Skip to main content

Posts

Service Learning

Throughout this semester, I was given the opportunity to participate in multiple different service learning activities through my first year seminar class, Science and the Public. Rock Garden When I helped out at the rock garden, I got to help kid find and identify different kinds of rocks around the garden, as well as helping them break pieces of rock. I had to make sure that they were safe when they did so, giving them protective glasses and helmets. All of the kids seemed to learn a good deal from this experience as well as the other activities they participated in that day with other helpers. I learned that the kids learned very well from this kind of hands-on activity, and they were very receptive to myself and all of the other friendly volunteers that helped out that day. Locked Boxes We did this activity a number of times, first with the students in our class and then with elementary school students. In this particular picture, ...
Recent posts

Engaging Scientists in Public Discourse

Presenting Research and Data We live in the era of social media, and unfortunately, these sort of platforms are the sources that the vast majority of people rely on today. Many people will just believe whatever they see when scrolling down their timelines. Much of the information we are presented with in these sort of setting is largely falsified, and that is something that needs to be fixed. Scientists are required to conduct efficient research and present the data from the results in the most efficient, unbiased way possible. By presenting fabricated information, this misleads the public and can be very detrimental to society and science as a whole, resulting in a very poor relationship between scientists and the public. Science Panel Recently I was able to listen to some of the things that scientist here at Appalachian State University had to offer. The panel consisted of three different geologists by the names of Dr. Carmichael, Dr. Levine and Dr. Marshall, all having ...

Good Graphs vs. Bad Graphs

The general public tends to trust the numbers behind things; statistics are key to understanding how drastic a particular situation is or can be. But the fact of the matter is that many people manipulate their statistics in order to appeal to their own argument. Maybe not changing the numbers themselves, but manipulating the way in which they are presented in order to get the response they are looking for. In this particular post, I'm going to look at how certain graphs and statistics can be manipulated to look good or bad to the audience. In this case, we will be looking at climate change. Let's start with a good example. Above is a graph depicting the levels of carbon dioxide it the atmosphere over thousands of years. The consistency of the graph remains in tact, with the Y-Axis increasing by 40 parts per million between each line, and with the X-Axis decreasing by 50 (thousands of years before today) by each line. We are clearly able to determine that the carbon diox...

Mountains to Mountains

In the highlands of western North Carolina, most students do not experience a deficit when it comes to water supply. In mountains to mountains, we were exposed to the water crisis taking place in Nepal, and how several members of the Appalachian State community helped to avert that crisis. Before Appalachian got involved, the only place to get water was equipped to supply about 25-50 families with their daily water needs. However, there were about 150 families in the area that regularly went to this source, making water a luxury and a very scarce resource. After they received help from the members of our community, they were then able to not only supply a sufficient amount of water, but they were able to make this place a growing community and a place where people want to live. This kind of work is what we should all work for. We do not all necessarily need to travel to a developing country in order to make a difference, but when choosing a career path, the main focus should be how c...

Science and I

Science and I Other than the required high school courses and the stereotypical medical television, I have not had a great deal of exposure to the world of science, although I find many aspects of science quite interesting. I have never really studied much of this, but I have always been fascinated by life outside of our planet earth. I find it very hard to believe that there are no other life forms in the entire universe. For example, just last year a potentially life supporting planet was found just eleven lightyears away from earth (of course, that is very far, but we are going to look passed that for now). Again, my lack of education on science in general as well as the specific subject of astronomy limits my ability to speak on the subject. However, that is something that has intrigued me since I was young and I hope to learn much more on the subject.