Earth Day

The past week was Earth Day. Although I never officially learned the official definition of official "Earth Day," it always has had a personally interpreted meaning to me. I feel as though Earth Day is a day to appreciate and care for what nature has provided us. I do believe that every day we must care for the Earth in order to sustain its balance and resources, not just Earth Day, but at least we have one day each year just to remind us.

Motivation!

What motivates me to learn about chemistry this year? I don't really know, because I'm really not intrinsically motivated by chemistry. I guess it's pretty interesting, but the fact that I need to retain stuff, memorize numbers, study, observe, take notes, do work etc sorta turns me off chem (yeah I'm lazy). I just find it really hard to grasp or understand, and I know I don't want to have any sort of career in science, so I don't feel particularly motivated. However, I know I want a good GPA, because I am motivated in other areas of study, so I know I need a good grade in chem so I can keep my GPA up and options open for colleges and stuff. B

Science & Politics

Because I know sooooo much about both these things, yup.
So I googled "science and politics" and found this lovely article:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0927/p11s02-bogn.html

Skimming over it, it reminded me of "separation of church and state"... but instead "separation of science and state." I found that often, scientific or medical issues also had to do with morals: Stem-cell research, creationism, abortion, global warming. It also pointed out a stereotype of republicans wanting less involvement or freedom toward these issues (no abortion, no stem-cell research etc.) whereas democrats were much more open...


Also, I read today a post from Mrs. Gallagher's article about how she never saw her grades, never shows her kids their grades, and tries to focus away from grades in her class... I had heard about this and at first i didn't like the idea of focusing on "learning" more than grades, but after she shared the story of frustrations with parent-teacher conferences and only talking about grades, I understood more why she wouldn't want to focus on grades (i feel like if i learned a lot though, I would probably do better on work)