Intro/Background
My knowledge of the Earth is that it impacts humans positively for us to survive which includes giving us oxygen and being able to have a certain gravity pull for us to withstand our balance to the ground. As for processes, I know that there are many plants that make photosynthesis and our planet revolves around the sun every 365 days a year. Our Earth has an interior and to my knowledge has a core and crust but not sure about anything else. Plate tectonics and boundaries and am unaware but I may know that it might have to do with earthquakes. The rock-forming minerals and properties are unknown to me but I do remember the subject coming up in elementary school. Geological time and charting I never heard of before. Out of everything I do not know about geology I am hoping to get to know more about plate tectonics and how they affect our earth.
Goals/Objectives
My goals for the class is to learn the material that is given so that I know more about the earth and the little things I do not pay attention to that are around me every day. I am making great progress at noticing how much geology is in our lives. A realistic grade that I would expect to get out of this class would be a B or an A, just because this class is technically a filler for science that I need to take for my degree but I am still interested in this class. As of my grade right now it feels like a B grade but I am still trying to push through this semester. One last goal that I have for myself for the class and even for the whole semester would be to stay on track and ask as many questions as possible. I find that Dr. Cooper answers all of my questions.
Methods
To achieve my goals I want to show up to class every day and participate in everything to the best of my ability to gain knowledge and be able to know what I am talking about when it comes to geology. To access my growth in class I am going to put forth extra time outside of class to learn more about geology so that I am better prepared for class and exceed future expectations for my teacher and myself. The ungrading policy is very different and not something I am used to but I am confident that I will do well as I follow along and listen. I am now ready to fully take on this class and about rocks. My method by showing up every day to learn the material is working very well but I need to work on doing more outside of class because I am so busy I sometimes do not even have time to fit everything into my schedule. I have been really focused and taking notes from what Dr. Cooper teaches and I have been in class every day I have not missed yet. I feel I only spend five a week for this class but I am trying to make it at least eight hours at most. I feel I can progress more as long as I do not procrastinate outside of school. The subject that I had the most practice in is Minerals and I enjoyed learning about them. Lastly, the one thing that I am willing to change about a method is just putting in more time for the class so that I excel even more.
(Preliminary) Results
The result of my semester so far is that I have accomplished being in class every day. Learned material so far would be Earth's Interior, Solar System, Plate Tectonics, Mineral's, and currently finishing up Major Rock Types. I have loved this class so far and I love how Dr. Cooper trys to incorporate the material that she has done for research into the class lectures and studies because it makes the lectures more interesting to learn and pay attention to. Based on my current knowledge of what I learned so far would be a B grade average in the class because I still do not fully understand plate tectonics but the other areas that I have learned I feel confident about.
Strengths
Learning from the labs that Dr. Cooper provides.
Being able to identify all minerals provided and knowing that you can identify them either by their molecular structure, taste, smell, or touch
Also, a strong ability that I have is following along with Dr. Cooper's lectures on the whiteboard which helps me understand the material better.
Weaknesses
I need to strive more outside the classroom.
The progress of learning the material is great but I need to do research on minerals topic so that I can also incorporate it in the in-class presentation groups.
(Preliminary) Conclusions
Overall, The letter grade that I would give myself in this class would a B-. I give myself this grade because I know that I know some material but I also know that I still need to put in more work for this class as an entirety. As far as I know, I feel that this semester is going very well and I am still excited to learn more about geology. I have to correct some of my methods for this class but I do love the hands-on participation that we all have to do for this class because it helps me understand, learn, and most of all it helps me remember what I am learning.