Before I was in Earth, Life, and Time (ELT), I only thought that the science of the physical world was taught to people only if they were in biology, chemistry, and physics classes. Yes, in college I still take these classes to understand the physical world and its living components, but being in Earth, Life, and Time put a new spin on things. I never took into account the history of sciences and how ideas and concepts have evolved overtime. The ELT scholars program taught me all of this, and they did it in an interesting way. Dr. Holtz and Dr. Merck really were passionate about teaching different material in this class, whether the subject matter for that certain day was very intriguing or straight boring. This class did help me in the understanding of the physical world and its living components.
One specific experience that deals with the understanding of the physical world as it has progressed overtime was my ELT field trip to West Virginia. In the middle of my first semester of freshman year, some ELT students and I went to Sideling Hill in West Virginia to observe “what 350 million years of lithification, folding, faulting, erosion, and excavation can do to a wetlands environment.” The geology and the ecosystem vastly changed over time. According to Dr. Holtz and Dr. Merck, the area that we were observing used to be a wetland with various rivers and lakes. I even remember looking at a large wall of rocks and seeing the wave patterns that were imprinted on it from millions of years ago. What made that experience even more interesting to me was that we were nowhere near a large body of water. This was one of my first experiences in ELT, and it was a physical hands-on display of how people understand the physical world when time it taken into account. The rocks were in a certain formation because of what the area used to be millions of years ago.
Second semester of freshman year also gave me two experiences that helped in my understanding of the physical world over time. The trip to New York was a lot of fun, and two of the reasons why are the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The American Museum is one of the best museums in the world, and through ELT I was able to see that. The museum had many displays of fossils and illustrations that explained how animals and various other life forms have evolved over the course of history. There were huge displays that showed how modern aquatic life has evolved from the marine dinosaurs. I also remember these various displays that showed the evolution of specific dinosaurs and how those dinosaurs evolved and branched out into different kinds of species.
The other museum that we visited while we were in New York was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That museum has displays that show art and artifacts from Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia through modern times. As I walked through the halls filled with displays I was able to view how art changed in these different regions as time progressed. This museum mapped out the human history of art in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and you could definitely see a progression. I could tell that art changed over time as newer pieces of art were made with different material from previous years, also, painting developed and improved too. The museum displays were also able to translate things written in Egyptian hieroglyphics, which definitely shows that people have gained an understanding of earlier human history as time has passed.
A class that I took second semester of freshman year definitely made me see how living components (humans) of the world are more completely comprehended when time is accounted for. History 174, which is called Introduction to the History of Science, taught me issues in the development of modern science. The class discussed discoveries and theories that either were solidified or debunked over the period of time. The class also taught me about the interactions of science with philosophy. Come to find out, this class made me realize that early science was born from ancient/early philosophy. Theories and scientific practices that are used nowadays were born from early philosophy and science. Early discoveries in philosophy and science have led to modern day understanding of the physical world and its living components.
Another class that I took was BSCI105, which is Principles of Biology. That class taught me a little about the people who discovered DNA and its function in the mid 1950s. Although this class doesn’t delve into that much history and how understanding of various subjects has changed over time, it does talk about the things that may be possible in the future. Due to the biological concepts discovered today, new discoveries will be made in future. Cloning for one, and people working in the fields of bionics and bioremediation all need to have an understanding of the physical world in order to make concepts and products that work.
Also, living in a living-learning community helped me to be able to learn the concepts in class better since I lived with my classmates. We all had the same class so we were able to trade notes and explain concepts to each other if some of us didn’t understand certain things. Even if dorming in a living-learning community last year didn’t help me learn, I would still be happy for living there because of all the friends that I made in the scholars program.
Finally, due to the scholars ELT program, I learned how to read scientific reports and also to take into account that the media exaggerates a lot of scientific reports. I now know the different kinds of pseudoscience and their concepts. I can use this information to further succeed as I take more complex science class junior and senior year (my major is bioengineering).
Now that I look back on my ELT experience, I realize that I really did enjoy myself while learning about the physical world over time. I was skeptical of the program before I entered it, but I’m happy that I turned out really liking Earth, Life, and Time. I had a lot of different experiences that I wouldn’t have had without being in the program. I was able to live in Centreville, which is a great place for a freshman to live. I also took different classes that I wouldn’t have had to take if I wasn’t in the program. I’ve had a great experience in Earth, Life, and Time, and I definitely don’t regret choosing this program.