use a smart switch to turn off a lithium battery charger
visitors this year: 1,710 I know that I ought not leave things powered on. Knowing that is easier than remembering that an e-bike or drone or laptop battery is still connected. Below I show...
Category: handling data from experiments
This section is about examining the data that sensors collect from experiments. Understanding the data that sensors provide is surely the reason for bothering to collect it! You can download csv files for all the graphs here to import into Excel or other software. Do use the topics/ keywords to find what you need.
primary IT: graphs & spreadsheets
visitors this year: 45 How data handling in science topics can be helped by using an IT tool called a spreadsheet program. Explained, with examples (from ‘IT in primary science’ by Roger Frost).
primary IT: branching databases
A ‘branching database is a must-try activity for sorting items and classifying animals.
latent heat – salty ice
visitors this year: 437 When it is icy they put salt onto the roads to melt the ice. What the salt does is to depress, or reduce, the freezing point of water. The result...
effect of temperature on rate of reaction
visitors this year: 455 If you were a chemical manufacturer you would certainly be interested in finding ways to increase the rate of production. One way is to do the reaction at a higher...
data on the planets
visitors this year: 65 Datasets (files) like the one below are useful in science. There is data to analyse by drawing graphs. The file below is in a ‘CSV’ format. Open it in your spreadsheet...
tip for graphing with Excel
visitors this year: 84 Sometimes you need to graph several variables one after the other – for example, in this weather database, we plotted the daily maximum temperature against time. For clarity, we plotted...
data on the periodic table
visitors this year: 58 Datasets (files) like the one below are useful in science. There is data to analyse by drawing graphs. The file below is in a ‘CSV’ format. Open it in your spreadsheet...
data on pupil heights and weights
visitors this year: 43 Datasets (files) like the one below are useful in science. They have data to analyse by drawing graphs. The file below is in a ‘CSV’ format. Open it in your spreadsheet...
data on breakfast cereals
visitors this year: 51 Datasets (files) like the one below are useful in science. They have data to analyse by drawing graphs. The file below is in a ‘CSV’ format. Open this one in your...
monitor fermentation in a compost heap
visitors this year: 93 Is mown grass in the compost heap really dead? When you cut the grass you remove its source of vital materials and the cut leaf ‘dies’. But when you feel...
exothermic reaction of plaster of Paris in water
visitors this year: 778 Plaster of Paris is white powder you mix with water and pour into a mould. You can make models with it while hospitals use it on broken limbs. When you...
freezing a bun or bread roll
visitors this year: 104 We scientists do the strangest of things. We wanted to see the temperature changes when you freeze and thaw things. So we took a ‘bun’ (a bread roll), placed temperature...
cart rolling down a slope
visitors this year: 525 A cart rolling down a hill certainly has energy which in turn affects its speed. But how does this speed change when you start the car off from a different...
pendulum swings or bobbing masses
visitors this year: 165 We used a turn (or position) sensor connected to the computer and recorded the swings of a pendulum made of a metal rod and a weight. We tried again this...
heating ice
visitors this year: 324 You would think that when you heat up ice that it gets warmer bit by bit. And maybe that the more you heat it the hotter it gets. Well it’s...
a cooling curve
visitors this year: 5,396 I expect that when something cools, it will get cooler in a plodding kind of way. That’s true, but when something changes state, the cooling is not so steady.The graph...
keep the house warm
visitors this year: 96 We need to keep our homes warm in cold weather. We also need to do this as economically as possible. There are several ways to insulate your home and keep...
day and night light & temperature
visitors this year: 56 What time does it get light in the morning? When does it get dark? Is the central heating working? I just had to know, so I took my data logging...
add the milk to tea now or later?
visitors this year: 198 The dilemma is this: the telephone range as I was making tea. Should I add the milk now or 5 minutes later, after I took the call? One way of...
checking a TV remote controller
visitors this year: 146 An infrared remote control unit sends messages, using infrared ‘light’ to recorders and televisions. Point a remote controller at a light sensor and it may be able to pick up the...
pH data on souring milk
visitors this year: 128 The label on my milk bottle tells me how long the milk will ‘last’ at different temperatures. What do they measure to make this assessment? Is it the pH? I summoned...
why we use IT in science teaching (1994)
visitors this year: 33 Scientists need to measure and communicate, to handle information and model ideas. In essence, they need to process information. Young scientists have similar needs. When they write, draw graphs, do...
preparing for science year (2001)
visitors this year: 69 Fast forward to the future in Science Year Feature by Roger Frost for The Guardian (2001) Aiming for a world-record, Science Year kicked off on Friday 7th Sept as pupils...
lots of graphs and results
visitors this year: 95 Here are screenshots from experiments we’ve tried over the years. You may find a worksheet for the experiment by searching for the topic or by trawling here. You can download the...
video and data analysis tool – Coach Studio
visitors this year: 112 Update – Coach 7 was available in 2018. In 2008 I wrote: Coach 6 Studio provides a learning environment where you or students can work with models or create models...
software that works with most data-loggers: ‘Insight’
visitors this year: 80 Here is some excellent software that can collect and analyse data and it now works with a huge number of different brands. Called Insight and known to thousands of science...
Insight iLOG VideoLab for all kinds of data
visitors this year: 115 How much of the software used on computers in the 1990s is still being used on them today? One favourite, called Datalogging Insight, lives on today (2016) Insight is a...
about the ‘sid’ file format
visitors this year: 158 Q. What is SID? A. It’s a standard file format that every data logging manufacturer is encouraged to support. The results of data logging experiments can be better shared in...
data logging software choices
visitors this year: 256 The sensors and equipment you buy for school requires software made for it. There IS a generic program, called Insight (below). which works with lots of different manufacturer’s kit. It...
