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Lab 1a: Quantifying motion from Images and Videos

How do you quantify motion?  Excel Analysis of the 1-D Motion of an Amoeba

In this one-week lab, students explore the concepts of position, displacement, velocity and acceleration while learning basic Excel skills for data presentation and analysis.  The students are given a stop-motion sequence of outlines of an amoeba undergoing roughly linear motion.  The students must determine what should be measured, how to measure it, and how to manipulate the resulting data to make statements about the amoeba’s motion.

Files for Students:

• Lab 1a: How do you quantify motion? Excel Analysis of the 1-D Motion of an Amoeba.
• Pre-readings: 
• Introduction to Data Analysis with Excel
• Excel Quick Reference Sheet
• Amoeba motion: Dark tracks

File for TAs:

• Lab 1a: TA Guide

Kim Moore, Spring 2014