Frontier Chemistry Reflection

I really enjoyed this project regardless of how stressful it was because it was an interesting real world application that we often look for when learning in school. Now, every time we go out I notice these plants that we have been identifying for this project and it makes me feel like I have learned something in school that I can actually use in the real world. Now, if I AM put in an emergency situation like this out in nature, I can use these skills and information I learned to help someone who is hurt. We also started identifying the active chemical ingredients in these plants so maybe when we come upon these ingredients in the future in the class we can identify what these ingredients may act against. This project required a lot of research and I had to know what sources were credible and I had to know how to find the information I was looking for. This was even harder because you couldn't just google the information and find it as one of the first few results. It took me a while to figure out how to find the information I need quickly and effect-fully. So, if I had to do this project again I might be able to find my information faster and be able to find credible sources.

Unit 1 Reflection post

From Unit One I learned how to read the periodic table of elements which helps you name compounds, acids, and polyatomic ions which was the main focus of this unit. At first, when I took the pre-test I had no idea what I was doing. However, the next day we started learning about the material and it started making sense. I really like this unit because even though it seemed like a lot that we were taking in at a really fast pace, as we moved on, we made our knowledge of the previous information stronger. Memorizing the polyatomics was probably one of the hardest parts but I used quizlet to name the compounds by looking at the chemical structure at first. Then, when I had mastered that, I moved on to labeling the chemical structure by looking at the name. As I moved on, it started making logical sense (such as when -ite and -ate was used) and it became easier and I was able to identify them faster. Then, when we learned naming acids, it was simple and quick to learn because we had a strong base of all the other topics and it was just a matter of application.