The topic I worked on was about antibiotic resistant bacteria, and their prevalence in the soil. For this research, we took samples from high school students, as well as our own samples, of soil. We then diluted these samples and observed different reactions to antibiotic over time. By using different amounts of antibiotic for different dilutions, we were able to get data about just how prevalent antibiotic resistance is in our every-day environment. We then went to Clarke Central High School and repeated the experiment with high-school students. In the future, I would like to learn even more about antibiotic resistance, because I believe that this will become a much larger issue that we will have to face as it will become more common problem as we continue to use antibiotics to treat illnesses. To understand more about this topic of research, we studied in class about antibiotics. We learned the processes by which resistant strains can overcome their environment to repopulate with more adapt versions of bacteria. We learned that in the future, the overuse and misuse of antibiotics will lead to bacterial infections becoming much harder to treat, which will result in serious problems for people, including higher rates of death. By presenting this topic to high schoolers, I believe that I was better able to grasp the topic. By helping teach others, I was able to reinforce the information for myself. I was able to use stimulating information as evidence to show the high school students that what they were learning about was something that they could observe, instead of just reading about or learning in a lecture. They used tangible data that they gathered themselves, which was a benefit to learning. This issue is relevant to the audience, and we demonstrated this by showing results happening in their own yards. This issue will be relevant for their generation, because as time goes on, more and more antibacterial resistant strains will be present. As far as creativity goes, we tried to use different techniques of letting them learn for themselves with our guidance. We allowed them to enter all of their own data, while also setting up separate stations, to which we taught different aspect of the lesson. I discovered through this project about my own capabilities to help others learn. I hadn’t considered myself a good tutor before then, but I felt like I was truly able to help these students understand the concepts. I also learned that the students themselves were truly interested in what we had to say, and they took pride in finding results from their own projects. In high school, I wouldn’t have imagined being very involved in any sort of research with a larger university, but I was glad to see these students seemed like they actually cared. Upon entering the classroom, I immediately recognized that these high school students were rowdy, since I believe they were mostly sophomores. When I saw this I knew we needed to make our lesson as interesting and attention-grabbing as possible. By splitting the class into groups, we were able to get all the students involved in learning about the topic. This adaptation helped me learn that before presenting in any situation, you need to read your audience, and make adjustments to how you speak and how you discuss the lesson. I believe that I may want a future in pharmacy, and I hope that when I give future presentations on seemingly “boring” subjects, I will be able to take what I’ve learned from this experience and apply adaptations to how I present. If I could do anything differently, I would perhaps have a closing summary of what we had done, but the class did not last long enough for us to do that, or I would have tried to maybe rotate stations. By doing this project with the high-schoolers I was able to learn more about how much bacteria becomes resistant even when high doses of antibiotic are applied. By analyzing the audience, we had to come up with creative methods of teaching, which only helped me understand our topic of presentation better. With their reactions and feedback, we could incorporate better use of language in our presentations, which I believe will help tremendously with future lessons. From this lesson, I will be able to better my own future presentations to allow me to get my points across to the audience in the best ways possible. Hopefully, I didn’t come across to distant, because I really wanted to be as welcoming to the students as possible. It is easier to communicate to people who are comfortable with you, and this is exactly what I was trying to achieve. In the future, I could work on being more present in these situations, and being more willing to serve as a helping hand, rather than just someone who studied the subject before they did. This assignment was effective in addressing a real world issue, because antibiotic resistance is something we should all be made more aware of. Feedback from the students helped me understand how people in the future will be addressing this issue, and this project was able to show me this.
Author: jtm48522
Group 3 comments to Group 2
There is an “a” thing that we don’t quite know if its a typo or not, it has a dash over it.
We like your info graphic!
Creating and managing compost are very similar topics, but yours focuses more on the beginning of the process, we feel. Maybe along with the do’s and dont’s picture, include connections to good sources of nitrogen and good sources of carbon?
Infographic blog post – Julianna Mallette
The infographic I have chosen is intellectually stimulating, and gives interesting information and statistics to readers. I find the graphic relevant because it pertains to our future and the U.S. specifically, in terms that people would be familiar with. It is creative, also, in the design and presentation. The infographic is eye catching and colorful.
The graphic gave me hope right off the bat. It shows statistics on composting that I found to be positive, and gaining momentum. It shows that the population is taking a step in the right direction, and we just need to keep trying our best to be mindful and compost. I was pleased when I saw the picture.
I hadn’t thought of the past before. I was always focused on the present. Many infographics do little to give us hope for the future, but instead scare us about what will happen if we don’t improve. This infographic creator was trying to give us insight into how far we have come by composting, and makes it clear that we can achieve improvement, because it’s happening around us all the time. The infographic draws on past years statistics, and this infographic, along with many others, was published online for the media to use and magazines to print. We can trace the data back through past public records about trash and environment.
I think that perhaps the students haven’t considered the total overall impact that long term composting can make. They may know the basics about how it is good for the environment, but do they know about real results that we could be seeing in the future? Maybe they haven’t thought about it because we are so caught up in the present, and how to make our lives easiest. It’s an American way of culture to put yourself first, but maybe it’s time we did more for Mother Nature. I think we can instill hope in our graphic, much like this one does.
UGarden Julianna Mallette
In this picture, I see something that the workers at the UGarden are truly proud of, and rightfully so.
I see a heap of old vegetables and clippings from a garden, but I know that this heap will turn into compost that will benefit the garden itself in the future, and I see nature at work. In the back, you can see the pile of compost that took years in the making, and something that they have worked hard to create and maintain, so that really stuck out to me.
This picture makes me think about my great grandparents’ farm, and how their compost looked so different in comparison. My family didn’t work nearly as hard as the members of UGarden do to care for their compost, so maybe that’s why my family grows timber now, instead. At first glance, I think someone would interpret this as just a heap of trash, but this trash is so important for the environment that they are keeping at the garden.
When I see this picture, I feel good, because I know that someone cares. The man in the picture obviously takes a lot of pride in what they do there, or else why would he want to take the time out of his day to talk to us about it? I feel like this is a progressive step in agriculture.
I think this picture is about what we will see in the future. What is just a green pile now, will become rich and brown, and good for the soil once again. It’s also about the future of farming, and how we can take steps to ensure we are trying our best to replenish the earth that we depend on for all of our food.
Introduction – Julianna Mallette
I personally love science, and took a lot of elective science courses in highschool, like AP Chemistry and AP Physics.
My favorite of those classes would have to be AP Environmental Science, because the teacher was an amazing person who taught the material in an interesting way.
I would like to expand on what I have previously learned about biology, and hopefully this class will help point me in the direction of what major I should be in.
I would like to ask more questions about what the effects of these antibiotics in the human body are, over long periods of time. It makes me wonder what all these modern chemicals in our food could be doing to us in the long-run.
I think my fellow students would be most interested in methods of making composting not only more accessible, but also more mainstream and appealing to the general population.
I think that through civic engagement and service learning, we will bring new perspective to younger generations, since this problem will only worsen for them as time goes on. Hopefully I will learn how to make strong arguments for our planet’s sake.