The teaching of instrumental analysis for many small colleges and high schools continues to be stymied by high-cost, complicated maintenance, high power requirements, and often the sheer bulk of the instrumentation. Such issues have led us to develop inexpensive instruments as part of a SMILE initiative (small, mobile instruments for laboratory…

Note is presented on the standard lab from a second year chemistry course. The lab "Determining which of the Seven FD&C Food-Approved Dyes are Used in Making Green Skittles", familiarizes students with the operation of the CHEM2000 UV-Vis spectrophorometer.

Describes four physics experiments including "Investigation of Box Resonances Using a Micro"; "A Direct Reading Wattmeter, DC or AC"; "Exercises in the Application of Ohm's Law"; and "Hysteresis on Gas Discharges." Discusses procedures, instrumentation, and analysis in each example. (CW)

The Laboratory Structure and Task Analysis Inventory (LAI) is an instrument designed to facilitate the analysis of laboratory investigations in secondary school science. It yields a quantitative picture of the kinds of activities required of a student in performing laboratory investigations. The report includes guidelines for the use of the…

Discusses the production and structure of a sequence of optical crystals which can serve as one-, two-, and three-dimensional diffraction plates to illustrate diffraction patterns by using light rather than x-rays or particles. Applications to qualitative presentations of Laue theory at the secondary and college levels are recommended. (CC)

Four ways in which microcomputers can be turned into laboratory instruments are discussed. These include adding an analog/digital (A/D) converter on a printed circuit board, adding an external A/D converter using the computer's serial port, attaching transducers to the game paddle ports, or connecting an instrument to the computer. (JN)

Presents a method of constructing short range transmitters suitable for sensing the temperature in eggs, nest cavities or other applications. Provides a list of materials, circuit diagram, and assembly instructions. (CW)

A PET microcomputer is used as an accurate and programmable timer to support data acquisition from velocity experiments covering falling, rolling, and sliding objects, and human velocity, acceleration, and power measurements. The inexpensive instrumentation is simple and easy to use and compares favorably with conventional, more expensive…

Contends that the nature of physics has been misrepresented by blurring or ignoring important distinctions between "errors" and "discrepancies" and that dealing with these and related problems can improve students' enjoyment of labs and understanding of physics. Nature of physics, role of experiments, experimental errors, and error analysis are…

Presented are five ideas for A-level biology experiments using a laboratory computer interface. Topics investigated include photosynthesis, yeast growth, animal movements, pulse rates, and oxygen consumption and production by organisms. Includes instructions specific to the BBC computer system. (CW)

Microcomputer-based instrumentation packages enable computers to collect continuous analog data, convert data to digital form for processing, and display results on monitor. Discusses classroom advantages of these packages, describes one package for teaching harmonic motion, and provides a list of currently available packages (including vendor and…

Discusses the establishment of a high school chemistry instrumentation center designed to retrain teachers, improve precollege preparation of high school chemistry students, and to make simple chemical instruments at a minimal cost. (TW)

Concentrates on describing the implementation of the hardware systems based on the BBC microcomputer. Describes the electronic systems used to amplify the signals from the detector and to convert the signal to digital format. Discusses the software that must be used and the system performance. (CW)

Discusses the use of microcomputers as a universal instrument to replace more expensive instrumentation in many traditional labs. Describes the availability of microcomputers as inexpensive educational tools which can be used successfully in labs with minimal requirements on the computer. (SK)