Cetyl Alcohol Lab: Ceire Clarke, Patrice DiChristina, Zoe Ng, Fernanda Neri

1. Based on your graph, what is the melting point of cetyl alcohol? What evidence supports this answer?
The melting point of cetyl alcohol is 30 degrees celcius beacause this is the temperature right before the Cetyl alcohol starts to go up rapidly melting from a solid to a liquid.

2. The boiling point of Cetyl alcohol is around 50 degrees celcius because this is the temperature the Cetyl alcohol maintained before it rose rapidly and changed into a gas.

3. Temperature, Time and Instruction Comprehension are three possible sources of error. For example, we did not read the instructions closely. Once the temperature rose to 60 degrees we did not did not know to place it into the ice water bath. This caused the Cetyl Alcohol to have a higher temperature than wanted when placing it into the ice water bath. Though we were not precise with the temperature, we did watch the time closely.


4. Three ways to improve the data collection in this lab is to pay more attention, keep track of time and not to listen to Christmas music. If we would of read the instructions more closeley our experiment would have been more accurate.

Journal # 8

     The SATs have the ability to sort through millions of students and select a small percentage of them. They make an assumption on each student based upon one exam. They fail to recognize the unique personalities each student has. This concerns me because I am a hardworking student with a distinct character. I am not only bilingual but I am a caring compassionate student. Every day I work hard in all of my classes, and I am always kindhearted to everyone.  I am also a part of the Outreach club which encourages students to make the right choices and to stay out of trouble. Everyone has a different personality worth being considered just as much as the SATs. Students should not have to worry about one test determining where they will go to college. Instead, Students should be able to rely on their character for acceptance into a college instead on an exam.

Journal #8

1.) What part of the POGILs do you find the most useful?  Why?
I find it very helpful for us to work on POGILs in groups. Peer teaching allows students to explain concepts in ways teachers would not think of. Many times students can understand each other more easily. This comes in handy when students do not comprehend the material. 

2.)  What part of the POGILs are least useful for you?  Why?

I find it least useful for students to read through the explanation of the lesson instead of having the teacher teach the lesson and then the students practicing the concepts with other students. Because most of the material in POGILs is new to students, we find it hard to complete the activity. 

3.)  How would you improve these activities?

If the teacher explained the new material we would be learning in POGILs,  it would be a more efficient activity. More students would understand the material and be able to complete the activity. Since there would be more students that comprehend the lesson, these students could help the students who do not understand the lesson as well.