Author: claireng

Throughout this course, I’ve learned how to be more observant about the skills and techniques that I use. Most of the time, we go through working through projects without acknowledging the amount of technique and skills it takes to simply make an observation or analyzation. Both of the projects worked on throughout the course actually made you think about what skills you used in order to produce the work we presented in the end.

I found that BioBlitz was the project that introduced me to realizing the amount of skills we used in order to make our observations throughout the event. With this in mind, I would say that it was impactful, especially when it came to understanding the Scientific Method. Although this event did made me realize this, it wasn’t my favorite, possibly due to the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of science. I did, however, really enjoy the healthcare innovation assignment. I am more of a creative person so being able to think and design our own invention was something very fun and entertaining to me, especially when we presented it at the STEAM Festival. Our group received a lot of compliments and comments to go on Shark Tank.

In regards to the smaller assignments, such as the labs and other blog posts, I didn’t really find them to be enlightening or constructive. I had already taken Bio over the summer, so doing the labs was a bit repetitive. I liked how the blog posts made us reflect, but it was something that I felt I could’ve reflected on my own without having to write one out of obligation.

Fortunately, I loved my group. We all became friends and actually enjoyed working together, which is not a common experience I have when working in groups. I did find working on two projects at the same time to be a bit overwhelming and, at times, found the side-assignments to be more busy-work rather than something that I found relative to the main projects we were working on. I understand that BioBlitz was the Macaulay event of the year, but I would have preferred to focus on one project for the STEAM Festival rather than producing a whole other big project that wouldn’t have been presented in the end.

I did find the class enjoyable. I found the small science presentations by the professor to be extremely entertaining and fun, especially the fire one. I think this was one of the better seminar classes, but I would have enjoyed a field trip of some kind with just our class. Other than that, I found this to be a great semester.

While working on the Aspirin lab, I found that it was easy to incorporate what we have previously learned about the scientific method and data analysis. Following each step laid out in the procedure and using our own data skills and observations made the lab a much smoother process than if I was to go through the lab with no prior instruction or knowledge. It was extremely interesting to see how Aspirin, one of the most common household drug, is made. Seeing how to apply different elements, like heat and ice, can change different states of matter. Taking part in physically seeing how a liquid crystalized into a solid was exciting, despite a few panics about whether we were doing it right.

Relating this lab to my group’s BioBlitz project specifically correlates with the use of data analyzing and the scientific method. Like the lab, the BioBlitz project involves my group creating a lab report while also forming the skills and data from different source in order to apply data analyzation. Being able to take two different sources and finding their connection and forming a coherent relation between them was especially challenging and rewarding.

Overall, retaining these skills involving scientific data and the method has shown to apply to a number of different projects in this class as well as ones to come in the future.

If I was to write an article on a scientific paper, I’d make sure to highlight the scientific finding/research ‘s relevance to modern-day society. If I was an everyday reader of scientific papers, then sure reading a title that simply defines the study would intrigue me. But in reality, the title is vital to gaining readership and views to the study. This does not mean that it has to be “clickbait” or skewed in an inappropriate and misleading way to gain attention, but I think it is important to choose a relevant and relatable scientific finding to promote for readers to learn from. A good example was from one of the presentations about nanobots and relating it to the film “Big Hero 6.” Making modern-day references and connections will give the reader a point of reference to understand the scientific paper a little bit more in terms of logistics and mechanisms. I find that images are also extremely important. This isn’t to say to offer images with complicated terms, but ones that a viewer can easily follow. An image provided with an explanation is a good way for readers to understand. What I found interesting was that a lot of the class’ presentations were reviews and analyses of their scientific journal, meanwhile mine was more of a “pick and choose” article that had their own topic and organization to talk about while backing it with the study to add more credential to their article. This, in many ways, can be useful since readers, viewers and skeptics will be looking for validation and support. I’m not sure if this is the best way of using scientific findings, but I do find it to be a savvy method.