- Remove the lid of a milk jug and make a small hole in the lid.
- Place the plastic funnel in this hole and put the lid back on the milk jug.
- Cut a piece of nylon line (approximately 1 foot).
- Wrap one end of the nylon line around a Popsicle stick 3 times and secure with masking tape.
Repeat this with the other end of the nylon line.
- Assemble the ring stand with an arm (please see picture).
- Clamp one end of the nylon that has been wound around the Popsicle stick with one of the
clamps and place on the arm of the ring stand.
- Clamp the other end of the nylon line and the milk jug together with the other clamp. This
end should swing freely. Be sure to have about 5 inches between the milk jug and the table
top.
- Place water in the milk jug through the funnel until the nylon string breaks.
- Weigh the clamp, milk jug, and water using a sensitive bathroom scale.
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Safety
Advanced Preparation
Pre-Lab Assessment
Post-Lab Assessment
| Level |
Appropriate for students at basic, general, and honors levels.
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Expected Student Background |
Students should be familiar with how polymers are made up of monomers.
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| Length of Time | One 50-minute class period (does not include preparation time). |
Safety
This lab can be messy if the students are not careful. The plastic funnel should be placed in
the hole in the milk jug to reduce the potential for splashing. The students should wear their
safety goggles throughout the laboratory exercise. The students may also wish to wear lab aprons
if they are concerned about getting wet (should not happen if the funnel is used).
Advanced Preparation
Obtain several samples of different strengths of nylon string. These are very inexpensive. It is
suggested to buy five different weights. You may choose to have your students compare their
nylon fishing line to other common fibers, such as kite string or sewing thread. Prepare the
milk jugs for use in the experiment by doing the following: Take the lid off of the milk jug and
place it flat on the table. Using a nail or a screw, make a hole big enough to hold the funnel
firmly in place.
Pre-Lab Assessment
The student answers will vary, but they should be specific about their planned course of action.
Please see Extra Help section for a procedure. It is suggested
that you provide the students with a picture or diagram of the apparatus. There is a picture
provided on your right, and you can enlarge it by clicking on it. Please see the
Assessment Rubrics for grading suggestions.
Post-Lab Assessment
The student table should be easy to follow and well organized. If you would like to
provide a table for your students, one is provided in the Extra
Help section. The report should answer all questions and be well written. Please see the
Assessment Rubrics for grading suggestions.
Sample Table:
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given on package (lbs) |
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Extra Help
The laboratory exercise is inquiry based. If you would like to provide a procedure for your
students, one is given below. To view a easily printed version of this procedure, click
here.
Procedure
| Points |
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| Procedure | Plan includes a step-by-step procedure that is easy to follow. | Plan includes a procedure with most steps. | Plan includes a procedure with some steps. | Plan includes a procedure with few steps. | Plan includes an overview of the procedure. | Plan does not include a procedure. |
| Criteria | Plan includes clearly stated criteria for testing and type of data. | Plan includes criteria and data, but not clearly stated or not well outlined. | Plan includes criteria and some data to be collected. | Plan includes some criteria and some data to be collected. | Plan mentions some data that should be collected. | Plan does not mention criteria or type of data. |
Post-Lab
| Points |
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| Table | Table is easy to read, well organized, and contains all data. | Table is easy to read and contains all data, but is not well organized. | Table is easy to read and contains most data. | Table contains some data, but is easy to read. | Table is incomplete and hard to read. | Does not have a table. |
| Report | Report addresses and answers all questions completely, thoroughly, and clearly. | Report addresses and answers all questions completely. | Report addresses and answers most questions completely. | Report addresses and answers most questions. | Report addresses and answers some questions. | Report does not address or answer questions. |
| Conclusions | Makes reasonable conclusions that are well explained. | Makes reasonable conclusions that are somewhat explained. | Makes reasonable conclusions that are not explained. | Makes some conclusions but offers no explanation. | Makes some conclusions but some are not reasonable and are without explanation. | Does not make any conclusions. |
| Grammar, etc. | The student has no grammatical errors or misspelled words in the report. | The student has few grammatical errors or misspelled words in the report. | The student has some grammatical errors and misspelled words in the report. | The student has several grammatical errors and misspelled words in the report. | The student has many grammatical errors and many misspelled words in the report. | The student has many errors, making it difficult to understand the contents of the answers. |
Relevant National Science Education Standards
Science as Inquiry — The activity
is inquiry based.
Physical Science — By using the
extension concerning toughness, the activity can be used to reinforce the interactions of matter
with force and energy.
Unifying Concepts and Processes —
The activity is all about the measurement of the strength of nylon filaments.
This activity was created by Stacy Brust.