh-like gel more easily than the big stuff. :)

This might be a pic you want to show the students in recitation if, by the end of the hour, they are wondering what the gel actually looks like."

 

(Break; Pass back graded Lab 2, if you have not yet done so....)

 

2)  Lab 3, Part 3

Link to documents: http://umdberg.pbworks.com/w/page/68933700/NEXUS%20Physics%20Labs%2C%202013-2014

 

*** If necessary for your sections, you should send students a reminder to come to Lab 3, Part 3 with their histograms finished and their videos 2 and 3 tracked (ready for building <r^2> vs. t plots for all 3 videos in Excel).  [I will send a message next week including the list of technical and data-processing skills we expect students to have mastered before the start of Lab 4.]

 

General structure:  The 3rd week of this lab is...

  • make the <r^2> vs t plots for all three videos (with error bars--usually done by standard deviation--but watch out for small N!);
  • extract the diffusion constant, D, from the slope of the best fit line (since <r^2> = 4D * t);
  • make an argument for the form of the diffusion constant, D--from the dimensional analysis, from the viewpoint of physical mechanism, and from the data (not always easy, requires reconciling conflicting info--do data LAST; if the data is inconclusive, discuss this (as a frequent science outcome and how scientists respond) with the students);
  • poster presentations; and
  • finalize report.

 

a) Lab reports due this week--remind students at the start of lab. 

 

b) Kim would like to scan the labs!  Please bring these by 1322 when your lab has ended.  Kim'll scan these and get them right back to you.

 

c) Think through how you would like the class data sharing/discussion to work: i) Groups who have worked on identical solutions can compare first, decide which data to report out and then the class can discuss as a whole; or, ii) you can go directly to sharing out the data to the class as a whole, including all of the data.  Also think through how you want the presentations/poster session to work ("Talk" style or "Poster" style?).  You have some freedom of choice, here, so think through your options and walk in to lab with a plan in mind.  Communicate what you want students to be doing in a clear manner and give them a chance to ask questions. 

 

d) Remember to leave the lab room in a neat, organized shape for the next TA and section of students.  Sort and stack the lab documents and replace the technical documents in the correct pile.  If paper/staples are running low, get more from Don/Bill.

 

e) If you have not yet read (or need to re-read) the Intro to Error Propagation, please do so! (Link: TechnicalDocument_IntroToErrorPropagation.pdf )

 

Email me if you have any other questions!

~KIM

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