Winter Trimester Reflection

      I am very proud of my alternative energy video. I had a lot of trouble with WeVideo, so my partner and I made the executive decision that we would do it on iMovie, since we both had some experience using it. It turned out to be more difficult than I thought, first of all because there had just been an update released for Mac operating systems, which essentially changed everything we thought we were familiar with. So not only did I have to completely re-learn how to use the editing software, but, since we didn't know how to do voiceovers, I took the roundabout route, and decided that we could record ourselves on Garageband, make what were essentially songs containing our voiceovers, and then upload them to iTunes, from iTunes to iMovie, and then adjust the photos to fit the reflection. Precision editing the length of different photos was the hardest part. My partner had taken the Solebury video making class, so he had some camera/script experience and ideas that were helpful and fun, but I ended up doing the "post-production" part entirely on my own. I thought I could handle the editing, but kind of ended up overwhelming myself. All in all, though, I made it through, and think I made a pretty fun video, and learned a lot about Geothermal Energy–something I didn't even really know existed before this project.

Ultimately, I pretty much don't have much of a problem with any of my assignments. I kind of worked by my own schedule, which helped me understand them and do them the best that I could do. I really enjoyed the water fair project, but if I could have more time, I would like to re-do it with more time to really make it great, although I think we did a pretty fun project, and the results surprised me– Fiji water bottles have the most waste, despite appearing to be the smallest. I might go back and do the LOAEL Lab again, because I think that the substance we used (Ice Melter) was not the best for this project, as it was a solid, and the way we added it to the plant was by creating water concentrations, and frequently the dust from the crushed up Ice Melter would settle on the bottom of the container, separating from the water, and I was frequently afraid that the results wouldn't be accurate, since it wasn't very consistent. I also just have no memory of taking the measurements or even seeing the plants grow at all, but I had the data, so I know I did. I'd like to go back and try a different substance, and this time, remember our results.

     I really enjoyed any big projects that we did. The water fair, the LOAEL Lab, and the Energy video were all really fun changes of pace, and I think I came up with really nice, thoughtful projects, and actually learned a lot. I liked being able to work with new people, since I think a lot of the class only wants to partner up with whoever they sit with, but I like to change it up. I really like hands-on activities, so I think that things like this really help me learn better than just lecturing and taking notes, so a good balance of these things is perfect. I hope we do more stuff like that next trimester.

     I didn't like the Bioaccumulation post. I'm pretty good at math, so I thought it wouldn't be too hard for me, but something about it just didn't click. I spent a long time trying to figure it out, on multiple occasions, and just couldn't put it together, plus I didn't really like the results. It scares me thinking how many chemicals we ingest because we put them out there. I think, if we have things like that, maybe we could go over them in class more? A problem I might have had with it is that, my group for the LOAEL Lab was behind all the other groups, since we had to start over, so we were still working on that when everyone else broke off into groups to do bioaccumulation.

     Ultimately, I'm really glad that I took this class, because it is definitely teaching me a lot and changing my outlook on the environment and the world around me, and has inspired me to be a cleaner, greener person. Thanks Jon!