Mad About Science
The trip to Singapore this summer was the most educational and most enjoyable trip I have ever taken. Weeks later, I still look back at my photographs, email several people daily from the US and foreign delegations, and tell my friends and family about the experience.
I particularly enjoyed the lecture by the researcher from the Human Genome Project. Because I have had less interest in biology in high school, I had not been following the updates on the Human Genome Project very carefully, and he summarized the project and also explained its significance well. One of the aspects of the project that I found most intriguing was the ability to cure diseases through the project's research. The speaker said that by first reproducing diseases, scientists would be on their way to curing them, and I had not realized the significance of the Human Genome Project in that respect. The lecture from the Australian professor, while not always aimed at as serious an audience as he was dealing with, was also interesting, and the video I took of him was one of the favorites of everyone I showed it to when I came back home.
For me, the best part of the trip was the science and technology exhibition. Not many kids came to my exhibit, probably because it was just a computer screen without much on the board behind to attract attention. But I did talk to a group of maybe 15 students from a local school. They were interested at first in the contest I had participated in and in my web site and the process I had gone through to create it, but pretty soon they lost interest in that and became more concerned with my height. Like several other students I met, they all wanted photos to remember how much taller than them I was. But the most valuable part of the exhibition for me was walking around to other countries' booths. When I asked the students to tell me about their projects, they were always happy to describe their work. What really impressed me was the practicality and creativeness of their projects, and that so many groups of students from so many different schools could come up with such great projects. I tried to take a photo or video of each project that was described for
I choose the ted talk of journalist Jon Ronson: Strange answers to the psychopath test. His speech had various strong points and personal experiences. He uses various strategies to hook his audience and get his point out. He engages with the audience and gets them to listen he keeps them engaged by having humor and telling stories. He uses statistics to infom the audience and even tries to calculate how many psychopaths there is in the audience. He has verbal and nonverbal cues that connect is main points.
The church and Christian beliefs had a very large impact on the Puritan religion and lifestyle. According to discovery education, “Church was the cornerstone of the mainly Puritan society of the 17th century.”( Douglas 4). Puritan laws were intensively rigid and people in society were expected to follow a moral strict code. And because of Puritans and their strict moral codes, any act that was considered to go against this code was considered a sin and deserved to be punished. In Puritan theology, God h...
Sir Gawain—the lead character in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight—has a hard time keeping his promise while his nobility is tested after he encounters the Lord on his trek to meet the Green Knight. He is depicted as a noble knight who is strong in faith and believes in sticking to his morals. In fact, Randy P. Schiff explains this in his article, Unstable Kinship: Trojanness, Treason, and Community in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, when he says that, “Displaying his mastery of courtly deference, Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight publicly defines himself through kinship” (Schiff 1). Meaning that Gawain prides himself on the loyalty that he is able to give to those who respect him and are close to him. Since Gawain needs a place to stay
Dr. Goodall’s “attention-getter” was easily the most unique I’ve seen. She walked onto the stage, silently organized her notes, then held her head back and began hooting like a chimpanzee (having worked with chimps for some forty years, she does an uncannily accurate impression). She then smiled beatifically and announced, “that’s chimpanzee for ‘Hello’.” Not a soul in the audience doubted her word.
The Wasp Factory is a novel that focuses heavily on the power of gender. It is a novel that associates masculine power and feminine weakness to animality. Within the novel, males are characterized as skilled, cunning, smart, and powerful; they are associated with dogs. On the other hand, women are viewed as stupid, docile, and frightened; they are associated as sheep. Each of these characterizations is made clear by viewing what Francis Cauldhame is (sheep), and what she desires to be (dog).
Rubin attempts to convey the idea that Connie falls asleep in the sun and has a daydream in which her “…intense desire for total sexual experience runs headlong into her innate fear…” (58); and aspects of the story do seem dream like - for instance the way in which the boys in Connie’s daydreams “…dissolved into a single face…” (210), but the supposition that the entire episode is a dream does not ring true. There are many instances in which Connie perceives the frightening truth quite clearly; she is able to identify the many separate elements of Friend’s persona - “… that slippery friendly smile of his… [and] the singsong way he talked…” (214). But because of the lack of attachment with her own family, and her limited experience in relating deeply to others, “…all of these things did not come together” (214) and Connie is unable to recognize the real danger that Arnold Friend poses until it is too late.
Understanding and examining what others have said about topics that have not normally been talked about has sparked an interesting conversation. I have been able to gain insight on issues from two different perspectives giving me a better understanding on how people are affected by the topics I have chosen as my focus.In this semesters Gender Studies class discussion about virginity, femininity, and body image stood out the most because it influences everyday life. Getting the opportunity to ask to close friends what they felt about these topics was fascinating.
Things Fall Apart is about the tragic fall of Okonkwo our main character and the Igbo culture. Okonkwo is a respected leader within the Igbo community of Umunfia in eastern Nigeria. He first gets respect within the village by defeating Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling contest. Okonkwo is determined to become a powerful and wealthy man unlike his father who was weak. Within the community, Unoka was considered a failure and a laughingstock he was looked upon as a woman who had no property to call his own. He eventually died a shameful death and left numerous debts. Okonkwo despises and resents his father gentle ways he decides to overcome the shame that he feels for his father’s weakness by becoming what he considers to be “manly”. He dominates his wives and children by being insensitive and controlling. Over the years, Okonkwo becomes an extremely volatile man. For example beating his youngest wife Ojiugo for accidently forgetting to prepare the afternoon meal for his family. Things begin to fall apart soon with the arrival of Christian missionaries who spread their religion and culture throughout the land and. Colonialism is a theme that’s constantly addressed throughout the book and is to blame for the fall of the Igbo culture and Okonkwo.
The effects of colonialism was immensely visible in the Igbo society. As the white men began to move inward of the native's land, their cultural beliefs were alternated. Some Examples of this were noticeable in all aspects of the Igbo people's lives, in their religion, family life, children, and the dead. Many of the Igboians were troubled by the colonialism expanding in their society, but in the end they were incapable of doing anything to overturn the modifications that had already taken place in their society.
The discussions we had in class on all the different things that were happening in the Cedar Rapids schools was really good and would have loved a good chunk of time on that. The concept of standards-based grading is one that intrigues me and would love to develop further. The previous standard I did some research into it and have found that I like the principles behind it. There is a definite understanding by me that this is a process that will take some time to get a handle and develop into a school. The Early Childhood and Pre-K component was very interesting to me because I had absolutely no background knowledge in it. I learned a lot about the evaluation process and the amount of work that goes into it with its current form. I at least feel that I could help those teachers find some creative time management to help them complete that piece but would still like to see how elementary schools do scheduling. School safety and law were both great presentations and I learned a lot of valuable information and resources to help me grow as a principal. Knowing who to get a hold of within the context of school legal issues and knowing that there is support eases my mind on this topic. The issue of school safety is frightening in this day and age and there seems to be so many things that are going on in schools. I look again at Cedar Rapids and the
The mad scientist is an interesting figure in contemporary culture, usually represented by an evil genius that uses fictitious technology in an attempt to ‘play God.’ History has shown us that the mad scientist is not far off from reality: From the alchemist Paracelsus claiming the ability to create life to Tesla and Newton using science to challenge the mysteries of the universe. We also see the mad scientist in 19th century literature. Both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau, showcase this character in all of his glory and destruction. These pieces of literature are woven into the anthology, Making Humans, which is cited in this analysis. In these novels, we see ‘the creator’ (Victor Frankenstein) versus ‘the imitator’ (Dr. Moreau). These are two different attempts at ‘playing God,’ and take the audience to a place where morality is no longer a question of what’s right or wrong, but how wrong and what that means for humankind as we know it.
my trip. I had taken part in many activities and I got to know a lot
Something that I never really thought I would be able to accomplish so fast. Both when it comes to preparing different types of speeches whether it be informative or persuasive. While also using the different elements that go into speaking to a specific audience, and how important it is to shape your speech around the people you will be speaking to. Before this class I had never really thought of analyzing my audience and how important that could be. I usually just focused on myself by making the presentation and delivering it. Now I know that I need to take into consideration who I will be speaking to and what the most important thing to say to them is. Acknowledging them both at the beginning and during the speech is also important so that they feel included and feel included. Also I learned how to incorporate and identify my sources onto my PowerPoint slides. I had previously never identified my sources that way before by putting the actual citation on the slide. It helped me to keep track of where I got it from in case I needed that information for the
The trip to Asia was a chance of a lifetime. It could not have been any more perfect. We worked hard and learned a lot. The memories and friends made are unforgettable. I only hope that I helped make someone else's trip just as wonderful.
“Traveling is an adventure.” Amongst my most interesting ones was my visit to the peaceful country of Japan. I journeyed there to visit my husband who was living there at the time. I had a few encounters that I thought were interesting. The journey was long and exhausting. I was the only Jamaican on the plane; everyone else where Asian. However, the atmosphere was warm and, it was a bit weird, but I appreciated something new.