It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ~Author unknown, commonly misattributed to Charles Darwin
In class this week, we voted to eliminate the paper and explore other areas of science literacy. I think an exploration of science philosophers is a good way to introduce science literacy from multiple stand points. I look forward to hearing which philosophers were chosen by other groups.
IdEAFest went well. The poster presentation was a good way to show students and faculty what we did as part of promoting scientific literacy in our community.
I agree with the decision to eliminate the paper, like everyone else I am sure. It's nice to have a little less work to do at the end of the semester. Besides, the new things we will be doing with researching science philosophers, watching a documentary and doing another experiment will be fun and interesting to do instead.
IdEAFest was a lot of fun, especially to see everyone else's posters and research projects. We had quite a few people ask us about our poster and outreach component too
Getting rid of the reasearch paper really made my week, and my semester for that matter. Like Sarah said, it is nice to have a little less work when the end of the semester comes around. On Tuesday we made this decision and began researching our philosophers. On Thursday, we had our poster session for idea fest. This was definitely a fun experience because people actually came up and discussed our poster with us. I almost learned more about the Galapagos Islands from the people that discussed our poster with us than I did from our research.
On Thursday, we presented our poster at IdeaFest. Our topic was on invasive species of Hawaii, specifically the Japanese White-eye. The turnout was surprisingly high and we had a chance to discuss our poster with a lot of people. I also had a chance to walk around and discuss other posters. Overall, I had a great experience and enjoyed the lively environment. I support the decision to substitute a discussion philosophy of science for the term paper. Understanding the philosophical framework and paradigms of science is just as important to understanding the scientific process itself. Chapter 9 in "Science Matters" focuses on the core framework of the universe, matter and force. The portion of the chapter that I found most interesting was on unified theories of physics. According to the text, unification will occur with increasing energy/temperature which I believe could be related to the concept of the Big Bang. Such would be the point in time when the unified force diverged into the multiple forces present today. The universe and space have intregued me since I was a young age, Chapter 10 explores the study of Astronomy. The theory behind the formation of the moon is amazing. Surely, the moon has impacted the evolution of life on Earth by exhibiting forces (tides, etc.). My opinion on the matter of the existence of Earth-like planets is aligned with the text. It is obviously a nearly impossible task, yet this does not elimate the possiblity of ELPs. Given the vastness of the universe and seemingly infinite time surely ELPs exist somewhere.
This week in class, we began doing research on various scientific philosophers. This is just one of the activities that we will be doing in place of the final paper. I think these activities will be a lot more beneficial than writing a research paper. We will be able to explore more topics and conduct more experiments.
On Thursday, we presented our IdEAfest posters. I thought this experience was a lot of fun. It was nice to see what other students conducted research on. As a class, we put a lot of work into these posters and research and I thought they all turned out great.
I am so glad that we don't have to do the research paper anymore. That is just one more thing I can cross off my "To Do" list. I think we'll get more out of the philosopher assignment. I am not 100% sure what this entails because I was absent for that part, but it sounds like a fun project.
Thursday was a lot of fun! There were so many different posters to look at in the MUC, it was great! It was really cool that we talked about the geology and how it affects the Galapagos penguins, because we had certain people tell us they came to see our poster because it had either of those words in it. The Earth Science professors wanted to hear about the geology, and then other professors who had visited the Galapagos stopped by too! It was a little intimidating though, because they obviously knew more about it that we did! :( But it was interesting to hear what they had to say. Other than that, I really enjoyed the whole experience!
I really enjoyed the IDEA fest poster presentations. Many people stopped and asked questions and seemed interested in the topic. A couple biology instructors stopped by as well and asked questions and addressed their concerns which I really enjoyed. We voted to eliminate the paper this week which I think was a good idea. Many of us have written papers like this but not many have studied scientific philosophers which is really important. I'm happy with the changes
This week we voted to get rid of the paper! I'm so glad we decided to do this! We decided to view a documentary and do another science experiment instead! We will be reading more out of the Science Matter book and write reflection papers on what we decide to do in class. IDEA fest was this week and we all presented our posters. I'm glad I could show up to the beginning and end of the time we presented. (I had an exam that day.) We had atleast one group member there standing by the poster the full hour, so it worked out well.
Ideafest was a success, we were selected from a couple of posters to be laminated and put up by one of the professors. He kept our poster after-wards and hopefully i will see it on-campus soon. Tuesday i did not make but I heard the good news about small projects adding up to a big grade. :) That deserves a smiley face. Many people stopped by and wondered on what a brown tree snake was being talked about in south dakota. I am writing this a little late so I already seen some presentation photos were taken of me telling another student about our group's project.
Chapter 9 talks about the fundamental structure of matter and all matter is made of quarks and leptons. This chapter gets very detailed in the smaller and smaller universe and scientists trying to understand the simple concepts of life but are failing at it because assumptions are being distributed before more investigation had been done. Technology is advancing our reach into the ever increasing knowledge but when does it become to detailed? It continues in the chapter to talk more in depth about the four forces and particle accelerators, with new ideas at the end of the chapter. Some to complex for just light readings. Then in Chapter 10 it discusses Astronomy and how stars experience the cycle of birth and death. It explains how the cloudy material in an area start to attract by a gravitation field and then the reaction takes one by one steps in becoming stronger and stronger until the fusion of electrons and protons with neutrons causes a fuel that in turn is called a star or sun. Interesting stuff and I am a little skeptical on how they know so much but cannot re-create this material. It continues to talk about interesting topics of solar systems, supernoveas and the search for other planets and life out in the universe. All very interesting things once something is discovered but for now, it seems like an endless battle in a dark room with a big lens to wonder in your imagination if something ever was found.
We had Ideafest which seemed to go very well! I was surprised at how many people actually showed up for it. I was not able to be there for the entire time period due to class but from the little time i did spend it was fun to see all the different topics.
I realize this post is a bit late. Tuesday I was absent from class but heard that the paper was restructured into classroom assignments which really made the end of this semester much more bearable. Chapter 9 in the book is a very interesting chapter as it focuses on the structure of matter as we currently know it to be. It's also currently relevant since newer theories in physics are coming out such as string theory and superstring theory dealing directly with what makes up our universe. Strings are said to be even smaller than quarks and the basic unit of everything, they're also defined as a "quanta" by quantum mechanics.
Thursday was fun to see all the posters and topics for Ideafest. We had quite a few people stop by our poster to see what it was about. It would have been nice to have slightly more time to go around and check out other posters in more detail though. Honestly I didn't think our poster was that great going into Thursday but it didn't seem so bad once it was actually printed off and up on display.
I really enjoyed the IDEA fest presentations and had fun walking around reading others work as well. I was suprised to see just how interested everyone was in our project and many of the questions they posed were thought provoking and prudent.
I am also a big supporter of the notion of cancelling the final presentation in favor of several smaller assignments. My work load in other courses would have met that i would not have been able to focus very clearly on the paper ultimately anyway. In addition, i think the options discussed for alternative assignments seem far more educational and fun as well.
I like the classes vote to eliminate the final paper and the decision to reflections on science documentaries and a science philosopher. Its nice to have some free time before finals week. IDEA fest went great and it was nice to see everyone's research project and to talk about our research on island evolution.
Thank god we don't have to write that 10 page paper! I have been dreading the idea of it all semester. I really do feel that we learned more by researching philosophers and teaching the rest of the class, than I would have bs-ing my way through a paper that I could care less about.
IDEAfest was good. I got there a little late because I had class, but enjoyed the time that I did spend there. We had a few people come by and ask us questions about our poster and how we felt about the Idea program. It was a nice way to be able to share the things that we had been learning.
In class this week, we voted to eliminate the paper and explore other areas of science literacy. I think an exploration of science philosophers is a good way to introduce science literacy from multiple stand points. I look forward to hearing which philosophers were chosen by other groups.
ReplyDeleteIdEAFest went well. The poster presentation was a good way to show students and faculty what we did as part of promoting scientific literacy in our community.
I agree with the decision to eliminate the paper, like everyone else I am sure. It's nice to have a little less work to do at the end of the semester. Besides, the new things we will be doing with researching science philosophers, watching a documentary and doing another experiment will be fun and interesting to do instead.
ReplyDeleteIdEAFest was a lot of fun, especially to see everyone else's posters and research projects. We had quite a few people ask us about our poster and outreach component too
Getting rid of the reasearch paper really made my week, and my semester for that matter. Like Sarah said, it is nice to have a little less work when the end of the semester comes around. On Tuesday we made this decision and began researching our philosophers.
ReplyDeleteOn Thursday, we had our poster session for idea fest. This was definitely a fun experience because people actually came up and discussed our poster with us. I almost learned more about the Galapagos Islands from the people that discussed our poster with us than I did from our research.
On Thursday, we presented our poster at IdeaFest. Our topic was on invasive species of Hawaii, specifically the Japanese White-eye. The turnout was surprisingly high and we had a chance to discuss our poster with a lot of people. I also had a chance to walk around and discuss other posters. Overall, I had a great experience and enjoyed the lively environment. I support the decision to substitute a discussion philosophy of science for the term paper. Understanding the philosophical framework and paradigms of science is just as important to understanding the scientific process itself.
ReplyDeleteChapter 9 in "Science Matters" focuses on the core framework of the universe, matter and force. The portion of the chapter that I found most interesting was on unified theories of physics. According to the text, unification will occur with increasing energy/temperature which I believe could be related to the concept of the Big Bang. Such would be the point in time when the unified force diverged into the multiple forces present today.
The universe and space have intregued me since I was a young age, Chapter 10 explores the study of Astronomy. The theory behind the formation of the moon is amazing. Surely, the moon has impacted the evolution of life on Earth by exhibiting forces (tides, etc.). My opinion on the matter of the existence of Earth-like planets is aligned with the text. It is obviously a nearly impossible task, yet this does not elimate the possiblity of ELPs. Given the vastness of the universe and seemingly infinite time surely ELPs exist somewhere.
This week in class, we began doing research on various scientific philosophers. This is just one of the activities that we will be doing in place of the final paper. I think these activities will be a lot more beneficial than writing a research paper. We will be able to explore more topics and conduct more experiments.
ReplyDeleteOn Thursday, we presented our IdEAfest posters. I thought this experience was a lot of fun. It was nice to see what other students conducted research on. As a class, we put a lot of work into these posters and research and I thought they all turned out great.
I am so glad that we don't have to do the research paper anymore. That is just one more thing I can cross off my "To Do" list. I think we'll get more out of the philosopher assignment. I am not 100% sure what this entails because I was absent for that part, but it sounds like a fun project.
ReplyDeleteThursday was a lot of fun! There were so many different posters to look at in the MUC, it was great! It was really cool that we talked about the geology and how it affects the Galapagos penguins, because we had certain people tell us they came to see our poster because it had either of those words in it. The Earth Science professors wanted to hear about the geology, and then other professors who had visited the Galapagos stopped by too! It was a little intimidating though, because they obviously knew more about it that we did! :( But it was interesting to hear what they had to say. Other than that, I really enjoyed the whole experience!
I really enjoyed the IDEA fest poster presentations. Many people stopped and asked questions and seemed interested in the topic. A couple biology instructors stopped by as well and asked questions and addressed their concerns which I really enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteWe voted to eliminate the paper this week which I think was a good idea. Many of us have written papers like this but not many have studied scientific philosophers which is really important. I'm happy with the changes
This week we voted to get rid of the paper! I'm so glad we decided to do this! We decided to view a documentary and do another science experiment instead! We will be reading more out of the Science Matter book and write reflection papers on what we decide to do in class.
ReplyDeleteIDEA fest was this week and we all presented our posters. I'm glad I could show up to the beginning and end of the time we presented. (I had an exam that day.) We had atleast one group member there standing by the poster the full hour, so it worked out well.
Ideafest was a success, we were selected from a couple of posters to be laminated and put up by one of the professors. He kept our poster after-wards and hopefully i will see it on-campus soon. Tuesday i did not make but I heard the good news about small projects adding up to a big grade. :) That deserves a smiley face. Many people stopped by and wondered on what a brown tree snake was being talked about in south dakota. I am writing this a little late so I already seen some presentation photos were taken of me telling another student about our group's project.
ReplyDeleteChapter 9 talks about the fundamental structure of matter and all matter is made of quarks and leptons. This chapter gets very detailed in the smaller and smaller universe and scientists trying to understand the simple concepts of life but are failing at it because assumptions are being distributed before more investigation had been done. Technology is advancing our reach into the ever increasing knowledge but when does it become to detailed? It continues in the chapter to talk more in depth about the four forces and particle accelerators, with new ideas at the end of the chapter. Some to complex for just light readings.
ReplyDeleteThen in Chapter 10 it discusses Astronomy and how stars experience the cycle of birth and death. It explains how the cloudy material in an area start to attract by a gravitation field and then the reaction takes one by one steps in becoming stronger and stronger until the fusion of electrons and protons with neutrons causes a fuel that in turn is called a star or sun. Interesting stuff and I am a little skeptical on how they know so much but cannot re-create this material. It continues to talk about interesting topics of solar systems, supernoveas and the search for other planets and life out in the universe. All very interesting things once something is discovered but for now, it seems like an endless battle in a dark room with a big lens to wonder in your imagination if something ever was found.
We had Ideafest which seemed to go very well! I was surprised at how many people actually showed up for it. I was not able to be there for the entire time period due to class but from the little time i did spend it was fun to see all the different topics.
ReplyDeleteI realize this post is a bit late. Tuesday I was absent from class but heard that the paper was restructured into classroom assignments which really made the end of this semester much more bearable. Chapter 9 in the book is a very interesting chapter as it focuses on the structure of matter as we currently know it to be. It's also currently relevant since newer theories in physics are coming out such as string theory and superstring theory dealing directly with what makes up our universe. Strings are said to be even smaller than quarks and the basic unit of everything, they're also defined as a "quanta" by quantum mechanics.
ReplyDeleteThursday was fun to see all the posters and topics for Ideafest. We had quite a few people stop by our poster to see what it was about. It would have been nice to have slightly more time to go around and check out other posters in more detail though. Honestly I didn't think our poster was that great going into Thursday but it didn't seem so bad once it was actually printed off and up on display.
I really enjoyed the IDEA fest presentations and had fun walking around reading others work as well. I was suprised to see just how interested everyone was in our project and many of the questions they posed were thought provoking and prudent.
ReplyDeleteI am also a big supporter of the notion of cancelling the final presentation in favor of several smaller assignments. My work load in other courses would have met that i would not have been able to focus very clearly on the paper ultimately anyway. In addition, i think the options discussed for alternative assignments seem far more educational and fun as well.
I like the classes vote to eliminate the final paper and the decision to reflections on science documentaries and a science philosopher. Its nice to have some free time before finals week.
ReplyDeleteIDEA fest went great and it was nice to see everyone's research project and to talk about our research on island evolution.
Thank god we don't have to write that 10 page paper! I have been dreading the idea of it all semester. I really do feel that we learned more by researching philosophers and teaching the rest of the class, than I would have bs-ing my way through a paper that I could care less about.
ReplyDeleteIDEAfest was good. I got there a little late because I had class, but enjoyed the time that I did spend there. We had a few people come by and ask us questions about our poster and how we felt about the Idea program. It was a nice way to be able to share the things that we had been learning.