Semester Two Extra Credit Blog

In your blog please give me some feedback on last semester

What topics really confused you?
At first, the first month i was really confused about everything.  Until we started to have lectures and then I started to understand the topics a little bit more.  The topics that confused me first semester were the cells. Especially Cell division.  I did not feel that we spend enough time going over this topic.  I am also confused about RNA structure and function.

What topics do you feel very clear on?
I feel clear about the Kingdoms of fungi, prokaryotes, eukaryotes and viruses.  I also really have a lot of knowledge on the unit on behavioral ecology and ethology.  I feel like this units are the ones that I understood the most.

What lab/ activity was your favorite? Why?
My favorite lab for fist semester was the transpiration one because my group had to present it to the whole class. I learned how the different environments affect the growth rate of plants.  How photosynthesis is greatly affected by heat and how transpiration speeds up in windy conditions.  I also learned transpiration occurs very slow in the night in most plants.  Guard cells, xylem and phloem are important factors in the process of transpiration.  I really enjoyed doing this lab because we got the chance to control 5 factors that affect the rate of transpiration in plants and i believe i got a better understanding on the process osmosis and diffusion.

What lab/activity was your least favorite? Why?
The lab that I did not enjoy doing was the plant chromatography.  My group was really confused on the procedures probably because i do not recall having a group presentation before starting the lab.  We finally got how to do the lab correctly the last 20 minutes of class.  The other thing that made our data get results that were way off was that the other groups that we had to collaborate with, were confused as well.  I think we should have a group presentation for each lab we do for clarity.

If you could change something about the class to make it better, for instance the type of homework (not the amount) what would it be and why?
I DO NOT like the simulations we do.  To be honest, i really do not learn new things from them.  I rather do labs in class with hands on experience that online.  I think the lab simulations are only taking up time for other things we can do such as taking notes or other review material on the unit we are covering.  The Blogs i do enjoy doing because they help me refresh my memory on the topics we are learning in class.  I also DO LIKE having daily quizzes because it will help me know what i need to work on and study for the A.P test.