Many students have a difficult time figuring out how they will collect their experiment data. Here are some ideas to help you decide how you will quantify your responding variable. Whenever possible, use the metric system!

Ruler or Tape Measure - Used for measuring distances. Be as accurate as possible (for example: 2.3cm or 23mm). Avoid using yards, feet, and inches. Use the metric system!

Protractor - Used for measuring angles in degrees.

Stop Watch - Used for measuring time. Many digital watches have this feature. If you are measuring something fast, you should perform MANY trials (human reaction time varies person to person).

Thermometer - Used for measuring the amount of heat. Use the Celsius scale and the most accurate thermometer you can find. Be sure your thermometer is accurate. See your CIPS text or CIPS Kids online "How To's" on measuring temperature for help with getting accurate measurements.

Scale - Used for measuring weight (force of Earth's gravity on objects). Be as accurate as possible (for example: 58.2g). Avoid using pounds and ounces. Use the metric system!

Hydrometer or Measuring Cup- Used for measuring the volume of liquids. Some measuring cups can measure liquids in milliliters. See your CIPS text or CIPS Kids online "How To's" on measuring volumes for help with getting accurate measurements.

Air Pressure Guage - Used for measuring air pressure. The standard in the United States is the PSI (pounds per square inch) guage. See Mr. G for help with the conversion to the metric system.

Counting - Used for gathering data related to frequency. For example, counting the number of cars that pass a certain point in a given amount of time.

Electroscope/Electrometer - Used for measuring electric charge. You can make this device from basic materials (wire, glass jar, cardboard, and paper). Time will be needed to make your device accurate.

Multimeter - Used for measuring electrical volts and amperage. You may be able to borrow one from an electrician or purchase one at a hardware store.

Photo Scanner and Photoshop (Adobe, GIMP, NIH Image (I would reccomend using this one because it is used in science!) - Used for measuring and analyzing light.

Calorimeter - Used for measuring heat flow (the change of temperature). You can make a device with basic materials.

Microscope and counting - Used for quantifying matter that is very small. Often used with a glass slide that contains a grid for easier estimation.

Data Created Through Calculations:

Volume of Solids - Calculate the resulting volumes of solids. You can also do this by the displacment method.

Density - Calculate the weight per given volume to find the density of the object.

Speed - This will be heavily use in class during the Balloon Powered Car Project. All you need is distance and time measurements to find speed.

Acceleration - Finding the change in speed is not that difficult to calculate once you have several speed measurements at distance intervals.

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