Wednesday Recap...

Overall I can say that my knowledge of how math and science work together has increased. As far as the goal of the course though, I am not so sure. I was under the impression that we were going to be learning how to apply science to math and math to science in the classrooms we teach in (middle and secondary). It seems to me that a lot of what is being emphasized is the upper math underlying the science principles. I would prefer more simple examples, things that kids would relate to and would better understand. I think many of us concur that the math here is over most of our heads and will probably not be used in the general education classroom. However, the labs are very interesting and fun to do. I know that they have helped me refresh some of the old calculus concepts that have been locked away in a dark corner of my brain for so many years.

Electricity:
I really don't know too much about electric circuits and so forth other than the common sense basics, so this lab fit right in with my level of knowledge. If it had gotten more complicated as far as the math goes with resistance etc., I probably would have had to take a lot more time with it. The pictures given were fun to try and decipher and seemed to be mostly common sense. It really helped to know that the current will go to the easiest place first. That is something that slips my mind.

Radioactivity:
I though this lab was the easiest to perform, but had the most complex math as its basis. While we didn't have to do the math, I have a feeling that if you did this lab in a classroom, you better be able to do it by hand. Once again, the reliance on computers for an answer is something one can never be too sure of. What if something else is going on that we don't know about?

Enzymes:
Ahhh...something familiar! I was the most familiar with what was going on in this lab (most likely I have done it numerous times) because of my biology/chemistry background. This again seemed like mostly common sense either because of the familiarity I have with the concept of enzymes or because it's just easy to figure out that cold will slow things down, more enzyme means more activity, saturation of substrate will occur, and pH matters. Also, it is a lab that can tolerate a certain amount of inaccuracy with measurement etc. and is simple to perform. This is a great one for students at the middle and high school level.

In conclusion, I think it is great that we all have different levels of backgrounds and different perceptions in general. I think each person has a great deal to offer and we should all respect that and keep our minds open. I know I am trying to soak in as much as I can from all of you veterans (should have been recording everything each day) to make my job a little easier. Thanks for all of your insights. Keep up the good work everyone.