Applied Science, 12/14, Period 1

[tyler_gone]

There was a platter of Christmas cookies with coffee, hot chocolate, and milk on the side on a table at the back of the lab. The lab tables were covered with less savory supplies.

"Welcome to your final," Tyler said. "I am sure those of you who have taken a class with me before will be astounded to hear that our last lab is making soap. Technically" -- he grinned -- "we are creating the alkali salt of a fatty acid." He went through a thumbnail lecture on the science of that. "If you've done it before, try to do it better, or add scents or herbs this time."

"Before you start on the soap process, please write 150 words or so on what you learned from this class. Thanks. You guys were a good group."

Comments

Final: Paper [12/14]

[tyler_gone]

Write a brief essay on what you learned in class. This can be as scientific, random, or handwaved as you desire.

Re: Final: Paper [12/14]

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

Jennifer wrote a brief essay on how the class allowed her to explore science a little more personally, and see things in a way she thought her cousin might see them. In reflection, it allowed her to learn more about herself than anything else.

Re: Final: Paper [12/14]

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

I learned Schrodinger knew the cat couldn't be alive and dead, and was trying to make a point about theory taken too far; I learned a good catapult is about balance as much as enthusiasm (wheeee!); I learned to be safe when playing with things that will explode; that primitive doesn't mean stupid or we'd know how Stonehenge got made; and there's a scientific principle behind everything, even paper airplanes.

Re: Final: Paper [12/14]

[lovemykilt]

Priestly's paper was all about learning just how many things could explode if you needed them to, and that things could be just as interesting when they had explanations as when they were complete mysteries.

And he stuck on a final note about learning that soap was science. He was going to try for a whole metaphor with that, but it got kind of muddled.

Re: Final: Paper [12/14]

[eyebrowgoesup]

Spock wrote precisely one hundred and fifty words detailing what he had learned in the class. No more, no less. The tone was dry and factual and, well. Spock.

Re: Final: Paper [12/14]

[momslilassassin]

Ben's essay (which was exactly 150 words because he was anal like that) was mostly a scientific summation of what he'd learned, with a brief notation that making ice cream with liquid nitrogen was astral.

Re: Final: Paper [12/14]

[furnaceface]

Jono's essay summed up, more or less, how the most aerodynamic shape he'd managed to find thus far while making a paper aeroplane was a wadded-up ball.

There were also a few scribbled-out lines that seemed to include a rant about coffee, peanut brittle, pumpkin pie, and, yes, cookies. Ignore those.

Re: Final: Paper [12/14]

[intraspective]

Ino's essay (which was way over 150 words because limits were laaame) was more of a rambling dissertation on the awesomeness of soap and cookies (though not together) and the fact that she was really of the opinion that he probably knew how to make soap out of cookies if anyone did and...

Well, and so on.

Ino was clearly being silly. She doodled flowers in the margins of her paper.

Re: Final: Paper [12/14]

[heromaniac]

Momoko struggled a bit, but finally ended up writing about how it had helped her learn that science was fun but also hard work and that sometimes you could learn from mistakes what you could never have learned if everything worked right and that there was science everywhere and even when you weren't looking.