Jack Hume
- ALA Portfolio -
Air Bag Egg Drop Lab Writeup
If there's a single artifact that I would say taught me the most, it would be this one. This project required students to build a "car" with airbags using only basic materials: baking soda, vinegar, ziploc bags, cardboard, and a few other materials.
I waited to start this project until the night before it was due thinking it would take only a couple hours. However, the project took me much longer than I anticipated, and by 3:30 in the morning, I had built a "car" that I knew would barely stay together until chemistry later that day. This experience taught me the importance of time management as well as how harmful cramming can be. I learned my lesson and faithfully wrote the writeup every day that week. In the end, I got a 95 because the egg broke.
Strawberry DNA Extraction Lab
This lab required students to extract DNA from a strawberry using a DNA extraction buffer and ethanol. Once the DNA was collected, it was analyzed and the project was holistically graded on DNA extraction, analysis, and quality of the formal lab writeup.
This lab was one of the few where I was graded on my actual lab process. In chemistry, I was used to being allowed to make mistakes; however, this was different. Learning to work under pressure and the experience of being graded on a project as a whole was a valuable experience, as often times in leadership we are judged on more than just one aspect of how we lead.
Heat of Combustion of Magnesium Lab Writeup
This lab asked students to analyze and explain the change in enthalpy of a reaction: the combustion of magnesium. To complete this lab, students were required to use all four methods of enthalpy calculations and outline them in a lab process.
This lab was a huge challenge. Not only did it require the skill of combining concepts, but also it required the ability to explain and analyze the decisions you made and how you knew to make them. From this lab, I gained valuable experience in tackling an obstacle and analytical thinking.