Final

The big ideas of Biology 11:

• Evolution and Natural Selection
• Requirements of living things
• Curiosity and Inquiry

1.  How can you show your learning of these big ideas throughout the course?  Be ready to show your best examples.  
My learning is demonstrated through the way in which I look at the world and assignment /test quality.

Evolution and natural selection tie into everything we did in the course. We related everything back to it such as how simple organisms survive and what adaptations make a species successful.

Most of our research blog posts were about the requirements of a certain organism. From the simple diffusion in Porifera to the complex characteristics of mammals, I learned a lot about how to classify nature. I was always a research-y person, but never about animals and how humans could be similar to them. Biology 11 has taught me how to search for information in an organized way and find what I am looking for. This helps because the Internet can be overwhelming with a lot of information- and much of it is fluff rather than facts.
2.  How do you see the world differently after taking Biology?  Discuss.

The main thing I learned in biology was that every species is trying to propagate unless it is hindered by inability to adapt and natural selection etc. 

The world seems so much more connected since taking biology. I also think it is cool to know many facts about everyday and bizarre nature. 

Assignment completion:  Are your blog posts complete? Are the assignment questions answered and similar criteria met?  Where you prepared for your interview and self-evaluation?

There are many incomplete blog posts but the completed ones are well done. I always tried to answer the assignment questions thoroughly. I was not prepared for my interview and self evaluation.

62%= C

Assignment Quality:  To what level did you complete the assignments?  Are you able to remember what you have learned from them?  Would others be able to follow your blog posts?  Did you care about what you were writing?  Provide examples.

I completed the assignments well. There are a few half done assignments. I spent a lot if time making them accessible and thorough but that sometimes got in the way of completion. I can recall many early assignments such as researching a celebrity organism, adaptations to survive in pugs, etc. and I also plan on keeping my blog to look back and learn as well as post any new biology related material. I think my first term blog posts were easy to follow but the second term ones were more complex and had more incomplete gaps. Also, I tried to make blog posts well done as previously said, so somebody could find one and learn about the topic from my blog. I cared about what I was posting because most of the time the choice was mine about what I wrote. I wasn't as interested in plants as I was in animals and overall evolution.

65%= C

Skills: How did your skill set change throughout Biology 11?  Blogging, research, communication (written and verbal) lab skills such as microscopes & dissections.

I learned how to blog and search for information effectively. Especially how to classify information for myself and the reader so that there were concrete facts and real world connections. I didn't know how to use the microscope on the first lab, but by the end of the course it was as natural as using the computer. Dissections helped me in an unconventional way. I find that if I want to learn about an organism, I can research it rather than having to physically see it. Dissections made me more aware of the species around me and less afraid of them. For example, if I saw a rat now I would not be afraid of it.

80%= B

Your Learning:  What did engagement in activities look like to you?  When were you the most engaged in class / assignments (really into what we were doing)?  Were you eager to learn?  What did you learn about how you learn?   What was your attitude after learning? How did your attendance affect your learning and why?

Engagement in activities means independently being aware of and understanding what is going on. I was the most engaged when we had tests or a set of questions to answer either on paper or the blog. I was eager to learn when researching on the Internet or taking notes in class. I learned that my learning style is independent and factual. I was excited to share anything interesting from class at home. I showed my mom videos of some things we learned about and also like to pop out fun facts when I am near something I know about from biology. My attendance affected my learning because I was unable to get the active discussion on the topics we learned about.

75%= B

Overall: 70%= C+