This week was pretty mellow. All we did was work on our methods presentation and present them. We had Monday and Tuesday to complete the presentation and started presentations on Wednesday. The presentation was only 10 slides plus citations and you only had 6-8 minutes to present. I had trouble keeping my slides condensed because there was so much I needed to add to my presentation. I had three separate slides for the methods and materials needed for each phase of my experiment (cell preparation, immunoblotting, and NMR- spectroscopy). There were so many materials I needed for the western blot that I had an entire slide dedicated for just the materials. I then had another slide just for the procedure of my western blot. Writing about the cell preparation and the NMR-Spectroscopy were easier because there were fewer steps and fewer materials, so I was able to fit everything onto one slide each. I also provided an introduction to my topic because I didn't define certain terms in my last presentation, and I was docked points for that. In order to make sure that everyone is understanding what I'm saying I summarized the background information one would need to understand my project. I spoke briefly on anabolic metabolism and biosynthesis, choline metabolism and GDPD-6, as well as glycerophosphocholine. I then launched into my questions and variables. In the variables section, I realized I wrote "control" where "constant" should be, but I covered it while presenting by saying "My controls and constants are...". I don't think anybody realized it though. I then spoke about the materials and methods used in each phase of my experiment. Finally, I presented my rationale. My presentation went well overall. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't terrible. I was nervous at first but as soon as I started speaking, I knew what I was talking about. I was able to list the materials section for the western blot from pretty much memory. There were times that I stuttered or paused because I forgot the word I wanted to used, but I did better than before. I also became nervous again close to the end, but I managed to push through. I went over time however. I was only supposed to speak for 6-8 minutes, but spoke for 9 minutes 44 seconds. I believe it was just because I had a lot of materials I needed. In the final presentation, which can only be about 8 minutes I believe, I can shorten the time I spent on the methods section. I plan to generalize the materials list some more just to shorten it. I have to start working on everything, since we only have one more week before finals. Tags: Presentation, Reflection, Forward, Projects, Independent
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This week was all about my methods. I finished up writing my experimental design with the help of my uncle. After I handed it in, I started writing my written methods section. I had to write up the rationale for using the procedure, the methods, materials - which includes why we need them, how much, and from where - safety precautions, hypothesis, variables, biases or constraints and limitations. We also had to create a timeline of our project, called a Gantt chart. A Gantt chart is where you name your tasks, assign start dates and duration, as well as how much you have completed. This will form a timeline. Making the Gantt chart was easy enough after finding the template on Excel. It took me a while to find, but it was easy to use and change. My only issue was that my procedure was close to 60 days, so when I tried to take a photo and paste it in my write-up, it appeared very tiny. It was still completed properly, it was just small. Other than that, my only issue was with writing my materials section. We had to be as specific as possible, so it took me a while to find all the materials I needed, especially for the western blot. If you wrote it out in list form, there were over 40 items required for the Western blot. Add into account that I had to provide a need or use for the material, it took a while to finish. In addition, I began to try to finish it up only at 8 PM the night it was due because I procrastinated. I came home and went to volunteer. By the time I got back, it was 5 and I spent 3 hours on YouTube. I realized I shouldn't have done that, especially since I didn't sleep until midnight that night, but hindsight is 20-20. Luckily, I finished just in time. The rest of the week was pretty mellow. I missed Thursday's class because I was signing up for my courses next fall. On Friday I was just working on some future work that will be due by the end of the semester, mainly the time management plan. It will be due on the 11th of June. I honestly can't believe that it is nearly the end of the school year. There is only three more weeks of school left. Even though the weather is nice, I have to stay focused and finish my work on time, then I can have all summer to spend outside. Tags: Projects, Reflection, Forward
This week was not too bad, surprisingly. Monday and Tuesday we worked on a presentation about our Capstone project. It covered the basics: two sources from our lit review, problem statement and justification, hypothesis, goals, and problems we were facing. It was due on Wednesday. As usual, I waited until close to the last minute to finish the presentation because I didn't know what to put for my hypothesis. Wednesday was Exhibition Day, where we were paired up with another class and showed what we were working on. We were paired with another Capstone class in Aerospace and were tasked with showing our problem statement and if we had time, our presentation. It went well and I got some positive feedback on my project. The only thing I had to work on was explaining my project more precisely so that others who do not know anything about cell biology can understand it. Thursday and Friday were presentations. We had a sign up sheet and I decided to go first on Friday, because I knew I was not ready to present on Thursday. I was able to see some mistakes or elements in other people's projects that I wanted to add to mine, so it was a good idea for me to go Friday. I got an idea of what I needed to say and how I needed to present. I practiced Thursday night so I would be ready. But Friday came and I woke up with a scratchy throat. I could barely speak or swallow my own spit. I took some Benadryl but that did not work out as planned. I became tired and exhausted, sleeping in my first two classes. When I went up to deliver my presentation, I rushed through what I had to say and omitted some parts that I had rehearsed. I was very tired. But apparently, I didn't do too bad, and I got it out of the way, which was a positive. I know that I have some points to work on in presenting, mainly not looking at the board, speaking clearly, and to stop rambling on. I plan on working on this in the future. For some reason, I've lost 10 points on my last three blogs. The three blogs were put in the grade-book as one grade. Since I lost 10 points on three blogs, I lost 30 points out of 300, causing my grade to drop to an A-. Hopefully, my presentation can bring up my grade, as well as my lit review. I still need to talk to Ms. Veillette about my first draft, which I know wasn't as good. I rushed through the last parts, and thus didn't write as well as I intended to. I was planning on starting to revise the draft without talking to Ms. Veillette, but I would like to know when to turn in a second draft, especially because the lit review needs five supporting sources. I will start working on the second draft, even if I don't get to talk to her so I can at least get a head start on my second draft. In other news, my AP Biology test is on Monday. I'm going to need all the luck I can get. I looked through the material and I know most of it. Luckily, the questions deal with the application of material and not memorizing the material itself. There are some things that I need to brush up on, which I plan to do over the weekend. Wish me luck! Tags: Blogs, Forward, Independent, Lit Review, Planning, Presentation, Projects, Reflection
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AuthorShubhangy Raghavan Archives
January 2019
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