Doing Research in Math and Science 2020

Welcome to DRIMAS! In this course, we have been learning about the foundations of math and science research, as well as adding new math and science skills to our toolboxes. We began the year with an exploration of how scientists do science; we explored the unknown with Mystery Tubes, and used what we learned to build a foundation of observation skills. We put these skills to the test with our trimester long Franklin Park Tree Profile Project; in this project, each of us adopted our own tree in Franklin Park and studied it over the course of the trimester. This involved observation, measurement, and analysis; all skills that scientists use every day! One of the skills we needed to explore was how scientists identify specific species; they do this using dichotomous keys. After learning about this method, we created our own Coin Dichotomous Keys with partners. Finally, we learned about the importance of showing data visually by looking at many different kinds of plots and graphs; our exploration led us to learn more about graphing points and lines. Our study of lines culminated in the Flag Graphing Project, which saw us each choose a flag from around the world, sketch it onto graph paper, and use the line equation to graph it in the online graphing software, Desmos.