WhoIamAsaScientist...

Sciencehasnotalwaysbeenmystrongsuitwhenitcomestoschool.InmyFreshmanyear,at

CoventryHighSchool,IstruggledtremendouslyinPhysicalScience.Theclasswasmore
textbookbasedthandoingexperimentsandhandsonactivities.Whenreadingoutofatextbook,
Iretainlittletonoinformationbecausemybraindoesnotlearnthatway.Ilearnbetterwhen
doingphysicalthings.MyoverallPhysicalSciencegradewasa3.Notentirelybadhowever,I
feltasthoughIdidnotgetmuchoutoftheclass.ItwasthingsIhadalreadylearned,orthings
thatdidnotinterestme.InmySophomoreyear,Ihavebecomeabetterscientist.Ididstill
struggleabitinsciencewhenIattendedCoventryHighSchool.Istruggledbecauseitwas
textbookbased.OnceItransferredtotheGreeneSchool,Isawagreatdifferenceinmyinterest
becausewedidmorehandsonactivities.MyscienceclassthisyearwasBiology.
ThefirsttopicIreallyenjoyedlearningaboutwasHumanEvolution.Welearnedabout
theoriessuchastheOutOfAfricaTheoryandMultiregionalHypothesis.Iwasquitesceptical
whenitcametolearningaboutHumanEvolutionbecauseIdidnotbelieveinit.However,
learningabouttheinformationwasratherintriguing.ThetheoryIfocusedonwastheoutof
AfricaTheoryhumansevolvedfromspeciesoriginatingfromAfricawhothenmovedoutof
Africaevolvingtotheirsurroundings.Ihadtoresearchthistopicandfightforwhyitwasthe
mostsensibleonebetweenTheOutOfAfricaTheoryandTheMultiregionalHypothesis.The
activitybuiltmyresearchanddebatingskillsbecauseIhadtofindtheevidencetosupportmy
claimofwhytheOutOfAfricaTheorywascorrect.Thisalsobuiltmyvocabularyonthe
subject.MyfirstArtifactistheHumanEvolution:KeyTermsAssessmentAOLgivenon
February10,2016.IchoosethispiecebecauseitshowshowIwasabletoreflectonwhatIhad
learnthroughtheunit.Iwasalsoabletorememberthetermsbetterbecauseofthehandson
activitieswedidintheclassroom.Thistopicchangedmypointofviewonevolution.Ibelieve
evolutionisrealtoanextent,weallchangeastheyearsgoon,wedevelopthingsbasedonhow
weneedtosurvive.
ThenextinterestingtopicwelearnedaboutwastheCentralDogmaofBiology.TheCentral
DogmaofBiologyis
howgeneticinformationflowsfromaDNAsequencetoaproteinproduct
insidecells.AtfirstIstruggledinthistopicbutasIbegantostudytothesubject,theeasierit
became.MysecondartifactistheCentralDogmaofBiologyAOLgivenonApril4,2016.I
chosethispieceasitdemonstratesmyknowledgeofwhatwelearnedduringthisunit.Intheunit
wedidmoreactivitiesoutsideandworksheetstounderstandhowDNAisusedduring
TranslationandTranscriptiontomakeRNAwhichthenmakesprotein.TheAOLdemonstrates
allthedifferentaspectswelearnedaboutasawhole.IdidverywellontheAOL,receivinga
relieving4.Learningaboutthistopicshowedmehowamazingcellsareandhowthereare
differentprocessesourbodiesgothroughtojustkeepusliving.BeforeIdidnotthinkthebody
neededtodosomuchtofunction.
OverallIhavegrownasascientistandIamproudofthe
progressIhavemadeinthefewmonthsIhavebeenatTheGreeneSchool.