QCE Stuff > The QCE Journey Journal
ATAR will be the death of me :)
K.Smithy:
Hey Vsauce! Michael here :P
Jk, it's yah girl, Katelyn!
Currently, I am lowkey procrastinating and thought I would make my first post - yay! (it was either this or minecraft - i have an epic house btw)
*WARNING. WARNING. RANT ALERT. I REPEAT, RANT ALERT*
I hate everything. I miss when life was simple, and I didn’t have assignment, after assignment, after assignment… I just find it really sucky that we didn’t get a break this year… This September holidays is my first break from school, I don’t have a mountain of work to do unlike previous "holidays". I don’t understand why we had to cram all of year 11 into 3 terms. Why didn’t they cram all of grade 9 or 10 into 3 terms so we had a full year for both year 11 and 12? Its just a bit rough thats all.. Everything feels really messy and no one knows what they're doing. Everyone is just stressed our of their minds. The jump between grade 10 and 11 was ridiculous, idk if it was just my school - other schools may have prepared better. But, oh well… there’s only a year left of the hell hole that is high school.
*RANT OVER*
So, I’m currently studying:
- General English
- Study of Religion (religion is compulsory at my school)
- Mathematical Methods
- Biology
- Psychology
- Physics
Everyone told me not to do 3 sciences… did I listen? No. Should I have listened? Yes… Yes I should have. Too bad, its too late now.
I must say, psychology and maths are definitely my favourites. I particularly love anything to do with the nervous system, brain anatomy, and localisation of function in the brain in psychology and calculus in maths.
Some struggles I faced this year (sad reacts only :'( ) ...
- My English grade dropped from 92% in Unit 1, to 76% in Unit 2 :( (I got a new teacher, and now everyone's grades are dropping)
- I got below an A- in English for the first time since grade 8...
- I got my first Cs since grade 7... (I got a C in biology and physics on the data test...)
- I got no sleep all year (the sleep study we did in psych in Unit 1 exposed my weekly average of 3 hours - whoops! :o )
- I found the unit 1 & 2 content for bio, SOR, and physics so dry and boring (anyone else?)
Some wins from this year ;D ...
- Somehow, I managed to claw my way into the A bracket overall for all 6 of my subjects (?!?!?!?... don't ask me how)
- I got 20/20 for both the student experiment and research investigation for psychology
- I got a 20/20 for the biology research investigation
- ok, ok, ok, ok, ok..... ok... this one still BLOWS MY MIND!!! Dr Ian Hunter, the founder of Write that Essay, read my bio investigation and said that I write at uni standard... Like, what???
- I was told that I wrote well above year 11 standard for the psychology investigation (idk what is happening with bio and psych... it's kinda crazy!!)
Anyone have any wins they wanna share? :) I wanna hear more positives!!
Despite how rough this year has been, I must say that some of the assessment pieces were actually kinda fun??
My three favourites were the research investigations for psychology, biology and physics.
- For psychology, I wrote about about how the diagnosis of ASDs (Autism Spectrum Disorders) in Western Australia could be improved via the implementation of neuroimaging - in particular fMRIs
- For biology, I wrote about how synthetically designed DNA would prove more effective in venom neutralisation during snakebite envenoming therapy than standard plasma-derived antivenom
- For physics, I wrote about the practicality of superhero landings - three-point landings - compared to biomechanically standard landing technique - bilateral landing - implemented by humans
So that's about all from me for today, I might keep posting here with updates (only time will tell). I wish all of my fellow ATAR guineapigs good luck. Godspeed to you all.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk
Bri MT:
Welcome to the forums! :)
I definitely got the impression from talking to students at the lectures that everyone is struggling with the transition - it's not just your school.
I liked studying 4 sciences (bio, psych, chem, physics) but it certainly can be a high workload. As you may have noticed units 1&2 of bio are a far bit different from unit 3 so hopefully you find that more engaging. Otherwise, you could try linking biology and psychology more. E.g. how neural communication works relies on principles of diffusion and active transport you learn in bio. Are you planning on pursuing science after high school?
Congratulations on your achievements!!
K.Smithy:
Thank you for the kind welcome! :)
--- Quote from: Bri MT on September 30, 2019, 05:43:48 pm ---I liked studying 4 sciences (bio, psych, chem, physics) but it certainly can be a high workload. As you may have noticed units 1&2 of bio are a far bit different from unit 3 so hopefully you find that more engaging.
--- End quote ---
Wow, I couldn't imagine studying four sciences! I love science but think I would go insane. And yeah, from looking through the syllabus for each of my subjects Unit 3 & 4 look great! What I am most excited about has to be special relativity and quantum theory in physics - I can't wait! I'm excited, as always, for psychology, and Unit 4 in biology looks super interesting (I love genetics, so I think I will enjoy it). We've also started ethics in religion (woop woop ;D)
--- Quote from: Bri MT on September 30, 2019, 05:43:48 pm ---Otherwise, you could try linking biology and psychology more. E.g. how neural communication works relies on principles of diffusion and active transport you learn in bio.
--- End quote ---
I have definitely found overlap between biology and psychology - especially in regard to the nervous system. What was good about it was that psychology went a lot more in depth, so when it came to studying for the Unit 1 & 2 bio exam I didn't have to go over my nervous system notes too much. But wow, I never thought about how neural communication relies on principles of diffusion and active transport - but now that I think of it, that makes sense! That does raise a question however, so if we're talking about signal transmission, when you have neurotransmitters they diffuse across the synapse to the receptors and they may cause ions to be released which travel through the post-synaptic neuron.... It isn't the neurotransmitters themselves that travel through the post-synaptic neuron, its the ions. So what happens when it is an electrical signal? Does that release ions or does it travel through the post-synaptic neuron itself? (If that makes any sense)
--- Quote from: Bri MT on September 30, 2019, 05:43:48 pm ---Are you planning on pursuing science after high school?
--- End quote ---
I love astrophysics and theoretical physics, and would love to work on something like string theory. I think it would be amazing to find the unified field theory. I understand that the field of theoretical physics can be very very difficult to get into and there isn't a very high demand for it, so I have decided that it would probably be best if I were to go into a career in secondary education. I would like to teach Mathematics and Science to high school students, that way I get to share my passions with students, help students find their own passions, and do what I love everyday.
--- Quote from: Bri MT on September 30, 2019, 05:43:48 pm ---Congratulations on your achievements!!
--- End quote ---
Thank you so much!! :)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Also, I just wanted to say a big thank you for the lectures at QUT. I was fortunate to attend a psychology lecture and I found it so insightful and interesting. I'm definitely feeling very prepared for Unit 3 and I am ready to flaunt my new-found knowledge to my teacher once school starts back ;D I had some friends who were able to attend the biology lecture Saturday morning (whilst I was wrapped up in the wonders of log laws during the methods lecture) and they loved it. So thanks again for that!
Bri MT:
--- Quote from: K.Smithy on September 30, 2019, 10:28:30 pm ---Thank you for the kind welcome! :)
--- End quote ---
Abosolutely no worries at all!
--- Quote from: K.Smithy on September 30, 2019, 10:28:30 pm ---Wow, I couldn't imagine studying four sciences! I love science but think I would go insane. And yeah, from looking through the syllabus for each of my subjects Unit 3 & 4 look great! What I am most excited about has to be special relativity and quantum theory in physics - I can't wait! I'm excited, as always, for psychology, and Unit 4 in biology looks super interesting (I love genetics, so I think I will enjoy it). We've also started ethics in religion (woop woop ;D)
--- End quote ---
It's great to hear that you're excited for units 3&4! Some of the physics content can be a bit difficult to wrap your head around and it's great that you're keen for these topics - I definitely found it rewarding to learn to understand them (well, at least understand to a certain level). In regards to biology, you can definitely also bring in some genetics into Unit 3. Unit 3 & 4 are taught seperately but ecology and evolution are very very very interconnected. For example, when population sizes get too small one of the things that significantly contributes to an extinction vortex is lack of genetic diversity.
--- Quote from: K.Smithy on September 30, 2019, 10:28:30 pm ---I have definitely found overlap between biology and psychology - especially in regard to the nervous system. What was good about it was that psychology went a lot more in depth, so when it came to studying for the Unit 1 & 2 bio exam I didn't have to go over my nervous system notes too much. But wow, I never thought about how neural communication relies on principles of diffusion and active transport - but now that I think of it, that makes sense! That does raise a question however, so if we're talking about signal transmission, when you have neurotransmitters they diffuse across the synapse to the receptors and they may cause ions to be released which travel through the post-synaptic neuron.... It isn't the neurotransmitters themselves that travel through the post-synaptic neuron, its the ions. So what happens when it is an electrical signal? Does that release ions or does it travel through the post-synaptic neuron itself? (If that makes any sense)
--- End quote ---
To clear things up about how chemical synapses work I've put together a diagram for you below.
Diagram note: I've represented generic ions as triangles
Content note: The movement of ions (by definition, charged particles) is the electrical signal. In an electrical synapse the ions move directly from the presynaptic neuron to the postsynaptic neuron through protein channels. This makes electrical synapses a bit faster but also a bit less adaptable.
A neuron is usually at about -70 mV (resting potential) and when an action potential is generated this goes up to about 40 mV before crashing down again. These changes in potential occur through the movement of ions (namely sodium and potassium) into and out of the axon in a mexican-wave like format that carries the change in potential forwards from the soma to the axon terminals.
click for neural communication diagram
--- Quote from: K.Smithy on September 30, 2019, 10:28:30 pm ---I love astrophysics and theoretical physics, and would love to work on something like string theory. I think it would be amazing to find the unified field theory. I understand that the field of theoretical physics can be very very difficult to get into and there isn't a very high demand for it, so I have decided that it would probably be best if I were to go into a career in secondary education. I would like to teach Mathematics and Science to high school students, that way I get to share my passions with students, help students find their own passions, and do what I love everyday.
--- End quote ---
Sounds like you've really thought this out - seems like a great plan to me (as long as you stay open to the opportunities that may come up along the way) :). One of our honourary moderators (Aaron) is actually a secondary maths teacher so they might be able to give you some insight into what that field is like.
--- Quote from: K.Smithy on September 30, 2019, 10:28:30 pm ---
Thank you so much!! :)
Also, I just wanted to say a big thank you for the lectures at QUT. I was fortunate to attend a psychology lecture and I found it so insightful and interesting. I'm definitely feeling very prepared for Unit 3 and I am ready to flaunt my new-found knowledge to my teacher once school starts back ;D I had some friends who were able to attend the biology lecture Saturday morning (whilst I was wrapped up in the wonders of log laws during the methods lecture) and they loved it. So thanks again for that!
--- End quote ---
You're 100% percent welcome :) Thank you for the feedback! It's really nice to hear that people enjoyed my lectures & got value out of them. I definitely enjoyed giving them and being able to be there for you and all the other students :D
K.Smithy:
--- Quote from: Bri MT on October 01, 2019, 11:24:39 am ---In regards to biology, you can definitely also bring in some genetics into Unit 3. Unit 3 & 4 are taught seperately but ecology and evolution are very very very interconnected. For example, when population sizes get too small one of the things that significantly contributes to an extinction vortex is lack of genetic diversity.
--- End quote ---
True, true! I'll definitely keep that in mind.
--- Quote from: Bri MT on October 01, 2019, 11:24:39 am ---To clear things up about how chemical synapses work I've put together a diagram for you below.
Diagram note: I've represented generic ions as triangles
Content note: The movement of ions (by definition, charged particles) is the electrical signal. In an electrical synapse the ions move directly from the presynaptic neuron to the postsynaptic neuron through protein channels. This makes electrical synapses a bit faster but also a bit less adaptable.
A neuron is usually at about -70 mV (resting potential) and when an action potential is generated this goes up to about 40 mV before crashing down again. These changes in potential occur through the movement of ions (namely sodium and potassium) into and out of the axon in a mexican-wave like format that carries the change in potential forwards from the soma to the axon terminals.
--- End quote ---
Oh wow! Thank you so much! This really clears it all up. I don't know why I didn't make the connection between ions and electric charge - I must be a fake physics student haha ;D
--- Quote from: Bri MT on October 01, 2019, 11:24:39 am ---One of our honourary moderators (Aaron) is actually a secondary maths teacher so they might be able to give you some insight into what that field is like.
--- End quote ---
I'll definitely send them a PM if any questions come to mind!
Thank you!! :)
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