Miller and Levine's Masterpiece - Jason

        Miller and Levine's biology textbook is truly one of the greatest biology textbooks of all time. After all, there is probably a reason as to why we use it at Uni. It covers all things about biology from chemistry to the digestive system. The textbook contains everything related to biology that an average highschooler could dream of.

        One thing I love about Miller and Levine's book is the organization of all the information inside. The textbook organizes all the information inside in a very cohesive way. This is done by having separate units, then separate chapters inside the units, then sub-chapters inside. You may have thought I was done, but there is still more organization. Inside those sub-chapters, the information is organized down to every paragraph. Inside a sub-chapter, there will be a few large green titles, and below the title, there will be another "mini-title" for almost every paragraph. These mini-titles are a vibrant blue, and slightly bigger than the rest of the text in the paragraph, adding to the overall readability of the information. While this organization may sound confusing in text, because the book is so intuitive, one look at it will explain any unanswered questions.

        Each chapter also provides many activities and tools, like abundant diagrams and images, as well as mini assessments for each sub-chapter, and then a test prep and an assessment for the chapter. The diagrams and images are very detailed and intuitive, sometimes spanning multiple pages. These images are very useful, especially to me, for understanding the content easily. The images and diagrams alone have helped me understand so many topics.

        Another thing I love about the textbook how that at the beginning of every chapter, it provides a little mystery that relates to the topic of the chapter. For example, in chapter 7, a chapter about cell structure, the book provides a mystery about Michelle who, during a marathon, she drank lots of water, and "was gripped by a seizure and went into a coma". The book then tells you to find how the water made Michelle sick. Hidden in the chapter are many "mystery clues" that will provide an answer once you put them together. The answer to the chapter 7 mystery was that because Michelle was sweating so much from the running, and drinking so much water, her blood became hypertonic, and grew larger, causing cells in her body to swell. 

        The reason I love the Miller and Levine textbook is because of its readability, and how engaging it is. It provides many things to help the readers learn, like the chapter mysteries, helpful images, and the organization of the book in general. This organization has been very helpful for me in the past, and is truely a great feature of the book.

Can Money Buy Happiness?

Having money is always better than not having money, right? Money doesn't equate to happiness, but it definitely influences it. Having more money makes life easier and less stressful, provides access to more opportunities and support for yourself or for others, and options. Money can’t influence pre-determined things like family (*cough* the classic rich with daddy issues character), but it does impact access to necessities, luxuries, and overall lifestyle.

Buying happiness consists of more than material goods or luxuries. Being able to purchase objects you want would definitely make you happy, but you could also buy more worthwhile experiences. Compared to short term joy from buying something, psychologist Sarah Gervais states that “the happiness that comes from purchasing experiences… tends to increase over time”. Less stress and more free time can come with more money, making life generally less stressful.

Money can also benefit those around you. It allows you to support your family and pave the way for future generations. A Pew study has shown that “a family’s economic circumstances play an exceptionally large part in determining a child’s economic prospects later in life”. A better home environment, opportunities for higher education, and more choices or freedom are all made possible with a solid starting foundation. In times of crisis, costs won’t hold you back, and in times of leisure you can also freely enjoy yourself. Money gives you a means of providing for your family or those around you and letting future generations live a better life.

Making money comes at the cost of hard work and time, but also clears the road for a comfortable life. Wealth cannot influence every ounce of someone’s happiness, but it can add a lot more joy and ease worries. Its influence is limited but definitely still present, and as long as you keep yourself in check, I believe money can buy at least some happiness.

         - Sabrina

https://psychology.unl.edu/can-money-buy-happiness 

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/about/news-room/press-releases-and-statements/2015/07/23/parental-income-has-outsized-influence-on-childrens-economic-future

How Much Do Grades Really Matter? By: Ruby Mitchell

     How Much Do Grades Really Matter? By: Ruby Mitchell

A majority of high school students, especially at a school like Uni, strive to have good grades and tend to base their self worth on their grades. But are these obsessions with good grades warranted? Do good grades always reliably reflect how smart someone is? Recently, there has been a lot of pushback against the traditional grading system, with many schools across America diverging from the traditional system into newer, more lenient and student-specific ways of assessing students' performances. Many schools have begun using standard based grading, arguing that it more effectively communicates how a student is performing in class. According to The Atlantic: “Currently, 45 states have adopted the Common Core State Standards”. This new grading standard comes as a direct effect of the pushback on the vagueness of the letter-based grading scale.

A common argument for why we should keep the traditional grading system is that it's easy and recognizable. You can look at your grade and accurately assess how well you understand the class. If you get an A, you’re doing great, B is good, C is mediocre, D is bad, and F is failing. It’s also much easier for classes like math, where the answers are very black and white, right and wrong, with little room for small mistakes or half credit. The issue with the standard grading system is that it can’t give a complete image of how smart someone is or how good/bad they’re doing in the class. If someone takes a test and gets an F, then learns from their mistakes and re-teaches it to themself, they might know all of the information, but they would still be failing the class. Grades also depend heavily on the teacher. Especially in classes like English, one teacher may give an A on an essay where another would give a C, depending on how they categorize a “good” piece of writing. 

I think that grading systems are not the best way to assess a student’s performance in a class, but I understand why people want it to stay. It would be very hard to change the entire grading system, and if one school changes it and another doesn’t, the playing field becomes unfair, with one school being “easier” or more lenient than another. While the grading system can’t change overnight, one important thing can: a student’s outlook on grades. In reality, grades do not accurately assess someone’s intelligence. Depending on the classes, it’s actually very easy to get straight A’s. In a lot of classes, the only thing you have to do to get an A is complete all the work and do it right. You could write a very bad essay that doesn’t go very in depth about the topic and has little to no nuance, and still get an A on the essay because you checked all of the boxes on the rubric. Was the essay necessarily a good piece of writing? No, you just get a good grade because you did everything you’re supposed to. In classes like math and science, good grades can be guaranteed by memorization alone. You don't have to fully understand a topic, but if you can recite what the teacher said in class, you can get an A. Using the same logic, a grade below an A doesn't necessarily mean that you are struggling or bad at a certain subject. You can get bad grades simply for not understanding a question on a test or not fulfilling all of the standards for a certain essay. That doesn’t mean that you’re a bad writer, it just means that you didn’t do exactly what your teacher wanted you to do. Standard letter grades are way too vague to accurately assess a student’s abilities in that subject, much less the student's overall intelligence, but sadly, grades have become a means of competition among students and a way for students to judge and critique themselves. 

It’s hard not to stress about grades, I know that. All I’m trying to say is that good grades do not equate to intelligence, and bad grades don’t equate to stupidity. One bad grade on a test won’t make or break your chance to get into your dream college, and intelligence, like many other things, is subjective. One person might categorize intelligence as being able to do high level math, while another might relate it to being able to create art or music. In a perfect world, the grading system would be more lenient and would be more focused on individual evaluations of students rather than vague letter grades, but in the meantime, try to focus less on the grades you get, cause they really don’t matter that much.

Sources:

https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/effects-of-grading-system-on-students/ 

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/letter-grades-deserve-an-f/284372/ 

The Excellent Worldbuilding of Frank Herbert's Dune - by Will

      

        Dune is a sci-fi novel written by Frank Herbert and published in 1965. It follows the story of a young man named Paul Atreides, heir to House Atreides, one of the great houses which rule the universe. His mother is a woman named Jessica, a member of a religious order called the Bene Gesserit. The Bene Gesserit are spies and assassins with psychic abilities, who control the great houses from the shadows, in order to ensure humanity’s continued survival. Early in the book, House Atreides is given the mission of ruling over the planet Arrakis. Arrakis is a dangerous, inhospitable desert world. It is of great importance to humanity because it is the one place where melange can be found. Melange is a drug that enhances the mental capabilities of the user, allowing them to navigate space. Since there are no computers in Dune, artificially increasing navigators’ mental capabilities with melange is the only way to travel through space. Unfortunately for House Atreides, their stewardship of Arrakis is a trap set for them by their rival House Harkonnen, who invade the planet, kill Paul’s father, and take over. Now Paul and his mother must learn to survive the desert, so they can avenge Paul’s father and defeat House Harkonnen.

        Dune is known for its excellent worldbuilding. It has many different factions, each with interesting goals, beliefs, and motivations. The great houses are in a state of constant competition with each other, trying to win the emperor’s favor. The emperor himself is trying to maintain his own power, to make sure his family stays on the throne. The Spacing Guild is a mysterious organization with a monopoly over interstellar travel. Its members are never seen face to face, because they are mutated by their use of melange.

        One difficulty in sci-fi worldbuilding is managing the role of technology in a story. How can a story have an interesting conflict, if it can be resolved quickly using an atomic bomb? Either these sorts of weapons exist in the story’s world, but are never used, and readers are left wondering why they are left out of the plot. Or, they are simply not included in the story at all.

        Dune takes a different approach to solving this problem. Weapons like atom bombs, lasers, and energy shields do exist, but there are consequences to their use. Energy shields and lasers are almost never used, because when a laser hits an energy shield, they form a feedback loop which causes both to explode violently. Atomic weapons exist, but there is a treaty in place to prevent their use. If any faction uses an atomic bomb, the others will turn on them, and they will be destroyed. Interstellar travel is possible, but it is controlled by one faction who demand a high price for it. This way powerful weapons and technology do exist, but they do not ruin any conflict in the story.