Pig Dissection Reflection

        Whilst in the process of this dissection, our group looked at the anatomy of the fetal pig, one similar to our own. Much of this reinforced the content that was covered beforehand, while offering the chance to look at how every system connected with each other in an orderly manner. For example, the esophagus was located right under the trachea and thyroid, and continued throughout the entire body, well into the abdominal cavity. This helped me understand as well how systems intertwined, through function and placement.
        This dissection not only helped me understand the anatomy of the pig, but also empathy and sympathy for the pig. After the dissection, I felt some sympathy for the pig, feeling bad for it, but also kind of understanding it through some empathy. I feel as if I have grown not only through science, but through personality as well.

20 Time Individual Reflection

This 20-time project did not start earlier this year, but long before that. In my elementary school, I often dreamed of the absurd, plausible or not. However, once I thought of this, I became very interested in sound energy in science, as well as nanotechnology. This led me to my current 20-time project, as I hypothesized from initial research that from the disturbance of a water mass with vibrations caused from sound, I could effectively "make water float on water". This interested Tyler, my partner, as well, who was interested in levitation of objects when we discussed ideas for our 20-time project. Our initial plan was to test the limits of sound, by doing the experiment mentioned beforehand. Thereafter, our main goal became to search for capable materials required for our project. However, this is where our plan began to slow, as getting equipment was slow, and even when this equipment was gained, it was barely suitable for the experiment we were about to test. Nevertheless, we pushed on and initiated our tests. From this, we have determined that while sound can be useful, it is ultimately not completely reliable as an energy source. This information, however, may not be accurate with the equipment used in the given tests.
As the project slowly progressed, I learned a great deal not only about sound and its capabilities, but also about teamwork and coordination. This may be because of the countless times me and Tyler had to plan out time from our schedules constantly in order to progress the project. In fact, many times we had to text each other on multiple days in order to determine whether or not our project time had been blocked by an event at the place we tested at. I feel that if I did have another chance at this project, I would try to plan out all of our meetings at once and put them on a calendar, so as to prevent confusion.
This project may be at its end for now, but I plan to continue this project on my own in order to check practical applications for the amount of power given just by sound. This, of course, will be done in the little free time I have, so I do not expect the research to go anywhere anytime soon, but plan to finish this by at the latest next year, depending on whether Tyler will join me or not. This project was fun, and I hope I am able to participate in something like this in the future.

Unit 9 Reflection

         Throughout the entirety of Unit 9, we learned how to classify species, and the vast amount of creatures already classified, of which being but a small percentage of overall discovered species. Some of these species include Lions, Snakes, and Sea Corals, all belonging to their respective domains in the 8 level system of Taxonomy. Domains are split up into a three domain system, being Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya, and slowly go into more specific taxa, such as orders and classes. In fact, the level system goes domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, group, and species, from biggest to smallest. As the Unit went on, we observed more and more phylums, each with their own classes and defining characteristics. Later on, however, I learned that we had barely scratched the surface of Taxanomy and its species, and became intrigued even more.
        As more and more phylums were introduced, our class organized presentations of evolutionary important species. These presentations often emphasized or reinforced ideas taught in vodcasts, but were more specified on organisms that were beneficial to human life. As I did my presentation, I became more aware of these organisms, and understood more about the unit. This was especially in my case, as I researched the Tiktaalik, which was covered more intensely in class through a documentary. In fact, other organisms were specifically mentioned in class that we presented on, including the earthworm and archaeopteryx.

        From the many activities that we had in this Unit, I feel that I have improved in my time management. This is mainly because of me and my partner's planning out of 20 time whilst doing this Unit, meeting after school to test everything. Moreover, the planning of the W.E.E. presentation also required some coordinated planning out as I completed vodcasts and homework. Because of these reasons, I feel that I have not only improved in time management, but teamwork and coordination as well.