You folks are almost there! All students should be finishing their Senior Research Projects and working on their SRP Power Point presentations. I'm available to help you with your Power Points, and you must give the presentation to your BASIS Adviosr and me at least once.
There's a lot more happening that seniors are "starring" in! Gavin's movie about his SRP will be shown at the Loft on May 12. The SRP Presntations are May 18 and May 19. Graduation is May 20. And there's a Senior Party at Ms. McGarvey's house on May 21!
If you have any questions, contact me: grising@basistucson.org or 326-3444.
We're really proud of you! See you soon!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Graduation
Hello Everyone!
I need any pictures of seniors that you have for Senior Graduation.
Just send them to me or find me at school.
Thanks,
Matt
Monday, May 4, 2009
Finishing up
So May 30 was my last day helping out in the lab. Actually the whole week had been a little funky. Monday we worked up the reactions we had started the Thursday before. On Tuesday things started to go become nonstandard. Tuesday no one could work because the hoods were shut down. This basically means that any dangerous reaction that needed to be worked on could not be worked on. Then Wednesday we were informed that the safety inspector was going to be coming around. So everyone rushed around trying to clean everything, and make sure that the lab was as pretty as possible. Thursday was my last day. I couldn't really start any reactions because I would not be there to work them up. So, that day I mainly copied all the results I had. I found out that I had over 60 pages worth of data. Almost all of them verified that I made certain compounds. I actually have more data, but some was not printed or saved if they could tell right away my experiment failed. So it was interesting.
I will really miss the lab. Fortunately, I will be working there for a month during the summer. So I will get to see everyone again. I really do love working in the labs. I truly do. There is always something interesting going on, and when there isn't someone else is working on something interesting so you can go ask them what they are doing. Everyone there was so helpful and I just really am grateful to everyone in my lab.
I will really miss the lab. Fortunately, I will be working there for a month during the summer. So I will get to see everyone again. I really do love working in the labs. I truly do. There is always something interesting going on, and when there isn't someone else is working on something interesting so you can go ask them what they are doing. Everyone there was so helpful and I just really am grateful to everyone in my lab.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Last Day
As I am frantically soaking in the hours of my last day here at the park, I've thought a lot about what exactly I've gotten out of the internship, making mental lists longer than Santa's.
It's weird to think that after the going-away dinner for Estee, Erin and I, I will probably never see any of these people again. Estee is getting married and then heading off to New Mexico to do some tortoises research.. Erin is getting a new position at another national park up in Oregon. And I.. I am finally realizing that I only have 4 more months to work in Tucson and enjoy the wicked, scorching summer before heading off to Vermont..
So to finally put some thoughts to paper(or screen, I suppose), I've compiled a list of some of the things I've gained through this experience..
1.) A wealth of information regarding the plants, animals, and general ecology of the Sonoran Desert.
2.) Experience writing professional articles, and a better knowledge of how to write different types of articles.
3.) An appreciation for black coffee first thing in the morning...around lunch time.. and later in the afternoon.
4.) A better understanding of the structure of the park service, the various positions held, and its legalities and inner workings
5.) An increased awareness of the necessity of the Park in regards to conserving the environment..and the effects of humans on the environment.
6.) Practice interpreting our resources for visitors, and establishing emotional and cognitive connections between visitors and the Park.
7.) Lessons on interpretive writing, interpretive talks, and the history of the Park Service.
8.) A venue for one of my articles!
9.) Experience (finally!) driving =)
10.) A plethora of new close friends and interesting acquaintances.
11.) A newfound interest in working with kids.. and an acquired comprehension about the best ways to maintain children's attentions.
12.) An abundance of new mentors and roll models who have been-there-done-that with some of the complications of life.. and college.. who are willing to stay in touch with me to help give me advice about classes to take and how to manage the adjustment from high school to college.
It's weird to think that after the going-away dinner for Estee, Erin and I, I will probably never see any of these people again. Estee is getting married and then heading off to New Mexico to do some tortoises research.. Erin is getting a new position at another national park up in Oregon. And I.. I am finally realizing that I only have 4 more months to work in Tucson and enjoy the wicked, scorching summer before heading off to Vermont..
So to finally put some thoughts to paper(or screen, I suppose), I've compiled a list of some of the things I've gained through this experience..
1.) A wealth of information regarding the plants, animals, and general ecology of the Sonoran Desert.
2.) Experience writing professional articles, and a better knowledge of how to write different types of articles.
3.) An appreciation for black coffee first thing in the morning...around lunch time.. and later in the afternoon.
4.) A better understanding of the structure of the park service, the various positions held, and its legalities and inner workings
5.) An increased awareness of the necessity of the Park in regards to conserving the environment..and the effects of humans on the environment.
6.) Practice interpreting our resources for visitors, and establishing emotional and cognitive connections between visitors and the Park.
7.) Lessons on interpretive writing, interpretive talks, and the history of the Park Service.
8.) A venue for one of my articles!
9.) Experience (finally!) driving =)
10.) A plethora of new close friends and interesting acquaintances.
11.) A newfound interest in working with kids.. and an acquired comprehension about the best ways to maintain children's attentions.
12.) An abundance of new mentors and roll models who have been-there-done-that with some of the complications of life.. and college.. who are willing to stay in touch with me to help give me advice about classes to take and how to manage the adjustment from high school to college.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The process gets to be more fun
I am officially editing! After converting and renaming my footage I started putting together my cut but not edited together footage (that is, without transitions or video filters) into a rough cut. It has proved extremely rewarding and has helped pull the convoluted mess of ideas out of my head and applied them to the project. I am still rather shaky at using the editing software but i get better and better the more time I spend working on it. That's all for now
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Too much data?
The question is if you can actually have too much data. The answer is no. I thought that I was going to have ample data, and today I realized I had just enough, no more than I needed, no less. Thankfully, my presentation is coming along and so far I have collected all of my data and now am comparing the different teaching styles for retention of the information.
Anyways, I'm back at BASIS, as a Teacher's assistant in 2 Alg II classes, 2 Calc I classes, and a Calc II class. It's fun. And I'm also getting ready for AP Physics C which should also be a whole lot of fun. So, even though I am really busy comparing data and studying for my final AP test, I'm having a great time!
~Matt
Gratitude..
Yesterday I did a Desert Wonders school pre-visit at Hollanger Elemtary..and it was quite a treat. They were by far, the rowdiest, loudest, most inattentive group of kids I have had to work with yet. Throughout my talk, all the kids were continually talking despite my desperate, polite pleas for silence. Not only did the teacher not do anything to assist me, but the rest of the staff was incredibly rude. On top of all that, when I got there the wicked woman at the front desk told me the wrong room to go to.. I eventually found the right room, and it turns out that I didn't have to go to any room at all- they were all waiting for me in the library.
And on the way home I got stuck behind a tractor on AZ-86 =/
Then..today, the same group of kids came out to the park to do the Desert Wonders program. Dreadfully, I drug myself outside to greet them and make sure they were all ready to hike. Within ten minutes, though, I realized that it was all worth it. After many of the kids came up to me excited, telling me that this was the first time they had ever been here, and that they wouldn't have even been able to come if we hadn't organized the field trip for them, I realized why I love doing what I'm doings so much.........
And in a quite sappy and sentimental way, I cannot beleive it is my last week here..
And on the way home I got stuck behind a tractor on AZ-86 =/
Then..today, the same group of kids came out to the park to do the Desert Wonders program. Dreadfully, I drug myself outside to greet them and make sure they were all ready to hike. Within ten minutes, though, I realized that it was all worth it. After many of the kids came up to me excited, telling me that this was the first time they had ever been here, and that they wouldn't have even been able to come if we hadn't organized the field trip for them, I realized why I love doing what I'm doings so much.........
And in a quite sappy and sentimental way, I cannot beleive it is my last week here..
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