Writing in Biology

Through my day yesterday, I did many activities more than once. To start off, I woke up and went on my computer to do some ‘housekeeping’ before classes. This consisted of checking emails, grades, and last minute homework. I also watched some Netflix in the morning because I had some downtime and wanted to relax. I went on my computer to check emails and other social medias before bed. I also watched Netflix before going to bed to wind down for the day.

            After going on my computer, I made sure to eat breakfast. I ate before classes to make sure I had enough energy throughout the day. I also ate lunch at around noontime, a snack at around 3 PM, and dinner at around 6 PM. I also went to Glazed with my friend to get a donut. This is a pretty standard meal plan for me. I always make sure to drink water throughout the day so that I don’t get dehydrated.

            After eating breakfast, I also brushed my teeth, showered, and did my haircare. I also brushed my teeth and washed my face before going to bed. Throughout the day I would make sure to wash my hands frequently to stay clean.

            After I went to classes, I did some homework and read through my textbooks to prepare for my classes on Friday. I also studied and did homework right after I ate dinner. I made sure to get my homework done before going to bed so that I would have some time to watch Netflix and wind down. 

When I wake up, I brush my teeth and shower before I do anything else. I usually shower again after working out later in the day, and brush my teeth before I go to bed. After showering and brushing my teeth, I check my text messages and emails, along with my social media accounts. I also do this activity multiple times throughout the day, especially when I have a few minutes before class.

    After getting ready, I usually eat breakfast at the dining hall (Hamp). I usually don’t eat here again until dinner time because of classes. For lunch, I get grab and go from Franklin dining hall. To finish off, I get dinner.

    I try to make as much studying time as possible, so I might study for an hour in the morning before class. Then, if I have breaks between classes, I continue doing assignments/readings. After I am done with classes for the day, I usually go to the library to get some more work done.

Every morning is a monotonous cycle that started with my alarm going off. The loud buzzing startled me into awakeness. I slowly rolled out of bed and threw my sheets back into their original position. I carefully placed my pillows upright to make my room look presentable. I would continue my routine in the bathroom, washing my face to wake me into a functional being for the rest of the day. My routine finished with me getting dressed and finishing my look off with my makeup and hair.

    Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and therefore I never skipped it. I made myself some eggs and paired it with a side of yogurt. This energized me until lunchtime. After my first class, I walked to the Newman Center to get my favorite crispy chicken wrap for lunch.

    I was lucky enough to have one of my friends drive me into school yesterday. This made my life so much easier by saving me over fifteen minutes that I would have spent walking to class in the morning. I enjoyed walking to my other morning classes and to lunch yesterday morning. The fresh air relaxes me when I am stressed from the overbearing schoolwork.

       Yesterday started bright and early at 6:30 in the morning when I woke up and went to the bathroom where I brushed my teeth and showered. I followed my standard morning routine of getting dressed, packing my bag, and grabbing a pop tart and water for breakfast before leaving to go to the bus stop. Over the course of the day I walked a lot, whether it be to the bus stop at 7:45 am or to class at 8:25 and 10:00, and even to get lunch at 11 am. The majority of my morning time was spent in class. From 8:30 to 9:45 I was in the ILC before leaving at 9:45 to get to Morrill II for a 10:00 class. Once class was over, I walked to Bluewall o get lunch. Here I waited in line to order food, proceeded to get my lunch and then spent some time finding a table. Once one was found, I sat down and ate my lunch while simultaneously doing homework.

This website does not seem reliable. A lot of the posts are posted by authors such as “guest”. These articles do not include references. In addition, the information seems outdated. Underneath the ecology today section a lot of the articles are over two years old. The group that runs the page- Ecology Communications Group does not have very much of an online presence outside of the website. The website seems largely unmaintained, many posts are from several years ago. Additionally, there are no featured articles and many links on the website go to blank pages.

For this assignment we investigated the accuracy and reliability of an encyclopedia britannica article about ecology. To determine the trustworthiness of the site we first looked at the authorship of the article. The article was authored mainly by two seperate professors, Robert Leo Smith a professor of wildlife biology and ecology from the university of West Virginia and Stuart L. Pimm a professor of conservation ecology from Duke University. While these two authors seem reliability upon further investigation of the article it was discovered that several other authors contributed alongside these professors. These other contributors typically had no other credentials besides ambiguous titles such as “information analyst”, casting doubt upon the accuracy of the article. Alongside this issue of authorship there were few to no references to outside works, such as research or review papers. I would trust this article as much as I would trust a wikipedia page, as there is validity to many of their statements yet authorship is questionable.

This website does not appear to be from a University, but is from a scientific journal called "Cell Press." It has advertisements for the website and you can get a subscription and link it to your social media. It has many different articles and 31 different volumes and appears to have a pretty significant following, indicating that it is a valid site trusted by many people and that the articles have a lot of work and fine tuning put into them. It has a section labeled "Popular Articles." They also have a tab with job offers like "editor in chief" and "lead editor" that you can apply for yourself, which also indicates that they are probably legitimate.

The website we looked at was Sciencemag.org, which we know as a credible site for publications in scientific fields. First and foremost, the ".org" in the URL indicates that the site is run by an organization. Generlly, this also implies that this site is non-profit, but not always. The tabs in the top contained a section specifically for journals published through Science, and journals are the main hub for cutting-edge research. A direct quote from their About Us section: " Today, Science continues to publish the very best in research across the sciences, with articles that consistently rank among the most cited in the world". With this in mind, Sciencemag.org is definitely a reliable and valid source for scientific literature; it acts as a gateway to a wide array of different journals and publications across the internet.

The website belongs to the scientific journal called CellPress. The website contains advertisements promoting the journal and you can purchase a subsciption, or link your social media account. There are 33 volumes of this journal, and the website contains sections that include the most recent articles, the most popular articles from the past 2 years, and articles from the current issue. The artile links bring you to an online version of the article where you can read, download, and share the document. They also have a section where you can apply for a job to work for CellPress. This website seems very valid due to all of these reasons, and I would trust the articles on this site to be factual and valid. My one red flag is that it is a .com site and not a .org or .edu.