My Experience With Math and Science
10-20-07
I have had a lot of experience with math and science, but only recently have I begun to see its real life application. In my past classes, such as algebra and biology, I was just gathering information and it was relatively dull. However right now I am taking chemistry, and it uses the math and science that has been drilled into my head to conduct experiments. These experiments are opening my eyes to how math and science are a part of the world I see every day. This new interest in science has led me to the computational science at Shodor. I am excited about learning how to conduct bigger and more complicated experiments with the touch of a mouse.
What I've Learned and My Goals
8-5-08
Before my experience here at Shodor, I was exposed to mainly math and
science--really no computer technologies. After learning here at Shodor
for almost a year now, I feel much more comfortable with the aspects of
computers like programming and web design. While I don't think I will
pursue a career concentrated in one of these fields, I know that what I
learn at Shodor is valuable and incredibly useful for any other science
related career. I also value the thought process and problem solving
techniques I am developing from working in an academically challenging
program.
That's not to say that I am not interested in the programming
basics I am learning. By being introduced to HTML, CSS, PHP, and Java,
I can see how web pages actually work. Before learning how programming
languages were used to make and modify web pages, I had no idea how all
the magical colors and words appeared when you typed in the web address.
I intend to continue getting a taste of all the computer skills at Shodor
in addition to taking as many high-level chemistry and physics courses
as my high school offers. Hopefully getting all the exposure to science
as I can now will eventually help me be able to choose and pursue a
career that fits me.
Beginner Apprenticeship
Module 1
10-20-07
Module 1
10-20-07
In class on Saturday, we covered all the basic rules and policies of Shodor. We read over the apprentice handbook and schedule to become familiar with what our time at Shodor would be like. We also learned how to use Webmail and WebCal, an email service and an online calendar that will help us stay connected and organized at Shodor. In the afternoon, we learned about HTML. HyperText Markup Language is the language used to put the content in websites. I learned enough about headings, links, and paragraphs in HTML to make this website!
11-03-07
This week I learned how to use Inkscape and Gimpshop. These two photo editing programs are really fun! I learned how to edit existing photos and create my own logo. I hope to learn more about photo editing. What we did today was really interesting, and I know that I could go a lot farther with it in the future.
12-08-07
Today we worked with CSS. We learned how to change colors, fonts, and decorations all in a different style sheet. While you can make some of these changes in HTML, it is really messy. I started to make changes to my website by adding a CSS file and modifying the existing content. My webpage is already starting to look more interesting and less like a word document.
12-15-07
This saturday we went in depth with CSS. We talked about display and visibility, which control what the viewer sees on your website. Essentially you can have links on your site to other content on the page. We learned how to hide items until a link is clicked to show them. I have started to make my links bar invisible with a link to show it, but it is a work in progress.
Module 2
1-12-08
Today we learned about an agent modeling program called Agent Sheets. In Agentsheets, you can create agents that each have individal behaviors. The agents move around on a background, which can be an agent itself (for example grass). All the agents on the worksheet can then interact with each other in diferent ways, simulating a real life scenario. Today I made a model of grass spreading throughout a dirt field while rabbits moved along the grass and ate it.
1-26-08
Renee Daughtry from Cisco came in today to talk to us about giving presentations. He showed us some techniques for giving an interesting presentation and we got to practice with short sample presentations of our own. Although the presentation information was very helpful, the best part of the day was when he talked about the technology breakthoughs Cisco had been a part of. The way he talked about the rate of technology increasing was very exciting, and he really opened my eyes to the information technology job opportunities.
2-9-08
This Saturday we learned about NetLogo. Like Agent Sheets, NetLogo is an agent modeling program. First we looked at previously created NetLogo models so we could get an idea of what we were going to do. Then we started to create a model with reproducing turtles. We gave the turtles variables like lifespan and age so that we could tell them "if age > lifespan," they should die. However the most complicated part was the reproducing. Once we made half the turtles male and half female, we had to tell the female turtles to create a baby turtle if they were next to a male turtle. It took a lot of thinking, but eventually I got a community of turtles to live, reproduce, and die while keeping a constant population.
3-1-08
Today was a makeup class for me as I missed my A track day last week. We learned more advanced functions in NetLogo. I learned how to create a doctor, a vaccination, and a quarantine for my turtles. To create the quarantine, I made a spot in the middle of the screen a different color. Then I told the turtles to start within that spot and to stay within it. To tell them to stay in a particular spot, you have to tell them to stop and turn around if they see the edge of the quarantine. This took a bit of experimenting, but I eventually got it.
Module 3
4-26-08
Bethany taught us about Microsoft Excel this Saturday. We learned how to make formulas linking cells together and how to drag formulas down to apply to multiple cells. These formulas were really helpful, but the best part of the class was learning how to model using Excel. We gave cells their own names, and then graped them using line and scatter plots. We also learned how to create slider bars to control each variable in the graph. As you moved the slider bars, the graph changed automatically!
5-3-08
This week we learned about Vensim, a systems modeling program. It is different than AgentSheets and NetLogo (the agent modeling programs we have been working with so far) because it looks more at the general population than the individual agents. We created a simple SIR model (Susceptible, Infected, Recovered) without the recovered part. We made box variables for "Susceptible" and "Infected," and then we linked the boxes using an auxiliary variable we called "Get Sick" and multiplied it by the constant "Infection Fraction." Although it was a very simple model, we were able to get the general idea of how a disease would spread throughout a small population.
5-17-08
Today was a workday for us to finish any projects we had not completed. I worked on my Vensim model and Excel questions. With Venism, I learned how to model a situation in which a lady needed to monitor her medicine intake so that it did not exceed or go below a certain level. It was very hard at first to take the word problem and figure out which variables in the program I could use to represent each part. However when I looked at each indivitual segment, I was able to break it down into which components of Vensim worked for each piece of the problem. In the end, I was able to digitally model a real life scenario!
Summer Module
6-20-08
This week we learned about PHP, Hypertext Preprocessor. PHP is a coding language similar to HTML and CSS, which we have already worked with quite a bit. Although the specific tags are a little different, PHP uses the same basic principles as HTML and CSS, which was a big help because I already knew "how to think like a computer" when I was using the commands. I am pretty excited about PHP because unlike with HTML I can use it to make a search box and call up information. I also used PHP to make a pagecounter on my personal webpage!
6-27-08
In the mornings this week we have been working with System Administration. To give the computer system direct commands, we are using the command prompt line in Terminal. The terminal allows me to do almost anything I could do with the regular computer interface and more. The simple commands we have gone over so far have just been dealing with moving, removing, and copying files. However, this is an exciting start to the other things I will eventually be able to do on the command line. In the afternoon sessions we worked with Bethany on some Math Explorations. I did an activity on Interactivate about probability. In the "Two Colors Applet," there were six colored balls (three red and three green) hidden in three boxes. My task was to guess the probability of drawing each color ball before and after seeing some of the contents of a box. This conditional probability was tricky at first, but after a while I got the hang of how the probability changed based on the new information.
7-25-08
I was excited about our chemistry work in the afternoons this week. We used WebMO, an online molecule modeling program, to make our own models of atoms like water and carbon dioxide. I was excited about our work this week because in past experiences I didn't know enough about chemistry to benefit from the activities. However, now that I have taken Honors Chemistry 1 and AP Chemistry 2 at my high school, I have the background knowledge about atoms, molecules, bond lengths, and bond angles that I didn't have, for example, in the chemistry workshop I took at Shodor last summer. This week was the first time that I got to apply my school knowledge of chemistry to a web-based modeling program.
8-1-08
In the afternoons this week we did some SAT practice. The first section, which dealt with antonymns, was slightly difficult because the more obscure meanings of the words were used, making it very difficult to match them with their antonymn. In one of the sentence completion sections, however, I got all of the questions right but one. The one I got wrong was an example of my greatest weakness in test taking -- it was the last question and I didn't get to it. If I could improve any aspect of my test-taking skills, I would work on moving through the questions faster so that I could at least see them all and do the easy ones.
8-08-08
This week we have been working on group projects using a topic we've covered this summer. Krista, Avi, Pablo, and I have been working on a carpool database using our knowledge of PHP and database functions. So far, we have a working website that lets people pick from a drop-down list a day they will need a ride to Shodor. Their name and the date is then posted on the "Carpool Bulletin" page (which has a background that actually looks like a bulleting board). People can then look at the bulletin board, see who needs a ride, and email that person using their provided email address. Today (Friday), we took a field trip to Cisco, and we got a tour of the server room, the game room, and the telepresence room (the coolest). It was a great experience and if I were a sophomore in college I might consider applying for apprentiship there.
8-15-08
We finished up our group projects and gave our presentations this week. Our carpool database has improved a lot since we started, and now we even have a Google Maps interface on one of the pages. With the finalized product, you are able to see who needs a ride, see where they are on a map and if you can pick them up on your way to Shodor, and email them with an invitation to give them a ride. I am excited about helping to develop something that may able to be used in real life.
Advanced Apprenticeship
Module 1
10-11-08
Module 1
10-11-08
This Saturday we learned how to use Snap2, a content manager. Snap2 can be used for the same purposes as editors such as TextWrangler, and it has some of its own advantages. With Snap2, you can preview what your text will look like on the web page while you are still coding the material. While this is helful, Snap2 is also slightly more trouble because you can not tab over to separate your code (it is in a web browser and tab will just move the curser to the next text box). However, once you learn to use the space bar to organize your code, you can successfully use Snap2.
11-08-08
Today we focused mainly on the software development process. First we researched generally what it was, and then we composed an essay about the different steps and some commonly used models. A specific model I chose to write about was the Agile software development model, in which testing and revising is more of a driving factor than planning. This is a much different system than, for example, the Waterfall model, in which a large team goes through very specific planning steps before moving on to the next. It was interesting to learn about how the development process was broken up into different steps and strategies, and I think it would be fun to try some of them to see what they are like.