Igor Monteiro

John Horton
Biology
6/11/14
End of Course Reflection
Section One
Three things that I will have a greater appreciation when Im camping out are the
facts that there are so many different kinds of life in this planet. All living things came from one
ancestor which was an eukaryotic cell more than a billion years ago. From knowing these facts I
will be able to tell a story to my family to keep them interested in the trip. Plus I will add one
more story which will be that since me and my family all share some of the same genes I will tell
them what heredity is. Heredity is passing one physical characteristic from one generation to
another generation. From that story I will explain them what it means to be alive. To be alive is
to have the 7 characteristics of all living things. The first characteristic is to be made of cells,
second characteristic is to adapt and respond to environment, third characteristic is homeostasis
or Internal Balance. Fourth characteristic is to evolve because all organisms evolve over time.
Fifth characteristic is that the organism must consume energy because without energy you cant
survive. Sixth characteristic is reproducing because all organisms reproduce sexually or
asexually and last characteristic is growing and developing because organisms start as
younglings then grow and turn into grown adults.
Section Two
Looking back on the entire year, one course that was the most difficult for me was when
we studied photosynthesis. The reason I was hesitant on asking questions was because I thought
since I learned most of these materials last year I thought I understood everything but when I
realized that I was wrong it was too late and caused me to have a bad grade. For example when
we had to write a paper about photosynthesis a got a really bad grade which made my grade drop
tremendously. I went from having an A to a B. The reason above is why photosynthesis was the
most difficult topic to understand this year.
Section Three
This class impacted my understanding of the living world because I got to understand
what the living world is made up of. Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things. A
human body is made up of trillions of cells. This class impacted my study in sciences because
now I have a better understanding of science and Im more interested in science than before. One
thing that I studied this year that I want to know more about is evolution because this was my
favorite topic. This was my favorite topic because the way human evolved is very complicated
and I like challenges. Challenges makes you brain work hard and that is why I like puzzles and
to think outside the box. I think that Im better prepared as a science student moving forward
because next time I take a science class I will already know the basic things I will need for the
specific class.