Final Blog Posting topic: What I got out of summer Chemistry.

I feel as though the hard work I put into the class and hours of homework and studying I have done throughout the six weeks of Chemistry has paid off with my new knowledge and understanding of serious issues the earth faces, the earth's systems, matter, the periodic table, and how things really work. Although sometimes it has been difficult to learn so much condensed information in a short period of time, I feel as though by taking this course, not only have I gained an especially good understanding of concepts involved, but have applied and improved my concentration skills with my diligent and complete work. In first semester, my major take away from the course was the basis is unit conversions, concepts involving the periodic table including properties of the elements and ions, and the importance of conservation of water due to horrible shortages and pollution throughout the world. Not only do I feel as though I grasped the magnitude of this problem, but went beyond the lab experiments we conducted and studied methods of purification of water and ways to conserve. During second semester, I learned more mathematical concepts, more about the construction of atoms and metals, as well as subcategories such as covalent bonds, allotropes, isotopes, and alloys, and more worldly issues such as pollution and global warming. Building off of conversions covered in first semester, during week 5 we were introduced to complicated conversions involving moles and molar masses. We did helpful labs to help us learn about physical and chemical changes of metals as well as ways to change them into alloys. Finally, we learned about the carbon cycle and how solar radiation is transmitted to earth; surprisingly to me, this cycle involved the hydrologic cycle that we covered in first semester. I have discovered that although we learned a vast amount of topics during the six weeks of the Chemistry course, plenty of the information we learned intertwined in a sense as we advanced in the class. Overall, Summer Chemistry has been a rewarding experience for me, and I am glad I spent six weeks of my summer that has, and will continue to benefit me as a high school student.