I learned that despite the urge to resist, your senses and hormones will always have an impact on your behavior! Intra and inter sexual competition is much clearer now, cyclical fluctuation’s in females changing their attraction… Human sexual behavior is simple yet complex…very interesting stuff! We all think with our brains, but a lot of times our behavior is ruled chemically…
Posts Tagged: 2013PLC
Goodbye!
Well, today was our final and afterwards everyone said their goodbyes and good luck wishes! It is sad knowing that I probably won’t see 90% of the people in the class anymore, because we’ve kind of grown onto each other. Spending hours together everyday and studying together, as well as hanging out over the weekends or after tests, we have all really become close. Not only that, but I’ve learned so much from this class, and not just biology and chemistry. Our professors taught us valuable problem solving skills, and I have also learned many other life things from my classmates. I will really miss being close to everyone like this in a class, and I’m pretty sure something like this will never happen again. It was a fun semester, and one that I will always remember! Goodbye :]!
Sexual Selection
The sexual selection project was very interesting and fun to research. In our experiment we decided to investigate the value that different groups hold on personality and physical traits. My group and I found a lot of research stating that men and women value what their partner looks like more than their character. From our research we found that our idea was not completely true.
This was a really cool result to find, because humans have such vast cognitive abilities that I had imagined it would be impossible to not consider what a persons character is like. I would love to research the further, since humans sexual selection is far more complex than any other.
Sexual Selection Project
The sexual selection project was probably the greatest learning experience I’ve had all semester. The three most important things that it taught me was: how to write a research paper, how to survey people, and how to turn raw data into useful data that communicates a result. One of the most challenging parts of the project (besides writing the paper) was surveying people and constantly getting denied.
Sexual Selection Project Reflection
This sexual selection project has been quite an eye opener. The main lessons that I were able to learn from this project had a lot to do with the overall process and data collection.
First, it is very difficult sometimes to find subjects for surveys within different age groups, especially at higher ages.It is best to plan ahead as to where each sample group will be obtained.
Second, sometimes the data collected can have no use and/or the data really needed was not collected. It is always nice to execute a pilot to see how well things work out.
Third, and probably my favorite and most fun, it is VERY awkward for two guys to stand outside the girls’ restroom and survey girls as they go in or out of the restroom. It was already too late by the time we realized where we were standing… Nothing happened except feeling SUPER awkward.
Sexual Selection Paper
It was the first time I was doing a project like this! I usually did not have to collect raw data by surveying people etc. Therefore, it was a good experience. It was actually quite fun going around the school area and even some public places to ask them several questions (and get rejected) about our project haha.
One thing I learnt is that sometimes our results do not correlate with our hypothesis. This was what happened to my group initially. Then, we had to brainstorm for another surveying idea to see if our hypothesis really is not supported or if our method of testing was wrong. After our second trial, we got better results which correlated with our hypothesis 
The second thing I learnt is that within a group, not everyone has the same ideas, and it is usually hard to communicate especially if some of us aren’t willing to give in. Therefore, at some points of the project, I was pretty frustrated but had to keep my cool so that the project proceeds smoothly 😀
Lastly, I also learned how to write research papers better. Thankfully there was a draft we had to do and a peer review as I know where i went wrong and I was able to correct it before the final submission. There are just so many points to write down and it is hard to arrange them in the right order so that our paper will be written smoothly. Plus, the rubric given to us also helped me a lot in terms of what to write and what not to write in my papers.
Sexual Selection?
The sexual selection paper is quite interesting, from finding an evolutionary based mate selection choice to designing and analyzing the data. My group and I had an idea of what we were going to do, but I do not think we had imagined how hard setting up a survey that was quick, clear, and able to produce data that we needed. So learning how to do so was an interesting process of revisions and tests. Another thing was how humans try to resist the urge of judging some one by appearance and shallow traits, but in the end it is those traits that people are most attracted to.
Optimal Diet Reflection
The optimal diet has been a long unit of study this semester and included many fun moments and stressful days. I can’t exactly pinpoint certain moments that were particularly better, but just overall activities that seem to stick in my head.
My first favorite learning experience of this unit would be the enzyme lab. It allowed for my group to not only get creative with designing a lab, but taught me to learn from mistakes and improve on an experiment. I mean, its hard not to when our group ended up needing to do 5 trials since the first 3 failed. Although I totally ended up hating the lab after finally finishing, looking back at it I can finally appreciate the experience and how much it helped me learn.
My second favorite learning moment from the optimal diet unit would have to be the VO2max lab. Normally, I can only learn so much from doing lab experiments. However, when the tides turn and I literally become the guinea pig to be tested upon, things really somehow made sense. It also was accompanied by many hilarious moments including student vs professor foot races and professor vs machine moments.
The third and probably most favorite learning experience would definitely be the diet case study project. This project was full of hardships that I honestly can admit would have been pretty impossible to overcome if it weren’t for my group. It also allowed for me to get a glimpse of a real world application of the material we cover in class, and may have led me to rethink of my own diet and how it may actually affect my health.
Overall, this unit and this class in general has been pretty amazing. Although this class has made me lose more sleep than anything ever before and even had me working on a lab report on my 21st birthday (sadface), I am happy I got the chance to be part of this program.
Diet Case Study
Hello everyone!
Hope you’ve all enjoyed our much needed 3 day weekend. Reflecting on what we’ve learned so far, made me feel guilty eating all of these yummy Easter candies. I have a new appreciation for how hard our metabolism works and much more respect for eating healthy. Most of us take our good health for granted, but I have learned, with great emphasis- the complexity of it all–a lot of work goes into digestion. So, with a new perspective and respect for food, I am grateful for the lessons learned See’s candies will be short one customer this year!
Revelations!
Out of all my experiences with the optimal diet project that we did, there are 3 that stand out the most to me. The first was actually when we received our “patient.” It was enlightening to brainstorm with my fellow group members about what was happening with our patient based on only the given information. This made me feel like some sort of doctor :D, but I think working in a group like that and combining all of our ideas and learning new facts from my friends was a great experience. Second, was when we had to find primary literature sources for the treatment. Since our patient did not have any disease, it was incredibly difficult to find primary sources that only talked about building muscle. We had to think a little until we decided to just google muscle growth or some other related term, and go to the main article that the website cites. This was another great learning opportunity! Lastly, I think of course the final diet “test” was an extremely helpful learning opportunity. We had to diagnose a patient and come up with the treatment on our own. I learned some strategies from my other classmates when we discussed our previous patients in class. However, it took some thinking to connect the information we were getting, as there was a minimal amount of talking between group members this time. Overall, this diet case study project helped us all to connect new information with old given info.
Reflection..
1. The part when we had to search for the diagnosis together as a group was pretty fun as it was competitive. We were determined to be the first group to find the diagnosis and I think we were one of the first few I learnt how the disease affects the patient’s body in a molecular level and could apply what we learnt in Biology to it. Now then I realized that the activity on diagnosis a patient is very related to what we are learning in Chapter 11 now, which is about cell communication as the cellular response is due to the signaling molecules. I also really enjoyed the 2nd diagnosis activity we had, which was to discuss through Google docs among our group members. It was very intense as we had a very limited time. But I think we could have been given a little bit more time for the research on the molecular mechanism Overall, it was a fun learning experience!
2. I also enjoyed the VO2 max lab. We had the opportunity to find out our calorie intake, expenditure, body surface area etc. These are important information that I normally do not take notice of. However, by knowing my net calorie intake, I will know if I am having a balanced diet or not. As for the exercising part, the mountain climbers were really tiring 
When I did it before spring break, I felt light headedness, most probably because I seldom exercise and my stomach was empty.
3. When we were studying protein synthesis, we were given several materials (beads and a stick) to help us visualize what is happening. That made me better understand the topic as I know where the locations of the various molecules are. Therefore, I think hands-on activities are very beneficial.
Halfway there!
Believe it or not, we are halfway through the semester. Reflecting back on the first 8 weeks of our course, I recalled this great moment during our solubility investigation. Usually I do not approve of phones in lab. However, this (pictured) was a great use of a phone / flashlight app to determine whether or not a precipitate was formed during a solubility trial. You all have shown us many times how creative you are. Although I’m relieved to have this week (Spring Break!) to catch up on what’s been a taxing and at times hectic semester for me, I’m looking forward to the second half of the semester and to teaching this course again in the Fall. Enthusiastic students with such large and unique personalities have made this class great and eased much of the nervousness I had about teaching this course for the first time. Thanks, guys!
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