This is the last week before finals and the inevitable end of school. To say that I am stressed is an understatement: I am stressed, tired, cranky, worried, anxious, and overworked. I have so much to do over the next few days. But I just have to take it day by day and try to finish everything on time. In order to make sure everything gets finished on time without delay, I've been trying to prioritize my tasks and multitask. For instance, during some free moments during class, I've been working on editing my lit review. I finished editing everything up to the conclusion. I felt it took a higher precedent than some of my other classes because I have a higher grade in those classes so getting a lower final exam grade wouldn't hurt my grade as much. However, based on an online final grade calculator, I need at least a 78% on my final exam to pass Capstone 1 with an A. So with that in mind, I am putting all my effort and thought into my schoolwork. The first thing that pops in my mind when I wake up is what I need to complete that day and the last thought of the day is what I haven't finished and need to do tomorrow. In Capstone, I need to finish editing my conclusion (including my potential impacts), then add the revised problem statement and methods section. After, I might need to include an intended results and conclusion section as well as an abstract, though that is pending based on the answer Ms. Veillette gives me when I ask her about it. I am hoping to finish it by tomorrow afternoon or early evening. Then I want to actually fix my website and add everything I need. It will probably take me a couple of hours, but seeing as I have a final on Monday, I will either finish it tomorrow night, Sunday night, or split the work and finish it Sunday afternoon. However, since it is due on the night of the final exam (which is Thursday for me), I do have some leeway when it comes to completing this aspect. I also need to finish the introduction and methodology for my poster for next year. I don't think it will take me that long since I know what I want to write in the introduction. I could probably finish it in about 2 hours max, even if I have some unforeseen trouble. This will probably take me to the end of the weekend, since I also need to study for my Monday final. On Monday, I would like to finish my final capstone presentation. On my methods presentation, I did really well. I got 100/102, with the two point deduction coming because I forgot to add something that was on the rubric. On the verbal aspect I was graded highly. I would like to do just as well, if not better, on this final presentation. It is just a combination of the first presentation and the methods presentation. We are on a strict 12 minute schedule so I am hoping for no more that 14 slides with content. I need to practice it obviously and get the timing down, but I think I can do it. I found the perfect theme for my presentation. Now I just have to make it through finals week. Since this week is the last proper week of school, this is my last blog for the school year. But fear not, because when I go to Baltimore to do this experiment, I will be blogging weekly again. There won't be a blog next week, but look for a blog in 2 weeks time. Tags: Presentation, Lit Review, Time Management, Project, Forward. Reflection, Problem Solving, Independent, Blogs.
0 Comments
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
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 has been pretty uneventful. Even though the Experimental design paper was due today, I asked for an extension so I could talk to one of my mentors and finalize a methods. I spoke to them today and we finally decided on a method that is doable with my level of expertise. I will be testing whether estrogen increases the rate of choline metabolism by using empty vector and over expressing GDPD-6 MCF-7 ER+ cell lines. I will then starve them and then treat the cell lines with estrogen. After, I will test for GPC and MAP kinase using western blotting and NMR -spectroscopy. I now have to finish writing my methods section but my mentors offered to help me revise it so it's perfect, which I am grateful for. I also have to work on my lit review. I meant to do it this week, but we had standardized testing and I procrastinated. The good news is that I have three supporting sources for my second document already. If I finish writing up the supporting sources and incorporating it into my lit review, I would be mostly finished with the second draft. I just would need to add one more supporting source. While talking to my mentors, they recommended some articles, so I plan to use that as another supporting source. I just have to read and analyze them. Besides the write-ups, I have to work on my website. It still looks like a website for a company that offers tours up mountains. I would like to fix some parts of my website, mainly finish up my home page, by next week but we'll see how it goes. I got my scores back from my presentation and they were not as good as I expected. I got points deducted for not defining terms for my audience. I rehearsed it in such a way that I would explain, but I was sick and tired that day so I rushed through the presentation. I need to remember to do that next time I present. I will probably use photos to help me explain, as that's the best way to learn about metabolism and metabolic pathways, I also need to edit some of my slides to include information about my problem statement. I feel as if I answered all those questions while I was talking, but my teacher felt otherwise. I will just add the five facts to the slide so it's visible. Till next week. Tags: Lit Review; Networking; Planning; Presentation
This week was very mellow. Not much work was given in any of my classes. I took my AP Bio exam on Monday and I think I did very well on it. This week in capstone we started working on our methods. I have a meeting with one of my mentors next week to discuss my prior lab work and the methods I am planning to do. I want to make sure it is actually feasible for me to do; something I can do with my limited labwork experience and with as little training as possible. I know I won't be able to test on mice since I don't have any prior experience with testing animals. In order to test on animals, you need a lot of training on how to handle them and how to properly care for them. It also takes a lot of paper work, which I would have had to start months in advance. I would also need funding, since mice aren't cheap. So I am focusing on what can I do with breast cancer cells since they are easier to cultivate. As of right now, I was thinking of inducing breast cancer cells to hypoxia and then using a western blot to determine the metabolites that are increased in choline metabolism in this scenario. I would then compare metabolite levels to a control breast cancer cell, and maybe even a control breast cell. However, I don't know if I can do this because I have never induced cells into hypoxia before and I don't know how. I don't know if it is safe or even feasible for me to do. I know that some labs in Johns Hopkins have induced cells to hypoxic conditions, but I don't know if I can do it with what little exeperience I have, or even if Johns Hopkins would let me (they would not want to be legally responsible if I got hurt). I have to talk to my mentors to see if it is something I can do. If not, I have to change what I want to test so I can make it feasible. I am going to try to ask for an extension until the following Tuesday for the Exeprimental Design paper. That would give me a chance to talk to my mentors. If I can't get the extension, I would probably hand in what I have to that point and make a copy of the Experimental Design and change it if it is needed. I also won't start working on my methods write up until next weekend, as I want to talk to my mentors first. Since my uncle is visiting for Memorial Break, it gives me a chance to work with him on the write up. Besides the methods, I have began to edit my lit review, I added one supporting source and found other sources for my other main sources. I just need to read them and analyze them to make sure that they contribute to the main source and aren't irrelevant or unnecessary. The one supporting source I added was on how metabolic reprogramming is found in lymphatic T cell when they are active and Myc is the most crucial growth factor to the reprogramming and proliferation of proliferating cells and cancer cells. I am planning on doing another 2 supporting sources by the end of this weekend. Tags: Lit Review, Reflection, Planning, Communication, Problem Solving
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
|
AuthorShubhangy Raghavan Archives
January 2019
Categories
All
|