End of Semester Reflection
Chemistry Poster: Trout Project (Water Quality)
The chemistry poster below is a collection of my data from the Trout Project. The poster focuses on common pollutants within water sources in the city of San Marcos.
Reflection:
How well do you take notes?
How well do you keep track of our assignments?
How can you be more organized?
- I feel I take notes fairly well. For example, I always try to be organized and show my work. This helps me to easily understand the topics when I look back over my notes. I am also one of the designated class note takers. I tend to write how I understand the topic at hand and how I personally view it (pictures, diagrams, formulas, listed steps). This helps me to, in a sense, put the problem or information in my own words. There are highlighted, stared, and bubbled areas to point out important information such as formulas or things I need to remember. My notes also include the worksheets done throughout the semester. They are glued in a way that allows them to be folded closed and when turned over my work is written on the paper underneath. This allows the worksheets, solved problems, important information, and other key factors to be all in one space. Overall I feel I am fairly good at note taking because when I look over my pervious work I can see my thought process and realizations through my notes.
How well do you keep track of our assignments?
- Throughout the semester of Chemistry I have turned in all of my work on time and in good quality. All of my assignments from all classes, not just Chemistry, are written on a daily checklist that I create in the morning before school. This allows me to see what I have to do and when it has to be done. I also use a "self-motivation" system within my checklists. A line through a task means I no longer have to do it, a check mark means I have completed the task, and a circle means I have not completed the task and still need to finish it. Once you complete a task and give yourself a checkmark it make you feel proud, happy, and accomplished. When you circle a task it is almost a shameful event. The circles do not create a sense of accomplishment. In my opinion, the circled tasks stand out and are fairly ugly which makes me want to complete the circled task. Overall I feel I am in control of my assignments and keep them and their deadlines well organized.
How can you be more organized?
- While in class one day Mrs. Lyman, our Chemistry teacher, showed us her college notes. Her noted were on blank pieces of paper without any lines. Her notes look incredibly organized and had diagrams, formulas, and pictures that made everything easy to look at and understand. When I look back at my notes I can understand what I have done and written, but it can still be a struggle to find exactly what you are looking for. To improve my organization and overall note taking skills I would like to try switching to blank paper. Currently I am taking notes on graph paper because I can draw using straight lines, but I feel switching to blank paper or very slightly outline graph paper would help me immensely in organization and understanding of my notes.
Page of my Lab Notebook:
How well do these pages from your Lab Notebook show your ability to organize your work?
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