Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

There’s nothing really new to report in Graphics One from yesterday. Gave them more exercises. Told them they are required to finish up to number fifteen, even though I uploaded up to number twenty in the lead computer. There will be some students who will have to make up the other exercises in their free time, and will be given a five percent per week deduction for submitting them late next week.

In David’s mechanics lab, for their first experiment in Uniform Acceleration, we finally got to use the spark timer. Those who David failed last term were of course a little surprised that they had to learn new procedures for this experiment.

Because of the Interactive Science meeting last Monday, we weren’t able to practice the set up, even Tuesday. So we had to rush it about thirty minutes before David’s class started.

The ramp (the new ones submitted by the students last term without the attached sand paper) on the iron stand with a clamp was no problem, neither was the transformer for the 110-volt spark timer nor connecting the timer with the carbon and the ticker tape to the top of the ramp.

But the low friction cart was where we had a problem. We had to improvise using the Lego Mind storms set from the Robotics lab.

When I passed by the lab afterwards, I also saw that David let the groups run the cart themselves. One group, in fact, even held the ticker tape by the other end (not connected to the cart), then let it go to run though the spark timer. I don’t know how that will affect their results.

In the end David said there was still some error in their computations. A frictionless cart and a low angle tilted ramp would have yet been a better arrangement.

In my own electricity and magnetism lab, we had the experiment on Resistors in Series and Parallel. For variety, or spot quiz was not about the theory and equations, but on how many set ups or circuits they were going to use, how many graphs, and enumerating some of the equipment used.

What surprised me though, was that the new procedure in the revised manual didn’t use the resistor box anymore to look for the equivalent resistor for the total voltage and current given by the whole circuit. So we all noticed in the end that even though they borrowed a rheostat, it was never used in the experiment.

I also told them that next meeting would not be an experiment but the first of their two oral reports. The oral report assignment was already posted, the only requirement being that a student cannot give an oral report on the same experiment they wrote a paper report on. I said there is a limit of 10 to 15 minutes for each report, and if they are going to use electronic visual aids, they should borrow the overhead or LCD projector in advance.

One student even asked if he could borrow the actual equipment for demonstration. Not good for quick set up and pass off, I said.

Lastly, sequence of presentation next week will be random and drawn on the day itself. I will probably tell them the other reminders in our lecture class tomorrow and Monday.