Unit 1 Paper

Part 1. Your Interest in an Aspect of Unit Content

            I have to say that the area in which interests me the most is cellular respiration. I think our bodies are such amazing structures and it is so difficult for me to wrap my mind around the ideas around topics such as this. What I think is so amazing is that our body can take one tiny molecule of glucose, then break it down to pyruvate and continue the process all the way to the ending point of the electron transport chain. I find it even more amazing that from those original glucose molecules, we end up with nearly 36 ATP. How can all of this be happening inside my body all the time! For me, molecules are such a difficult thing to understand. I have never seen them perform their work yet I am amazed by their abilities everyday.

          

        Something that I find interesting about the process of learning about cellular respiration is the funny and creative ways that people choose to try and remember all of the steps involved. Some people work well with pictures, such as the one shown here. Where others choose to go to different extremes, such as the teacher who created the YouTube video below to help his students remember the process. 

 

 When I look at these two different sources, I can also see that people have different ideas about the complexity in which they need to know this topic. For example you can just learn the basic steps and the final outcome. By doing this, a person can understand the process and why it happens. However, a person can also dive much deeper into the topic by learning all of the molecules and enzymes involved and at what exact step each is utilized.

            To put it mildly, I find cellular respiration a fascinating topic to learn about. I find it interesting the our bodies can work with the ATP production of either aerobic or anaerobic respiration depending on the situation. I have really learned to love science over the last few years, and it seems to me that the more I learn the more I realize I don’t really know. This may sound a bit silly, but it is true. I can’t wait to learn more so I can discover even more topics that I know nothing about!

Sources

Mr. Hsu, scienceteacherhsu.Cell Respiration" - Cellular Respiration Song. Retrieved February 18,2013. Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aZrkdzrd04

Image of cellular respiration. Retrieved February 20, 2013. Web. http://www.biology.iupui.edu/biocourses/N100/images/ch9res.jpg

 Part 2. Thinking About the Course

1. What one assignment or activity you performed in this unit are you the most proud of?

The one project I performed in this unit that I am most proud of is my written assignment on Autism Spectrum Disorder. This was a topic that I only new a little bit about, and the paper helped me to see a few different perspectives on the issue. What made it even better was that, being a mother, I could relate to the different ideas on the subject. Also, I generally enjoy writing papers because I feel that it pushes me to broaden my horizons on any given subject.

2. What do you now understand best about the information in this unit?

I feel that I had a great advantage coming into this course, because, thus far, everything we have been learning about I learned in my BIO 181 course last semester. So, in general, I feel that everything we have gone over has been a great review and refresher. I feel that the information we have explored thus far has really helped me to further understand the material, and the textbook puts the ideas into simple terms that make sense.

3. What actions did you take for yourself to enhance learning or enjoyment of the material?

As I said before, many of the topics we have covered thus far have been review; furthermore, many of the topics are also coinciding with the BIO 201 class I am taking this semester. With this being said, I feel strongly that when I read and review the information for each chapter, it is really helping me to know the material and really understand how things work. I have enjoyed the labs and at every opportunity I try to explain what I am doing to my daughter. Talking about the subject, even if it is in kindergarten terms, has helped me see the material from yet another perspective.

4. When did you feel most “connected” with the course? Most distanced?

Most of the time I have felt equally connected with the course. The only time I felt disconnected with the course was during the “What Molecules is That” lab. That is one moment where I felt frustrated and a bit like I did not understand the material. I feel that I could have avoided that disconnect if I had started on the project sooner and not waited until the last minute. Aside from that, I have not had a moment where I felt “most connected”. I have enjoyed the material fairly equally and all in all I feel that I have had a pretty good understanding of the material presented.

5. What could I offer you to help your understanding or enjoyment of the material?

All that I can say for this question is that I think you have done a wonderful job of presenting the material in an easy to understand method. The online learning environment can often be challenging, but I feel that you have given us great information to use in our studies. In fact we may even get a little more. Not only do we have the textbook and lectures, you also have also provided us with great information to utilize from the Internet. Furthermore, you seem to always be available for questions. In fact I do not think I can even count the number of times you have said to call or email if we have questions. All-in-all I feel that this is a great course, and the material has been presented in an easy to use and understand format.