You have to make observation and take data on the Full moon day. If weather is not good at that that day, you can do it a day before or after. You are taking data when moon is at two different positions. One near the horizon and another high above in the sky. Ideally it is done around 6 pm when moon is rising and again 3 to 4 hours later. But it can also be done on near the midnight and another before it sets around 5 to 6 am in the morning.

Since it is date sensitive experiment, late submission for partial credit is not available.

(Important: Next lab, the lab 4 is already posted. It is because, it requires four observations a week apart each. You should take the first observation within few days after midterm. You will see Moon in the evening sky)

Instructions for writing a Lab report

The  goal  of  a  scientific  report  is  to  communicate  the  reader  the  purpose,  methods,  data  and  the
result of your work. You must be mindful about how much detail to put in the report. If you put
too much detail, it becomes boring. If you don’t write in a particular format, it may become story
rather than a scientific report. Therefore, it has to be concise but detailed enough so that interested
people  can  replicate  the  result  if  they  want.  For  our  labs,  depending  on  how  well  you  write
(communicate), and the nature of the lab, you may have anywhere from a page or two of writing.
The  report  may  vary  slightly  depending  on  the  nature  of  the  project  but  all  of  them  have
following elements:

• Title of the Experiment: It is descriptive name of your project not lab 1 or 2. (1 point)
• Your name: You want to tell you did the work.
• Viewing  location  and  name  of  the  others  in  your  group  if  you  took  data  as  a  group  (1
point): Location such as name of the park, intersection of streets etc. Don’t write your home
address for your privacy. But writing just at my home is NOT enough. Write none for the
name of others if you did it ALONE.
• Statement  of  Purpose  (2  points):  One  or  two  sentences  stating  the  objective(s)  of  the
experiment (in your own words) will be sufficient.
• Procedure  (4  points):  It  should  contain  a  concise  and  well-written  description  of  what
you  observed/measured and how you did it in past tense. (Like length was measured or I
measured the length instead of measure the length). You can list them if you like. Person
reading  your  report  should  be  able  to  do  the  experiment  by  reading  your  procedure.
• Data and Calculation  (8 points): In this section you present the data you obtained while
doing  the  observation/experiment  and  show  the  relevant  calculation. Use  tables  and
graphs  where  appropriate.  Sketch  the  observation  with  your  hand  when  needed.  Copied
sketch or diagram doesn’t earn any point. Always properly label your sketches including
the  time  and  date  of  your  observations  (remember  the  date  changes  at  midnight).  Use  SI
units,  appropriate  number  of  significant  figures  and  scientific  notation.  Calculate  the
percent discrepancy between you results and the standard result when the standard result is
known. Remember, showing your work is more important than the result.
• Conclusion  and  Analysis  (4  points):  State  the  results  clearly  and  discuss  the  relation
between  your  results  and  the  expected  or  predicted  results.  Include  possible  sources  of
errors and way to improve it using other techniques. Source of error and ways to improve
it earns 2 points in this section.

Note: Do not use cover page. Keep up with due dates. You need to turn in your electronic report
in pdf format by uploading on canvas by the due date. You can compose your report in Microsoft
word including equations, sketches, picture and save as pdf before submitting it. If you can’t
draw and write equation in Microsoft-word, you can write do that on paper and take picture and
include that in report on proper place.  Emailed labs will not be accepted and it will not extend
the due date. There will be 20% deduction for late labs turned in within a week from announced
due date and time. More than a week late lab will not be counted as zero. Happy learning science
and scientific methods!