9.22.2008 classroom reflection

[Sean Nash]

Post your reflections from tonight's class here. There should be done as soon as possible and are due the Sunday night following class.

Describe major "aha's" from our discussion, outline ways in which your prior assumptions changed as a result of our talk, summarize the main points of our lesson, etc.

Three things to remember for next period:
-tonight's reflection is due before midnight on sunday, september 28th
-blog post connected to chapter 10 of Enchanted Braid
-quiz in two parts: 1. fish ID 2. general oceanography, tides & currents

[Lacie Thompson]

Last night's class was very informational! I was in amazement! It's unreal how so many different factors can deal with different currents and how many different currents there are. The graphs and different examples that you used were definitely very, very helpful!!

All that I can say is wow! I definitely need to step up on my studying habits! I, sadly to say, only got one fish correct, the Nassau Grouper. That's really bad. I'm going to have to take and have my fish guide book with me at all times and that's going to become my new Bible. I'm going to have to try to group and classify the fish in certain ways so I will be able to easily identify them.

I really felt that this meeting was the wake-up call we all needed, such as better managing our time, our studying habits, etc. I really need to start giving my 100% because I can already feel me slacking and it's just the beginning.

[Torin McKinley]

Again i cant stress enough how the way Mr. Nash teaches helps me understand, im pretty sure its the combination of have good visual examples and mixing in some writing down information. i really am able to understand the way he breakes stuff down.

I agree with Lacie ALOT! we all had a swift blow to the left temple from that fish test. i Got two fish. the easiest ones but if i would have even looked at my book i could of had alot more. i was reallly ashamed of how i did and i know now that i cant slack anymore this class is the real deal and i need to step it up and think like i never have to accomplish the things ive never done.

over all class was sweet last monday!

[Terra Younger]

I’m ashamed to say on the quiz I only got one right. What’s really sad is it wasn’t even a fish, it was the reef shark. That was a rude awakening! I need to get my booty in gear, that was terrible. I agree with Lacie, I’m going to start treating my guide book like the Bible. Jeez, I don’t even know what to say… I’m a procrastinator to the extreme… That needs to be changed A.S.A.P!

I agree with Torin about the visuals you teach with. The one that had the paths of the buoys (the one that was a little disturbing) gave me a really good idea of how the currents flow. I also liked learning about the Nike and rubber toys spill. It was really funny and really informational at the same time.

I’m going to study currents, seawater, tides, and of course… A lot of fish I.D. work to get caught up on.

[Sean Nash]

hey now.... reefs sharks ARE fishies!
(cartilaginous... and quite the ancient survivors from an evolutionary perspective... but fish nonetheless!)
;-)

[Terra Younger]

Ahhh... I feel stupid :-/

[Sean Nash]

welcome to my madness....... where if i don't make a mistake or ten a week, i don't feel like i'm pushing hard enough.
;-)

[Nick Straton]

The quiz was a rude awakening for me but I'm not extremely worried. I feel that I will be in good shape when the next class rolls around. As for the last class we had, the information we learned on the gulf stream and surrounding currents really shocked me. I didn't realize that one current could change the earth's climate and cause another ice age. It was cool to know that people in the 1400's and 1500's were able to map out the currents as well. Those visuals were really helpful in understanding how currents are known and how they are studied. I never would have guessed that nike shoes could have contributed to oceanography discoveries. Learning about tides and currents seems like it should be sort of difficult but after breaking it all down it really isn't that horrifying.

[Chris Puett]

During the last class we had i actually learned a lot. I think it's awesome how currents were already being mapped out so long ago, like the example Mr. Nash showed us, let alone that they are such an important factor to how the earth functions. It's crazy how if one current changes just a tiny bit, that it can make such a huge difference. I also thought it was pretty amazing to find the nike shoes and the rubber ducks by accident and provide information on the ocean's currents. My eyes really opened up when i realized how bad i did on the fish id quiz, but i was proud that I atleast got one right. Recently ive been going over my fish guide book and studying up on those and hopefully by next class period that quiz won't look so bad.

[Dillon Brewer]

Last class was very interesting. I found out that the quiz was not over what I thought it was. I also learned alot though, especiall about currents. All those maps Mr.Nash showed were very confusing. If I saw those and didn't have someone to explain, I wouldn't know what I was looking at. Well, that goes without saying with alot of things. When he told us about that ship that all those shoes. How lucky are the people that happened to find them. You got new pair nikes even they didn't fit you, sell them to someone they do. We got those papers about the toy ducks lost at sea, thats crazy, 29,000 of them lost at sea. Marine biology is really cool class, and hopefully I don't fail this next quiz.

[Korby Trautman]

I figured out last class that i dislike quizzes. I thought i was going to ace it cause' it was supposed to be about tides, but instead was about the millions and millions of fish that i apparently do not remember. I need to study the fish a lot more!

I think one thing that I thought was an "aha" moment was when we learned of the ocean currents and their affects on the different coasts. It was definitely something I thought about, but until seeing it (way to many times, thanks to Mr. Nash's many slides on it) I never truly understood it. Ive been to both coasts, and you can definitely see what the currents do to the different characteristics of both East and West coast environments. On the West coast, the beaches are rocky, and the water is freezing. Yet, on the East Coast, the beach is sandy, and the water is warm.

[Sean Nash]

good points......
you are lucky to have traveled so much to date.

and you are right... the temperature differences of the water at the coasts (at comparable latitudes)
is due to differences in currents. (oceanography)

the principle differences in the fact that the west coast is generally "rocky" as compared to the east coast... which is generally "sandy" are more due to geology. plate tectonics can pretty easily explain the difference you speak of. be sure to bring it up next class.
;-)

[Matt Brown]

For last class being my first marine biology class ever, it was quite interesting. I would also like to say Thank You Nash for fair warning me about this little quiz! It did, however, make me realize how hard this is actually going to be to memorize these species.

-- it was awesome to learn that the ocean currents are what control a lot of the environmental conditions and if one major current were to stop it could be all bad!