Name: ______Class: ______Hour: ______
Graphing Practice
Introduction:
· Graphing is an important procedure used by scientists to display the data that is collected during a controlled experiment
· Line graphs must be constructed correctly to accurately portray the data collected.
· Line graphs are used when you are looking at how something changes over time.
· Bar graphs are used when you have different categories that you are comparing to each other.
· Many times the wrong construction of a graph detracts from the acceptance of an individual’s hypothesis
· A graph contains four major parts:
a. Title
b. The independent variable
c. The dependent variable
d. The scales for each variable
· The title: depicts what the graph is about. By reading the title, the reader should get an idea about the graph. It should be a concise statement placed above the graph.
· The Independent Variable: is the variable that can be controlled by the experimenter. It usually includes time (dates, minutes, hours), depth (feet, meters), temperature (Celsius). This variable is placed on the X axis (horizontal axis).
· The Dependent Variable: is the variable that is directly affected by the independent variable. It is the result of what happens because of the independent variable. Example: How many oxygen bubbles are produced by a plant located five meters below the surface of the water? The oxygen bubbles are dependent on the depth of the water. This variable is placed on the Y-axis or vertical axis.
· “DRY MIX” = Dependent / Responding Y-axis & Manipulative / Independent X-axis
· The Scales for each Variable: In constructing a graph one needs to know where to plot the points representing the data. In order to do this a scale must be employed to include all the data points. This must also take up a conservative amount of space. It is not suggested to have a run on scale making the graph too hard to manage. The scales should start with 0 and climb based on intervals such as: multiples of 2, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, or 100. The scale of numbers will be dictated by your data values.
· The Mean for a group of variables: To determine the mean for a group of variables, divide the sum of the variables by the total number of variables to get an average.
· The Median for a group of variables: To determine median or “middle” for an even number of values, put the values in ascending order and take the average of the two middle values. e.g. 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10 Add 4+5 (2 middle values) and divide by 2 to get 4.5
· The Mode for a group of variables: The mode for a group of values is the number that occurs most frequently.e.g. 2, 5, 8, 2, 6, 11 The number 2 is the mode because it occurred most often (twice)
Problem #1:
Using the following data, answer the questions below and then construct a line graph.
A scientist went out different distances from the caldera (hole in the top of a volcano) of 2 different volcanos. The scientist measured the amount of rocks thrown the distance measured per minute.
Distance from caldera meters / Number of rocks / minutevolcano A / Number of rocks / minute
volcano B
1 / 27 / 23
7 / 35 / 26
9 / 47 / 43
15 / 35 / 51
27 / 15 / 32
29 / 8 / 19
1. What is the dependent variable and why?
2. What is the independent variable and why?
3. What title would you give the graph?
4. What are the mean and median of all 3 columns of data?
a). Distance from caldera : Mean______Median______
b). Rocks Volcano A.: Mean ______Median______
c). Rocks Volcano B: Mean ______Median______
Graph Title: ______
Problem #2:
Answer the following questions using the data below and then construct a line graph.
A scientist measured the number of steps 2 different robots took over certain distances.
Distance in km / Steps takenRobot A / Steps taken
Robot B
0.25 / 100 / 150
0.50 / 165 / 185
1 / 145 / 235
1.25 / 130 / 249
1.50 / 145 / 237
2 / 130 / 215
2.5 / 100 / 175
1. What is the dependent variable and why?
2. What is the independent variable and why?
3. What title would you give the graph?
4. Which robot took more steps on average?
Graph Title: ______
Problem #3: Dow Jones Over Time
a. How many were present in 1990? ______
b. What year were there 8000? ______
c. What year was the highest? ______ /
Problem #4: Distance Traveled Over Time
a. How far was the object after 12 seconds? ______
b. What was the time when the object was 10 m away? ______
c. After 16 seconds, how far away was the object?______ /
Problem # 5:
Amount of glop in mL/m2 / Lunch A:Days / Lunch B:
Days / Lunch C:
Days
10 / 14 / 14 / 15
15 / 12 / 12 / 13
20 / 11 / 9 / 10
25 / 10 / 7 / 9
30 / 8 / 7 / 8
35 / 8 / 7 / 7
A. Construct a line graph of the data.
B. What is the dependent variable?
C. What is the independent variable?
Graph Title: ______
Problem # 6:
Age of the tree (years) / Average height of tree (cm).Tree A / Average height of tree (cm).
Tree B
.5 / 3.0 / 5.5
1 / 4.1 / 15.3
2 / 8.9 / 38.9
3 / 15.9 / 75.4
4 / 55.0 / 76.9
5 / 78.1 / 83.2
A. Construct a line graph of the data.
B. What is the dependent variable?
C. What is the independent variable?
D. Based on this data, what can you conclude about tree A and tree B?
Graph Title: ______
Name: ______
Metric Conversion: Stair-Step Method
King
Kilo-
1000 Henry
Hecto-
100 Died
Deca-
10 By
Base Unit Drinking
Deci-
0.1 Chocolate
Centi-
0.01 Milk
Milli-
0.001
The prefix Kilo (k) - means 1000 times. Base Units will include the gram (g),
The prefix Hecto (h) - means 100 times liter (L) , and meter (m) and will have no
The prefix Deka (dk) - means 10 times. prefix.
The prefix Deci (d) - means 0.1 times.
The prefix Centi (c) - means 0.01 times.
The prefix Milli (m) - means 0.001 times.
To use the Stair-Step method, find the prefix the original measurement starts with. (ex. milligram) If there is no prefix, then you are starting with a base unit. Find the step which you wish to make the conversion to. (ex. decigram) Count the number of steps you moved, and determine in which direction you moved (left or right). The decimal in your original measurement moves the same number of places as steps you moved and in the same direction. (ex. milligram to decigram is 2 steps to the left, so 40 milligrams = .40 decigrams) If the number of steps you move is larger than the number you have, you will have to add zeros to hold the places. (ex. kilometers to meters is three steps to the right, so 10 kilometers would be equal to 10,000 m
That’s all there is to it! You need to be able to count to 6, and know your left from your right!
Prefix / Symbol / Multiply the base bytera- / T / 1 000 000 000 000
giga / G / 1 000 000 000
mega / M / 1 000 000
kilo / k / 1000
hecto- / h / 100
deca- / da / 10
Base unit / 1
deci- / d / 0.1
centi / c / 0.01
milli- / m / 0.001
micro- / u / 0.000 001
nano- / n / 0.000 000 001
pico- / p / 0.000 000 000 001
Base Quantity / Name of unit / Symbol
Length / Meter / m
Mass / Kilogram / kg
Time / Second / s
Electrical Current / Ampere / A
Temperature / Kelvin / K
Amount of Substance / Mole / mol
Luminous Intensity / Candela / cd
SI METRICS & MEASUREMENT
Example: Convert 5.0 mL to L
Answer:
Convert the following…
1. 35 mL = ______dL 6. 4500 mg = ______g
2. 950 g = ______kg 7. 25 cm = ______mm
3. 275 mm= ______cm 8. 0.005 kg = ______dag
4. 1000 L = ______kL 9. 0.075 m = ______cm
5. 1000 mL =______L 10. 15 g = ______mg
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