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=Data Collection Equipment=

Table of Contents

 * 1) Overview of Wiki
 * 2) What Kind of Equipment is This Stuff?
 * 3) Possible Uses in a K-12 Classroom
 * 4) More Websites on Possible Uses and How to Use

Overview of the Wiki
This wiki is to help the W200 classes know more about the Vernier equipment the TTL has just recently purchased in the School of Education at Indiana University. The equipment is there for students to see and use in the TTL. However, if the students cannot make it to the TTL, this site is for them. This wiki will give brief descriptions of what the equipment is and possible ways to use them in a K-12 classroom. There will also be links to websites to further help them decide if this equipment is right for them.

=What Kind of Equipment is This Stuff?= What an excellent question! Vernier is a company that creates hands on technology tools that allow students in math or science classrooms to get really into what they are learning. They are really cool tools that I think would make any lesson a little more interesting. Some more than others, but it depends entirely how you want to use the equipment. Here is a list of the tools and a brief description of what they are like. These are not all the tools that Vernier offers, but a few of the main ones and what the TTL has.

LabQuest
Image was found at [] LabQuest is a handheld device with a touch screen that you can hook up to a variety of tools and your computer to analyze data. It is really cool. It instantly knows when you plug a probe into it or if it is hooked up to the computer. It instantly starts collecting data, and when you hit the record button that is when it stores the data. Then you can go to different screen on it and it will show a graph or a chart of the data it collected. You can also modify it so you get the data you want. For instance, if you have the Go! plugged into it, you can tell it to collect how fast it is going and what time interval. It is pretty easy to pick up too, so there is not any real worry a student cannot use it. It has awesome stuff by itself though. A student can take notes of what they observed in an experiment on it and it also has a periodic table. I think the periodic table feature is pretty neat, because it gives you all the information you could possibly want about each element. The only real negative about the LabQuest is that to do some of the neater things, you have to buy other things to go with it, such as probes or software. In most of the YouTube videos I found to show some of its uses, it is being used along with another product.

Here is a YouTube video that explains a little more about how LabQuest is used. []

Logger Lite
Logger Lite is a software for grades K-8. It is really easy to use and you can get a free download of it. The free download is an older version, but it is still free. Ther is also Logger Pro, which sounds pretty cool. Here is a YouTube video that shows more about it, []. Logger Lite is a software that captures data on your computer that you found with the probes from Vernier. Again, it is great software but you do need to have the other probes and tools to use it effectively. Luckily though, Logger Lite comes free with many purchases of any of the other Vernier probes. It also syncs up instantly when it notices that you plugged in a probe to your computer.

Go!Motion
Image found at [] Go!Motion is a motion detector. What is nice about this motion detector compared to others is that it plugs directly into the computer. What is also a handy feature, well I think it is anyway, is it has a moveable head. You can have the detector face any way so you can get the data you need. It you can set it up so it detects motion from a certain distance and it hooks up easily to ramps. In my W200 lecture, the professor showed us how this works hooked up to the computer. It was really cool to watch, because it did it instantly and you could see on the screen the graph of the person walking in front of the detector. It is very good at displaying the information, and I think it shows how velocity and speed actually work because the student can see it both happening and being graphed.

pH Sensor
Image found at [] The pH sensor is a sophisticated piece of equipment. It is not supposed to be used in any real research, it is still very good for educational purposed and will get the main idea down for the students. Again the main positive about this sensor compared with the others is the fact that it can easily be plugged into a computer, the LabQuest, or even a special kind of graphing calculator. This data can then be analyzed by the student quickly and easily. I think this can be applied in a lot of field because it relates so well to environment care and worries, which is a theme in a lot of classrooms.

Flow Rate Sensor
Image found at [] The Flow Rate Sensor can take the velocity of a current or find how much debris is flowing through the current. Like all the other Vernier products, it can be hooked up to your LabQuest and you can instantly record data and save it for further analysis in the classroom. Don't worry though, the cable is pretty long, so your other technology will be nice and dry. It is a good tool for an environmental class.

Texas Instruments Calculator Products
Image found at [] Everyone has heard of TI calculators. It is one of the only graphing calculators teachers recommend you buy once you start taking Algebra II in high school. Texas Instruments has been making calculators people can depend on for a while. The graphing calculator is great. You can put in an equation and see a data chart and graph. It solves difficult math calculations quickly so math courses can give strange numbers to their students. Another great feature is you can download programs onto the calculator to help you out (Or games to make it look like you are paying attention in class, Block Breakers anyone?). What I love about them personally is that they last a long time, I have not always treated mine kindly, but it has lasted me almost 5 years.

=Possible Uses in a K-12 Classroom=

LabQuest
LabQuest is really helpful in a science or math classroom. Like I said before though, to get some really interesting information, you need the other probes. For instance with a Flow Rate Sensor, you could see how fast a current is by your school. In a math class you could analyze the graph and talk about what kind of function it is or you can take the information on the data chart project it onto the overhead (with proper equipment of course) and have the students graph it out and analyze the data. There are a lot of information videos on things you can do from Vernier and you can find them on their site, or on YouTube.

Here are some YouTube videos that show in more detail possible uses for the LabQuest. [] (This also uses the Go! Motion as well)

Logger Lite
Logger Lite, as I said before, is a software that collects data and it is used with other probes. When on the computer the students can interpret graphs and data. They can even write notes and information on the graphs so they can fully understand what is going on in the graph. For example, the students find information from the Go! Motion of a falling object

Go! Motion
Go! Motion is a good visual representation of data on how things move. You could just simply show your students as a whole of how things move by using it in a lecture or you could have them do it themselves. You could have them make ramps and see how the acceleration changes given different alterations in the ramp. In a math class, you could use it to collect data to solve speed and acceleration problems. The students could bounce balls in front of it and analyze the graph it makes. The link that above with the LabQuest is another great idea on how to use Go! Motion in the classroom.

ph Sensor
I think this could be really interesting with the environmental debates and interests popping up. This could be used as a great tool to get students involved with what they are learning. Have them test the waters around a lake or a pond that is near by. If you can do this, this might be a neat way for an English class to write a persuasive essay to the mayor to clean up the lake. Or if that is to much of a hassle, test the water at various water fountains and/or faucets (Because we all know that the water by the pool tastes funny). I think this tool would also be great in a chemistry class for a lab.

Flow Rate Sensor
This tool can be used again for environmental classes or to get students interested in environmental issues. I tried to see if I could get a rubber band to spin the propeller enough that it could be used without leaving the building, but it doesn't really work. But maybe you could go to the pool during a P.E. class and see what kind of current the other students are making and see if it actually matters what kind of build the student is, or see if you can study a ripple effect in the water. I think this tool has possibilities, I just wonder about how practical it is.

Sample lesson from Vernier []

Texas Instruments Calculator Products
The calculator is obviously very useful in math classes. It can compute intense math problems in seconds. But the goal of the calculator should not only be for these purposes. It should be used as a tool to make students further understand the material. Have the students plug an equation into the calculator. Draw the graph on a piece of paper. What happens when you change the b variable in the equation in y=mx+b. For a sinusoidal equation, what happens when you change the a in the equation y=a*sin(bx+c)+d? Here is a website that gives some more lesson ideas using TI products. []) There is even one about downloading grammar notes onto your calculator.

You can find even more ideas from Vernier themselves. They have [|lab books] that have detailed ways to teach with these products. They also have [|free downloads]of labs to do in the classroom online.

= = = = =More Websites on Possible Uses and How to Use= These are from Verniers Products Page-- Their home page can be found here []. [] [] [] [] [] []

This site has a bunch of different links to lesson plans for a bunch of different tools []

Labquest
Here is a Blog about the LabQuest. []

A quick review on how to use a LabQuest []

Some more videos on ways to use LabQuest in the Classroom [] []

Logger Lite
Here is a YouTube video that shows how Logger Lite looks when it is taking in data. []

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Go! Motion
Here is a YouTube video explaining more about the Go! Motion tool. []

Here is a lesson using Go! Motion. []

ph Sensor
Here is a lesson useing the ph Sensor from Vernier [] []

A video from YouTube on a lesson example. []

Some other information about the sensor [] []

Flow Rate Sensor
This is a quick brief of the sensor plus some ways to use it []

Texas Instrument Calculator Products
Texas Instrument website []

A little history and extra information []