Writing in Biology

For the separate class of activity, I experience during my typical Mondays I decided to involve travel, whether it be walking, running or riding a bus. I began my day walking down stairs and out of my house. From my house I walked to the bus stop across from CVS, where I got on the 33 and rode it all the way to the Studio Arts Building bus stop. I then got off the bus and walked to my class in Morill 2 207, being sure to cut through Morill 1 because it was cold. I then left class and walked to my next class in Morill 2 131. After leaving that class I walked Blue Wall for lunch. After ordering a sandwich from the deli I preceded to walk to a table and eat my sandwich. After eating my lunch I walked to the dish room to put my tray away and then continued walking to the ILC bus stop, where I got on the 33 once more. I took the 33 to the bus stop across from CVS, where I got off and walked back to my house.

In this experience, getting ready is to physically prepare for an experience or action. This can be anything ranging from putting on clothes in preparation for the day to putting books in your backpack in preparation for class. This happens in my days quite frequently and evenly throughout my day. First thing is getting dressed, this prepares me for my first class or action, followed by personal hygiene such as brushing teeth and shaving gets me prepared for any social interactions. Putting the correct notebooks in my backpack prepares me for classes that I have that day as well as any other important things I need, such as my laptop. I perform these task quite frequently throughout my day.

Walking is necessary to complete tasks on campus throughout the day. Between the hours of 10:30am and 8pm which I was on campus, I walked to Newmans center, Morrill Science building, Blue Wall, and Draper Hall. The purpose was either to attend class or consume food. I was able to navigate using my previous experiences and knowledge of the layout of the campus.  

I spent a considerable amount of time yesterday going from point to point. In the morning I drove to parking lot 12; it took about 15 minutes. I then had to walk to the ISB for my Bio383 lab which took another 15 minutes. After lab I walked to blue wall. I then walked to the rec. center. Both walks were no more than 5 minutes. After the gym I walked back to my car in lot 12 and drove home; about 20 more minutes of travel. Later that night, I was picked up by a friend to go to their house, which was about a 10-minute drive. We then went out to the bars which took another 10 minutes. At the end of the night we took Uber which took at least 20 minutes as there were several stops. In total, about one hour and forty minutes of my day was spent getting from point A to point B, a huge chunk of the day.

My tuesday began just like any typical morning. I got up at 7am for my 8 am lab and immediately grabbed my shower supplies such as towels, shampoo, body wash, toothbrush, and toothpaste. After I took a shower, I had like 10 minutes to spare so I sat on my chair and decided to text my friends and check how my fantasy basketball team was doing. I left my dorm around 7:45 and got to ISB by a little before 8. I had a lab for 4 long hours so I decided to use my laptop to play music out loud, I love my TA because he lets me play some tunes as long as it isn't super loud. Then after the lab, I checked the bus app so I would get a ride from ILC back to Southwest. I used my phone to text my fraternity brothers as we had our first intramural basketball game. Game was at 9:30 PM so I told everyone to come by 9 to warm up. We ended up winning the game and I was exhausted from the game. I walked home and immediately fell asleep. My Wednesdays are the longest and the most exhausting day out of the week with 5 classes back to back so I was not excited for the next day.

Many times throughout the day I took time to get food. Two large portions of time were taken out of my day in order to eat. The two times were rather different from each other. The first time was going to the Franklin Dining Commons, at which I received and ate breakfast. Later in the day, around noon, I was given free pizza before attending a meeting. Both of these portions of time took up roughly ten minutes each.

Tuesday (January 30th)

I woke up at 9am and went on with my morning routine.

I walked to my Organic Chemistry 2 class that was from 10 - 11:15 am.

I went to eat with my friends from 11:20 am - 12:45 pm. We usually talk and catch up on our everyday lives when we eat.

I went to my Bio564 class with my friends tagging along even though they don't take the course from 1 - 2:15 pm.

I went back to my dorm to do homework alone and then my friends joined me for a bit. I always play Korean pop music on my speakers leaving my door open. The sun shining through my windows along with the music relaxes me and motivates me to get work done. Doing homework with others also motivates me because then I'm not the only one being productive.

I went to eat with my friends again at 6 - 7:30 pm. Again, we talk and catch each other up on various things. Everyday is different which is what makes it so enjoyable to go eat.

I went back to my dorm to relax and watch Korean dramas or music videos. I made sure I finished whatever assignments I needed to finish by the next day if not get ahead.

I get ready for volleyball at the Recreation Center and take the bus there with friends. I played volleyball with my friends from 9:15 - 11:45 pm.

I went to Roots Cafe with my friends to eat and talk from midnight until 2:30 am. We walked back to our dorms together. I showered and died down.

Website Validity

            The website being reviewed is about the conservation of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. Right off the bat you can tell that the website is well made. It features several tabs about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, including general information, FAQs, sightings, media presence, and even links to actual conservation websites. Despite the website’s sharp appearance however it does not hold up upon closer inspection. There are no actual references on the website to validate the Tree Octopuses existence. It simply states “facts” about the Tree Octopus in the hope that it looks official enough that you will believe it. Once you get to the “sightings” section you can also tell why this website is untrustworthy. While some images are well photoshopped, others simply show toy octopuses laid in tress while being covered by a few branches. It is fairly humorous, but also completely invalid. Finally, the website actually links real conservation websites in an attempt to trick those who didn’t delve too deep into the readings beforehand. While these conservation websites are indeed real they also have no mention of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus anywhere on it. These observations help to solidify that this website is not reliable, valid, or trustworthy. It is simply a joke meant to trick people who don’t pay close attention to detail.

Website Validity

            The website being reviewed is about the conservation of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. Right off the bat you can tell that the website is well made. It features several tabs about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, including general information, FAQs, sightings, media presence, and even links to actual conservation websites. Despite the website’s sharp appearance however it does not hold up upon closer inspection. There are no actual references on the website to validate the Tree Octopuses existence. It simply states “facts” about the Tree Octopus in the hope that it looks official enough that you will believe it. Once you get to the “sightings” section you can also tell why this website is untrustworthy. While some images are well photoshopped, others simply show toy octopuses laid in tress while being covered by a few branches. It is fairly humorous, but also completely invalid. Finally, the website actually links real conservation websites in an attempt to trick those who didn’t delve too deep into the readings beforehand. While these conservation websites are indeed real they also have no mention of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus anywhere on it. These observations help to solidify that this website is not reliable, valid, or trustworthy. It is simply a joke meant to trick people who don’t pay close attention to detail.

Both articles seem to contain level 1 headings for the main title of each article (centered and bold-faced) however, the sub-titles for each section of the articles contain level 2 headings that are left-aligned and bold-faced. Each section of the articles are structured in steps, such as the steps and processes the scientists took to develop and conduct their experiments. It breaks down the processes of the experiment so it is much easier to read, understand, and analyze. Each section identifies what part of the experiment has been conducted and gives a detailed analysis of what occurred or what results were recorded. The first paragraph of each section gives a small intro into what the section will discuss a little background knowledge and a transition from one paragraph to another. It appears that the paragraphs in both articles contain a logical flow of ideas as the ideas are organized in almost a chronological order of occurrence during the experiment. However, I would say that the first article has better flow of topic sentences, while the second article is more chopped and could be read in sections without going through the entire article.