Elanna Worthy Dr.

Bettie Hicks Charleston Program 5 March 2014 Weekly Session #3 On our fourth day traveling to Charleston through CU-LIFE, our third session was instructed by Mrs. McClary, professor in the School of Education at Claflin University. This science session was based on Safety and Measurement in the Science Classroom. Mrs. McClary began by reviewing some very important safety rules in a science classroom such as the following: the safety of all individuals in the science classroom is crucial; teachers are legally responsible for the safety of students in their classroom; safety should be discussed at the beginning of the school year and reviewed throughout the school year; be sure to discuss rules which apply to the current lab activity. She then asked us to list several pieces of safety equipment. We said items such as a lab coat, safety goggles, fire extinguisher, fire blanket, eye wash sink, aprons, gloves, etc. She said we were all correct, but we elaborated on the different safety goggles aprons, and gloves. We remembered the difference as soon as she addressed the various differences. Mrs. McClary then asked us to list several lab safety rules that we remembered from elementary, middle, or high school. Some of the lab safety rules were (1) wear closed toe shoes, (2) no eating or drinking in the lab, (3) pull hair out of your face during experiment, (4) tell teacher if glass breaks in the lab, and (5) only follow the teachers directions. Those were some of the lab safety rules that we came up; Mrs. McClary added more to our list and we recalled those lab safety rules from our science classes. She asked us if we signed safety contracts prior to participating in any science experiment. We all cosigned and agreed, but then asked us if we remember reading them. I said I used to just sign my name because it was a requirement prior to participating in any experiment, and we all wanted to simply participate. She then showed us an example of an elementary school, middle school, and high school safety contract. They were similar, but they escalated as the students progressed in science levels. Next, we addressed the SI basic units and their symbols for length, mass, temperature, and time. We also examined the Derived SI units and symbols for volume, density, speed, Newton, energy, and pressure. Length is the distance between two points. Mass is the measurement of the quantity of matter in an object. We also observed a Triple Beam Balance. The balance has three beams called rider beams. Each rider beam has a different mass suspended from it. These masses, called riders, can be moved left and right along the rider beams to determine the mass of an object placed on the measurement tray. Volume is the amount of space occupied by an object. Volume can be measured using a graduated cylinder. The formula for Volume is (L x W x H). Temperature is the measure of the kinetic energy of all the particles in an object. Temperature is the measure of how hot or cold something is. Density is mass per unit volume of a material. The formula for Density is (D = m v). To ensure the concept of Measurement Length, Mass, and Volume, we performed an activity involving paperclip, popsicle stick, rocks, metric ruler, platform balance, triple beam balance, graduated cylinder, and water.