SPOILER!!: Professor Sandu Professor Sandhu’s comment made Ellie glance down at her wrist watch and blush just a little. Thankfully she was just on time so why the tone that felt a bit stern though from the professor? She gave Eji another glance and put away the snacks before the lesson got underway. Concentrating she considered what she knew about scientists, problem solvers and inventors since they worked hard sometimes even obsessively to find answers where others had failed. Raising her hand Ellie offered up. "I think a scientist needs to value critical thinking and not take the first answer they find to a question as the truth. A scientist should also be a keen observer of it’s surroundings and what they are studying and have courage to hold on to their beliefs and hypothesis even if they are laughed at by others." |
Science. A natural, physical science. Hanna thought of Astronomy as just this. And asking questions, curiosity, even if there were no answers. That was part of the interest with any kind of science, really. There were plenty of things scientists had to keep in their mind, and which values and procedures the community held dear. Hanna listened to the answers around her, and found herself nodding along with all of them. She could quite easily expand on any of the answers, because they all were important for scientists to keep in mind. Raising her hand, Hanna said "Scientists must persevere. Whether it's dealing with rejection of proposals or applications, or experiments coming back either inconclusive. Sticking to your hunch; working with your theory. There are so many things out there now that might not be discovered if the scientists hadn't persevered." |
Ah....science. It was a nice word to hear, since, as the professor had mentioned, astronomy was a science. A fact that tended to get ignored sometimes here in the magical world. "Honesty and objectivity. Scientists have to be honest with themselves when their hypothesis isn't working and they have to have the objectivity to leave their personal beliefs out of the equation." Or something like that. It had been a while since she'd had a proper science lesson. |
Astronomy was one of Lili's favourite subjects. She probably would have considered it an occupation if her heart wasn't so set on Potions and Quidditch. But it still meant that she enjoyed the class. It was why there was a big smile on her face as she sat putting the date on her parchment. She had her colour coded system, so that it was easier for her to revise when she got started. But for now, she was going to enjoy the lesson, and colour code to her hearts desire. It was only the start of the year, so she didn't need to do too much studying yet. She thought to herself for a little, thinking deeply about the question, and listening to others opinions before she put her hand up in the air. She smiled as she answered when it was her turn. "They need to act in a non-biased way. Results, and evidence can't be used, or good, if the person who completed it did so in a biased way" |
Waaay to be a drama queen, Eiji. For someone who acted like he didn't like the drama he sure was dramatic aye. Céline cackled at El's comment and nodded while trying to keep a straight face. "Make sure yer writing is nice and big so we can copy aye. Cheers." In case he so felt inclined to share his genius. If they all were as much a scientist as the Professor was they really weren't in the hands of a capable prof, were they!! JOKESSSS No but really. Céline was about as far from scientist as she could be and she was alright with that. "'s Just there, innit?" She shrugged, not sure where this was going. "Science, like. Even if you don't know anything about it it's still there." And that was about the extent of her scientific knowledge right there. |
Lucas generally liked to spend the remainder of this time until the start of the lesson looking up at the stars. But, today was a different story. With no stars in sight, he simply looked around him, instead, especially at the equipment in front of him. This....... was going to be technical, wasn't it? A thoughtful expression crossed his face but he didn't have long to ponder on that. His eyes found Sandhu when she started talking about..... science. Natural science. Physical science. It was all very technical but it was also Astronomy and he loved Astronomy. So if he had to start getting technical with this, he was going to do it. What is important to keep in mind as a scientist? Easy! Lucas raised his hand up in the air, an answer already in mind. Every scientist had to be a bit curi- ........ oh. Someone else had already said that. Uh. Frowning slightly, he lowered his hand again and tried to think again. What else was important to keep in mind? Think..... think. Oh! "Well, I guess you have to be willing to take risks, right?" he started, his hand right up in the air again, "I mean, sometimes, the experiment or the...... the thing you're trying to find out is dangerous. It might help but it's dangerous. But if you don't take the risk and try and experiment, you're never going to know the answer." |
Reason to like astronomy: star-gazing. And even though Astronomy class tended to be more involved than that, it was kinda nice to not have a lesson early in the morning. Her eyes gazed around as Professor Sandhu was speaking about how Astronomy was a physical science, a natural science and Maeve was trying hard to take it all in. It wasn't as if it was a difficult question; things to pay attention to as scientists and yet why was the sixth year struggling to form any sort of conclusive answer? "Paying attention to the little details?" was what Maeve offered in hopefully something not redundant to what was said. Clearly she wasn't good at that. |
SPOILER!!: oh its Erik ok Miss Fairfield seemed to live to prove her right -- there was never a dull moment with her in the lesson. She smiled to herself at the whisper the Slytherin girl made at the young man sat in front of her and pretended not to hear. As long as it wasn’t a disturbance, she could ignore a great deal. As for the answer she gave, well, that elicited a sharp bark of laughter from Simran. The girl wasn’t wrong. “Indeed, Miss Fairfield. Scientists are so fond of humour that the strongest candidates for dark matter are acronymed “WIMPS” and “MACHOS” respectively.” Heh. She liked this kid. SPOILER!!: Lislchen ”Rain makes a great number of things gloomy, unless you particuarly enjoy running through it.” Simran sighed. “Unfortunately, my healer says that if I keep doing that, I’ll catch pneumonia again. Or break my hip.” Truly a tragedy, getting old. Ah, Miss Webb brought up a very good point. “Very true, Miss Webb. Replicability is extremely important in experimenting -- it would not do to make a claim based on an experiment that nobody else could repeat. That is not science.” SPOILER!!: Hey Ju It would be unfair to say that Simran disliked Gryffindors, considering that she was one herself, as was Miss Webb. However, she definitely did not like the attitude a lot of them brought to lessons. Especially considering this was a seminar class and such behaviour was in full view of younger, impressionable students. “Something else scientists value, Miss Merriweather, is initiative.” Just saying. SPOILER!!: TakemetotheBurrow Ah, an answer from the other side of the room. Drawing closer to the girl speaking, she nodded encouragingly as she did. All very true statements, all very real problems the scientific community faced. “Very true, Miss Mallari. It is also extremely important not to fudge data, the way some scientists -” she coughed something that sounded eerily like Albert Einstein “- do to support their own hypotheses.” SPOILER!!: Felixr Simran nodded at the young Slytherin, and smiled. “Very right. Without curiosity, nothing would be discovered, because there would be no desire to discover it.” “And if you yourself find yourself insatiably curious about something, it could take you very far.” SPOILER!!: Fireheart SPOILER!!: lazykitty Simran rolled her eyes at the girl who pointed at her apparatus and suggested that they were making crafts. Crafts indeed. She was no Muggle Studies Professor. Though… crafting wasn’t all bad. Perhaps she’d make the first years craft a model solar system? Or model one of Jupiter’s moons? It wouldn’t be punishment, surely. She was not that petty. Oh, objectivity, and said so by two different students. Yes, she should try some of that herself. “Indeed. As it is important not to let your judgement of someone else’s person cloud the validity of their research.” SPOILER!!: Nordic Witch ”Very true, Miss Smethwyck! Well done!” she said, nodding aggressively. “One must always repeat their work, to make sure their results were not caused by error or chance.” As for the courage bit, well, she smiled. “Many people discovering new things are laughed at. It can take generations for a novel idea to be accepted, but that is correct. It is extremely important not to lose heart, just because your peers don’t see the value of your work.” SPOILER!!: Jessiqua ”Perseverance is crucial, Miss Newton, thank you!” Simran said, nodding once more. “Dealing with all these things, as well as rejections when asking for funding, as well as the public insisting that your work has no value -- these can all be very demoralising for scientists, and it is important that they not give in to the feelings of inadequacy.” “After all, it is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not failure, that is life.” SPOILER!!: RachieRu Ah, Miss Montague. Simran had always thought this girl had potential. Tragically, her heart was set on other courses. No matter, all good potioneers required a good grasp on their Astronomy, and she would do her level best to make sure that is what the girl had. “Very good!” she exclaimed. “And especially if results were acquired using questionable means.” SPOILER!!: ikenstein Miss Myles truly was something else. Simran smiled, and then shrugs. “One could say that, yes. Personally, I believe science is more the process of finding out about the things out there, rather than the things themselves.” SPOILER!!: hermionesclone “That is very true, Mr Dakest. Risks must be taken, but not unnecessary ones,” she said, fixing the boy with a careful look. “Madam Curie, for example, did some great research and won two Nobel prizes for it, but she also contracted cancer for not taking precautions against radioactivity. While she didn’t know the effects of this, we do now, and although any research involving such radioactive materials carries its own risk, it is also our job to keep the risks minimal.” “You must stay alive and well if you are to contribute further, after all.” SPOILER!!: PhoenixRising ”Very correct, Miss Walsh!” she nodded, turning towards the blackboard, now full of their answers. “Every variable is important, any small thing could change the outcome of your experiment.” Now, returning to the centre of the room and her desk, she clapped her hands together in glee. It was time to reveal the true focus of the seminar lesson. “As you may have noticed, the topic of experiments was brought up several times. Scientists of all fields have one process that they all follow -- we call it the Scientific Method. It is a way to make guesses, and see if we are correct.” “The process begins with a problem statement, from which a hypothesis is drawn. Every hypothesis must name two variables -- what is changed and what is observed. We call these the manipulated and responding variables. We also have variables that don't change -- the constant variables.” “On your tables is the apparatus to create a simple pendulum. I will show you how to set it up, and how to take the measurements, and then you will do it yourselves with variables.” Now behind her desk, she pulled the retort stand and clamp onto the table. “The clamp is attached to the retort stand with screws -- please don’t use the string to tie them together. It’s more work than it’s worth.” Could they all see her? No matter, she would go around the room to be sure they were setting up correctly later. “After the clamp is attatched, we will construct the pendulum. First tie the string to the pendulum bob. This is now your pendulum. Now tie it to the pivot -- that’s the clamp.” Everyone following so far? Good. “Now, you displace slightly and release. One oscillation is complete when the pendulum returns to the starting position. I want you to time how long it takes the pendulum to complete ten oscillations. Now it’s your turn.” “Once you’ve managed to get ten oscillations, you can use the metre rule or the extra string to change the length and see how that affects the period of the oscillations and tabulate your results. Raise your hand if you need help!” She’d just be taking a little walk around the room otherwise, making sure everything was going okay. OOC: Hi guys! We’ve come to the mini-activity! I know this was a LOT of text, but you don’t actually have to tabulate these results. Just say the students did! Please title your post if you need help from Simran. You’ll have approximately 3 days to finish this activity before we move on to the next question, but I’ll be by in between. Have fun! |
catch up. Patrick had listened to everyones answers about science and what things people do for science. Most of the answers were ones similar to what he had come up with. He had written them all down and was fairly certain that tonight would be less adventure more technique. While he wasn't thrilled he was going to have to deal with it. Gathering the materials from his table he began to make a pendulum the same way that their professor had shown them. He was not going to make a misstep this was one of his most favorite classes. He seriously missed His former head of house, but he was fairly certain he could get over that and enjoy the new professors lessons. He released the pendulum and watched it take the first swing around it was a little wobbly, but he counted each circle. one....two...three This was the never ending part counting a very boring circle motion. six...seven... Oh Merlin. He had forgotten to time how long it was taking. Holding the pendulum steady again he released it and started to time how many full circle trips the pendulum took. |
Q for professor Sandhu near the end. What had scientists to do with astronomy? With that query circling around in her head Ellie took diligent notes on the scientific method and everything else Professor Sandu was saying. She had gotten uplifted by the praise she had gotten earlier for her answer. Next moment their professor instructed them on how to create a simple pendulum from the materials they all had on their desks. She wrote down the instructions carefully, she didn't want to miss a step. A missed step even if this wasn't potions could lead to a problem later. "Righto let's do this!" Ellie mumbled to herself as she concentrated hard on attaching the clamp to the retort stand with the screws. Then she took a breath before she tied the string to the pendulum bob watching it wobble in the air causing her to get a little anxious. A quick look around soothed her worries though. It looked the same for everyone else. Next she tied the pendulum bob to the pivot like Professor Sandhu had said and she was done. Ellie relaxed for a moment, before she did the test to see if she had done it right. Displacing slightly and releasing she watched it complete one full oscillation. It made a small smile purse her lips. Raising her hand she queried. "Professor Sandu why is it called an oscillation and not say a pendulum swing or something?" She kept working timing the 10 oscillations and then she proceeded to make adjustments to the pendulum with the metre rule and extra string, tabling all her results on a piece of parchment. When she was finished Ellie took the time to observe everyone elses work. |
Alright, time to use her hands. Vita glanced between her own materials and the professor's, noting the way she handled them, which pieces belonged where. The measurements weren't going to be very useful if the pendulum didn't even work... She busied herself with the clamp first, which was fastened well enough to the stand. It wasn't coming loose anytime soon and she was satisfied with that. Next she secured the bob thingy to the string. Her knots were good, nimble fingers working to make sure they would keep the bob attached. Once the string was attached to the clamp, she was good to go. The seventh year didn't dare look around to check her work, wanting to trust that she'd followed the instructions to the letter. If she couldn't manage it on her own now, how would she do it during NEWTs? Her work was on her and her alone. Bringing the string back, she released it and watched as the pendulum set to work, noting the time as she watched it complete each oscillation. She recorded her result when she was finished, taking note of the length of the string. Then she allowed herself to mess with the length some, adjusting the bob and trying the experiment again. She was curious to see how the length would impact the amount of time each oscillation would take. |
No unnecessary risks? Lucas understood COMPLETELY. He didn't need to be told twice to not do something that was risky or might cause him harm. That wasn't very Lucas, in his opinion. The thoughtful expression found its way back on his face when Sandhu started talking about the Scientific Method and the activity they were going to take part in. He couldn't help but start to wonder what exactly they were going to do later on with the idea of a hypothesis - and what he was going to do if they were going to have to come up with their own. But, apparently, this wasn't the time. Instead, he concentrated hard on what Sandhu was doing, trying to keep up with her demonstration until it was his turn to get started. What was first? The clamp? He started trying to fasten it to the retort stand, making sure it was fixed properly in place. And how was this done? With a lot of twisting and turning and constant checks on his part just to make sure. Next: the pendulum. He took the string and tied it to the pendulum bob, making sure to keep it at a metre in length and adding in a few extra knots there. Just in case. And now, he needed to do the same thing with the other end and the clamp: extra knots and all. It was a simple process but he couldn't help but feel as though it was taking him a lot longer than it should. Why? He didn't know. Now, came for the fun part. Lucas let the pendulum get relatively still - and waited for his second hand to reach the 12 mark - before displacing it and releasing it. He tried to block out everything else and just make a note of the time that it was taking for these oscillations to occur. It was almost as if he was in his own world, with no one else in the room, just him and this stand in front of him. When the ten oscillations were done, he made a note of the time - and the length of the string! - on a simple results table. A very simple results table but it will be added to later. He then set to work on shortening the string and taking the results from that as well. He..... had a funny feeling he knew what the general theme of the answers would be like but that wasn't stopping him from working with the pendulum. |
At professor Sandhu's response to her 'answer', Anna stifled a chuckle and bit her lip. Nope. This wasn't going to be History of Magic all over again. Anna wasn't going to give a cheeky answer. They weren't worth getting a detention for. She was going to just smile and sit quietly as the lesson continued. She could do it. She had self-control. She was a good stu- "Good for them." Welp. Never mind. Anna gave the woman a When the older witch resumed talking and explaining things, Anna did try to listen - honestly! - but it was all so... not interesting. Anna had a hard time not shaking her head and looking bored. She didn't want to be rude, but WOW, this was just not her thing at all. It was a good thing she was sitting next to her nerd of a friend, Patrick. She'd just do whatever he was doing with the stuff on the desk. Excellent plan! And so copy off him she did. Oh. It wasn't that difficult, actually. Maybe she SHOULD try and actually listen to the professor once in a while. The Gryffindor hung the thingamajig and got it all set up. Releasing the pendulum, she watched it go from side to side to side to side. It was quite mesmerising. It was even nearly entertaining for the first few seconds, but she soon lost interest again. Wait, they were supposed to be counting? Argh, Merlin. She'd have to do it again. Ugh. Duuuuuull. She was about to just adjust whatever Patrick's notes about his pendulum time were when... apparently he hadn't been counting either. Anna snorted. "Focus, kid!" She nudged his side with her elbow. "Come on, you're a prefect." Cue cheeky look. |
As expected, soon there came all the words that Kaiser couldn't hope to get his head around. He was fully of the belief that, if he were presented with said words written down and allowed to get through them at his own pace, he would manage much better, but as it was they came at him in something of a verbal onslaught. Unsurprisingly, Kaiser ended up just sort of glazing over as Professor Sandhu spoke to them, vaguely taking note of things here and there - mentally if not literally - when they got through to him. It didn't take long before they were all told to get working, at which point Kaiser sat up and looked around at his classmates, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. Right... Setting up the equipment wasn't too difficult, Kaiser had watched the professor do exactly that, and copying her was relatively easy. What was less easy was the part that came after that. Given that he had not exactly been paying attention, he was not entirely sure what instructions they had been given, only that they were making a pendulum swing and noting down... something. And that part he had only deduced by watching his classmates - what did 'tabulate' even mean? Because it was better to at least appear busy than it was to dither about looking lost, Kaiser turned his attention to the pendulum and set it off swinging. He wasn't too sure exactly what he was supposed to be writing down, so that part never happened, but he did watch the pendulum swinging. Left, right, left, right, left, right... Yes, it was certainly working. |
Okay, so she had expected something a bit more, well, interesting for the practical part of this lesson. Anahera suppressed a sigh (but barely) and started setting up the pendulum. Had Professor Sandhu really thought this through? Having them stare at a pendulum in the middle of the night? Honestly, she wouldn't blame anyone who nodded off while counting their oscillations. Some of her classmates certainly looked like they were about to fall asleep. Maybe she shouldn't have continued to attend this class after all. One...two...three............................... |
Scientific methods. Nod. Hypothesis, variables... and Hanna could see how that would translate to the thing they were going to be doing. Pendulums. And with the items on their tables, they got to making them. Hanna watched carefully as Professor Sandhu put the Pendulum together, and then she got to work. The retort stand, on the floor, Hanna pulled closer, and attached the clamp to it with the screws, leaving the string away. She looked back up once attaching the clamp and got to the pendulum by grabbing the string and the bob, and putting the two together. This was tied to the clamp, and tested it out. It moved without breaking. Her parchment out, and her quill inked up, Hanna let the pendulum swing, counting ten oscillations and timing it with the timer. |
SPOILER!!: siriusblackliveson Simran had made it to the back of the classroom before people had finished setting up -- most seemed to be able to get through unassisted, including Mr Doley, despite his evident boredom with the lesson. Truly, she felt a little bad for making such a good student out of his mind, but she sent him a thumbs up somewhere in between his stopwatch readings. SPOILER!!: Nordic Witch There was something rather calming about pendulums and their swinging, and Simran made a mental note to get herself a Newton's cradle for her office just so she could have something else to procrastinate grading papers with. Thank goodness for Miss Smethwyck, though, for snapping her out of her pendulum-induced hypnosis before she got too carried away. Why an oscillation? Oh, well. She knew the answer for this, at least. "Many things swing. For example, if I were to slide your pendulum off the clamp and swing it at someone's head, that would be a pendulum swing." "An oscillation, however, is a word for a specific type of swing,"she said, her right index finger now following the movement of a nearby pendulum. "It describes a periodic motion, where the restoring force acts in the opposite direction to the displacement of whatever it is you're measuring. We call it simple harmonic motion." And then drawing nearer, she lowered her voice slightly. "If you want extra reading on the subject, feel free to stick around after class and I'll get you something." SPOILER!!: TakemetotheBurrow Oh, quite a nicely set up apparatus was going on here. The Slytherin prefects seemed to be on a roll today. "Excellent setup, Miss Mallari." SPOILER!!: hermionesclone But on the subject of well-set-up apparatus, this one was rather... not. Not that it was terribly set up, but there were so many knots that Simran almost had a headache trying to imagine disassembling it. "Master Dakest, you do know that more knots increase friction, which can affect your results, yes?" Summoning a spare pendulum bob, she picked up the spool of string and cut a new length, something she approximated to a half metre "A double knot on the pendulum will do, if you tie it tight, it won't fall off." We following? "And a loop on the top is the most efficient considering you can just sliiiiiide it onto the clamp." Like so. Merry Christmas, Lucas Dakest, Professor Sandhu just set up your apparatus for you. SPOILER!!: Hey Ju At the Gryffindor prefect's tone, something seemed to simmer in her veins. Was it her blood? How quickly it boiled these days without Amrita to nag at and Jasmine to coo over. "And that will be 3 points from you for your lack thereof, Miss Merriweather," she said frostily. "And your blatant lack of respect." She drew nearer, voice still low, but the patented disappointed brown parent look in her eye. "I can put up with and occasionally enjoy your sad attempts at wit in lessons with your peers, dear, but when the younger students are around, I expect you to be an example. If that seems too much to ask of you, I will be more than happy to bring it up with your head of house. Do I make myself clear?" Hm? SPOILER!!: Felixr Oh, Kaiser, dear, what ever were you doing? Simran made her way over to his desk and picked up his stopwatch, and then held it out to him. "Time ten oscillations, dear, and then adjust the length of the string." "And don't forget to record your results!" Maybe someday all her students would listen when she gave instructions. SPOILER!!: Lislchen Well, truthfully, Professor Sandhu had planned a whole host of introductions to the night sky, but the weather had decided to one-up her and she wasn't really in the position to tell the weather to kindly buzz off. At least Anahera seemed to be doing well, even if she looked liable to fall asleep in the next few minutes. SPOILER!!: Jessiqua And with Miss Newton, as always, precise to a flaw. Simran nodded in approval at the girl's setup before moving back towards the front. Clapping her hands twice to get their attention, because her throat was dry and she didn't quite want to scratch it further before she had some tea, she waited until eyes moved from pendulums to her person. Did she have the room yet? Wonderful. "Now you've all become acquainted with the simple pendulum and learned the relationship between the manipulated variable -- the length of the string -- and the time taken for the pendulum to oscillate. Your conclusion would be that the shorter the string, the faster the oscillation -- or the higher the frequency." The conclusion wrote itself out on the board, and the associated equation as well. "This experiment is not only important to illustrate the effects of simple harmonic motion, but is also the simplest way to derive the value of gravitational acceleration." SURPRISE! Bet they didn't think pendulums had anything to do with astronomy at all. "Either way, we won't be deriving that right now," she said, looking out over the room. "As you were performing the experiment, I'm sure it was difficult to keep your results as accurate as possible, especially with so many moving parts." "Now, can you all tell me what could have possibly gone wrong in this experiment? Or in any experiment, for that matter?" OOC: Thanks for participating in the mini-activity, guys! Now we're on to Question 2. You'll have about 24 hours from the time of this post before we move on! |
idk if this is right but um Maxie offered the Gryffindor a nod as she spoke to him. He was a tinge on the pink side, but it was- so far- managable. the Chaser nodded- yes, Max- that was him- it felt good to be seen as Max and not as Kowalski, even if it didn't happen as often as he wishes. "A-A-anahera." It was a greeting, as friendly as Maxie was capable. He wished, quite sincerely that the professors would leave him well enough alone. He did not like speaking if he could avoid it- especially during class. The hufflepuff always hoped they'd just accept his nod and carry on.. and sometimes!! they did! and it was great, and he'd carry on quietly and effieciently and sometimes they didn't. Simran didn't. flushed, Maxie did not meet the Astronomy Professor's gaze as he forced a very uncomfortable laugh. hahaha. ha. ha. Back to mostly miserable, Maxie spent the next ten mintutes beating himself up for his feigned laughter. The 13-year-old was certain the whole class - including Celine and Eloise who were known for their teasing - had heard it and thought him a big dumb dumb head. So busy stressing over his mishap was Maxie, he missed the entire first question- but thankfully- blessedly- not the following activity. He didn't want a repeat of his experience with Professor Carmine. Carefully, the young boy used the screws to attach the clamp- it was actually very easy but he worried as he did it and that made everything harder - next was constructing the pendulum. Maxie took a deep breath, calming his anxious fingers before tying the string perfectly around the pendulum bob- he considered adding a little something extra with a more complicated not but immediately decided against something so silly. Next came tying the thing to the pivot and.. yeah, yeah, that looked just right. Okay. Just displace and release like the professor said. He'd done this before, but felt very little confidence desite it. Displace. and release. One oscillation. good. Two oscillation. keep going. Maxie silently urged. Three oscillation. Four oscillation Five oscillation Six oscillation only four more. Seven oscillation Eight oscillation Nine oscillation Ten oscillation. Maxie breathed out with relief, his lips a small, but pleased smile. Notes taken, Maxie settled back in his chair and listened as the Professor began once more to speak. ......... He'd just quietly keep his mouth shut, thanks. |
............. Oh. Lucas..... was embarrassed, to say the least. The colour started to rise in his cheeks as he watched Sandhu start setting up the apparatus for him, feeling, well, embarrassed. He kept his eyes on the set up itself, all the while mumbling something under his breath about wanting to be extra careful, as well as a simple thank you when she was done. Could they move on? Yeah? When the professor started explaining what this experiment had to do with Astronomy - which, no, he didn't think of - the third year started jotting some things down in his notes. There was an extra little note about...... what was it? Gravitational acceleration? Yeah, that. He probably needed to find out what that was but focusing so much on that was...... probably not a good idea. What could go wrong in this experiment? Well. Lucas glanced over at his own set up, the one Sandhu had done, and felt the colour rising to his cheeks again. There was an obvious answer here, an elephant that was MUCH bigger than Dani the elephant, but he didn't want to say it. But he had to, didn't he? Slowly, he raised his hand up in the air, before saying, "Uh, I guess, you could add friction to your set up? Which would affect your results." Pause. "Or just set it up badly, I guess, which might still affect the results." |
Patrick glanced over at Anna. He was about to tell her to hush up when he heard the three point deduction. He tried to hide the snicker that was about to come out of his mouth when he just slid his notebook toward her: real smooth PREFECT He turned back toward the front of the room listening he knew that the variables could have all been different. It was clear by the fact that many people got different times and numbers. Raising his hand he waited to speak, "Well depending on what you want to get out of the experiment you could have a lose string which would cause it to wobble and create even worse results." At least he hoped that was the answer she was looking for. |
Uhhhhhhhhhh. Right. Riiiiiiight. Right. Hesitating for just a moment, Kaiser reached out and took the stopwatch from Professor Sandhu, blinking as she (presumably) repeated the instructions to him. "... Right." Ahem. "Thank you." All the same, what on earth was an 'oscillation'? Did that mean the swinging? Kaiser was going to assume it was referring to the swinging. He held the pendulum to stop it from moving, and then started the whole process again, this time using the stopwatch and writing down the timings and everything. He was only just about finishing up the process with the shorter pendulum when the professor moved the lesson on. Again, it wasn't long before Kaiser was completely lost in her words, which might have been clear from the blank look on his face. He did, however, at least understand the question. Kaiser eyed the pendulum on his desk for a moment, before raising his hand to give an answer. "A strong gust of wind?" That could have negatively affected this experiment's results, right? |
SPOILER!!: nicole black Simran observed the young boy carefully, his silence a note she made and quickly stored in the back of her mind. It always worried her when students were silent in class, that they would not tell her when they didn't understand the subject matter. Master Anderson-Belfort, however, did seem to follow for now. Hopefully, he'd acclimatize to her lessons soon and start voicing up. SPOILER!!: hermionesclone Everyone makes mistakes, she told herself. even the gifted students. Especially the gifted students. Which was why Mr Dakest really shouldn't worry about his setup, or how it was wrong, but focus on how to fix it instead. Which she'd tell everyone collectively in just a minute. "Very good, Master Dakest," she said, nodding in approval. "Friction does often fudge results, and there's often nothing we can do to remove it completely. And the setup of apparatus too, which is why designing experiments often take a lot of time to consider how the design could affect results." SPOILER!!: siriusblackliveson Simran was not, in fact, looking for any specific answer at all, but for the general pattern the answers tended towards. She'd personally have suggested that things sometimes go flying and hit people in the face and then they go blind, but that was extreme, and she wasn't a student. Just an old woman prone to hyperbole. "That is correct, instable equipment can lead to inaccurate results, but at least they'd be consistently inaccurate." SPOILER!!: Felixr "Correct, Kaiser!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together in delight. "Environmental factors out of your control can affect your results. A gust of wind, for example, even if it's light. For light-sensitive experiments, doing the experiment at different times of day, or with varying degrees of cloud cover." Now addressing everyone, she flicked her wand at the board, and all the previous answers on it were wiped clean. Then she turned back to them, just as the piece of chalk wrote "ERROR" in large letters on the board. "Everything you have all mentioned falls under one large category -- error. It can cloud the accuracy of your results or, in extreme cases, derail the entire experiment." "There are two main types of error: Random Error and Systematic Error," she said, but as she turned, caught the piece of chalk throwing a tantrum and refusing to write. She sighed. "Very well, then." Making her way to the blackboard, she picked up a different piece of chalk, now yellow, the chalk she used for equations and incantations to distinguish it from the regular white chalk the other notes used, and began to write. Desperate measures and all. "Random errors usually result from the experimenter's inability to take the same measurement in exactly the same way to get exact the same number." "They are are statistical fluctuations (in either direction) in the measured data due to the precision limitations of the measurement device. Your metre rule can only take measurements in increments of one centimetre, for example. If you had a piece of string measuring 11.3cm, it would read as 11cm, likewise for a piece of string measuring 10.9cm. Sometimes it's not even just the device, and human error adds too! Like if you blink and barely miss exactly when an oscillation completes, or the reaction time between you observing a result and reading the stopwatch." "Systematic errors, however, are inaccuracies that are consistently in the same direction, and usually persist throughout the entire experiment. For example, if your stopwatch doesn't reset to zero but is always 0.2s ahead or if your measuring tape were stretched out. However, because these affect all your readings, they don't usually affect your results." They could, though. Oof, that was a lot of words. And a lot of writing. She had not missed this part of muggle teaching. Anyway, now for the fun part, with exactly no writing involved! "Now, if you all would disassemble your apparatus, pack your bags and head to the back of the classroom -- there are some boxes there for you to put the materials in." Once everyone was done, and the apparatus put away, and students congregated at the back of the classroom, she stretched lightly and cracked her knuckles. This one would be a doozy. With a flick of her wand, the tables and chairs moved themselves to the sides of the classroom, stacked, and shrunk until they occupied only a tenth of the space they once did. A second flick of the wand sent the boxes of apparatus to her office, and a third brought in more boxes, and they moved to the cardinal directions of the room. "I had wanted you to use the apparatus for this activity, but when I was doing a trial run, I realised that the retort stands are half the size of some first years." Not ideal to be running around with. "The box with you at the back of the room contains little bean bags. Please take one of each colour. There are orange, purple and brown." One for each other cardinal direction of the room, y'know? Why those colours? Well, they weren't house colours. "Your job is to get from there to the other boxes and deposit your bean bags into the corresponding coloured box. However --" she flicked her wand at the ceiling, and previously camouflaged and hidden pendulum-like round pillows attached to strings dropped from the ceiling. "You have to get through the pendulums. If you get hit by said pendulums, you have to return to the starting position and begin again." "You may and should use these pendulums to sabotage your classmates." They were only pillows after all, and there was very little serious injury that could stem from a pillow. "First ten to finish the course gets a 8-inch discount on your next essay." "NOW GO GO GO GO GOOOOOOOOOO." Oh how her inner Gryffindor loved chaos. OOC NOTE: It's main activity time! You'll have approximately 3 days to do so! |
Patrick wrote down what she said about his errors being consistent errors. That seemed like something that he should know. He took apart his pendulum and put them back where he was told. He was listening to the description of their activity. He had to hold in his large sigh and eye roll. Of course it was something fun and active with his boot still on his foot. He was going to sit it out when he heard about the 8inches deducted from their next essay. Deciding he didn’t care he wanted the deduction for his essay. He grabbed the three bean bags and started to take off dodging the pendulums as best he could with a clunky boot on his ankle. He did not want to write a full essay. He should team up and scheme against his classmates, but instead he was trying to be 007 for now. |
Hanna didn't want to disassemble her pendulum after putting it together. But she did it, because they were told to. Just as she put it together, reversed, she took the components off and put them neatly away into the boxes, then packed up her belongings and headed to the back of the room. Hanna picked up one of each of the three bean bags and listened to the instructions. Right, well pillows were much nicer to whack into than the pendulums they were using. Hanna readjusted the beanbags to give her best range of motion of her legs and got to running towards the first box, taking a few pauses here and there to dodge the pendulums, and avoiding others. At the first box, Hanna put her beanbag in, before heading back to the next box. |
Catch up.... Ellie just looked straightforward at professor Sandhu as she tried to think up ways for how and why an experiment could go wrong. There we’re many factors obviously, but what could she say that hadn’t already been said by her peers. Thinking and thinking she finally raised her red and gold robed hand to answer. "The environment where you do you’re experiment matters like if you are outside then you have to factor in say the wind and humidity in the air and that could ruin the experiment or change the outcome of the results. Also if you don’t assemble a pendulum correctly or another object then that will give you other results than if you did it right." Hopefully that was what Professor Sandhu was after or Ellie was lost. ------------------------- Ellie took careful notes as Professor Sandhu summarized and lectured and then introduced their main activity. They we’re going to be moving beans bags from the back of the classroom to responding coloured boxes at the front only hitch was the moving pendulum-like pillows on strings they had to evade. First though Ellie dissembled her pendulum apparatus and packed up her stuff and join her classmates at the back of the room. Picking up a brown coloured bean bag first Ellie ducked for the first pillow as she sprinted forwards across the classroom towards the brown coloured box. What Ellie didn’t count on or see was the string pillow that came from the left and whacked her sideways causing her to fall flat on the floor onto her right arm which hurt and she let out a loud "Ouweieeeeeee!" Grimacing and trying not to cry Ellie staggered up on her feet and returned to the back of the room to try again with a determined look on her face and the beanbag clutched in her hand. The pillow’s weren’t going to win! |
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