Madison Harris's Three Semester Review

Thesis: My experience as a Science & Global Change Scholar has helped my understanding of how we use the foundations of scientific practice to explore the evidence, causes, and implications of past and present global change, and examine the use of scientific knowledge and communication when making decisions for the future.

The Hypothetico-Deductive Method:

This semester I joined the Terrapin Rocket Team, specifically the aerostructures sub-team. In this sub-team, four other people and I worked on creating a new parachute for the rocket. After conducting research, we chose what seemed like the ideal configuration. The next step was figuring out how to build it. We employed the hypothetico-deductive method when we hypothesized using a soldering iron to cut the fabric would produce the cleanest edges. We then used a sample piece of fabric to test a box cutter, scissors, and a soldering iron. After closely observing the cuts, we concluded that the soldering iron did in fact produce the cleanest edges and the sharpest cut.

Failures of Critical Thinking Skills:

Prior to joining SGC, I had learned about the causes of climate change and some of its surface level effects while in middle school. From then on my father and I have gotten into countless arguments about the subject. Since joining SGC, I am more equipped to identify the logical fallacies present in his argument and keep them out of mine. One of his arguments was that you cannot believe scientific reports because science has been disproven before, one example was that everyone thought the Earth was flat before it was disproven. He failed to recognize that science proved the world is round. This is cherry-picking. Also, the fact that science is a forever correcting process does not make prior observations false. After all, the horizon is still visibly a straight line after discovering the Earth is round. By this understanding, all the statistics on climate change are not immediately proven wrong if contradicting data is found. This is a formal non sequitur. Just because a belief was proven wrong does not make the observations wrong. He has also pointed out that the Nobel Prize physicist John Clauser has denied that climate change is an urgent situation and that humans are not causing it. This is an example of an argument from false authority. Clauser’s work is concerned with quantum mechanics, so although he is a Nobel Prize winner that does not automatically make him an expert in climate change.

Supporting Courses:

Two supporting SGC courses I have taken are PHYS261 and CHEM135. PHYS261 is the laboratory concerning the subjects in PHYS161. This class has taught me the process of experimentation and how uncertainty needs to be factored into every measurement to account for any external factors acting on the experiment. This course has helped me understand that while climate change is not only anthropogenic, the outside forces are taken into consideration when determining a correlation between climate change and human activities. CHEM135 has aided in my understanding of the properties of greenhouse gases, such as their heat capacity. It has also taught me how climate scientists have gathered information about the past through processes such as carbon-dating. All of this has supported my understanding of how the principles of the scientific process are used to gather information on the implications of past and present global change.

Interacting with SGC Scholars:

My learning has definitely been enhanced by interacting with other SGC scholars. Two group projects that stick out to me are the “Impacts of Global Change” Team Project Video and the Visions of the Future. Both of these projects made learning more enjoyable and introduced me to new people who have a different way of organizing and presenting their ideas. In addition, by breaking up the projects into different sections and relaying what we learned to the rest of the group allowed us to cover more information if we were working individually. This sped up the learning process and made me better at communicating my ideas.

The Degree I Have Contributed to SGC:

Personally, I feel that I have not contributed as much as others in SGC. My first semester, I attended the American Natural History Museum excursion to New York City. When the second semester came around, it proved difficult to attend the scheduled excursion so I went to the National Zoo with my family as an alternative. This semester was even more difficult due to my schedule so I opted to participate in a virtual excursion. I have been sure to complete the weekly discussion posts on time every week and have been an active group member when working in small groups in colloquium. Although I have not been very vocal in the lecture discussions. During projects, I have always contributed a fair share and worked well with the others in my group.

The Degree SGC Challeneged My Previous Beliefs:

SGC has brought me into contact with concepts that have reinforced my belief that climate change is and should be a major concern for humanity. I learned about how the drastic shifts in temperature do not allow organisms time to adapt so they die out or migrate into another organisms territory, leading to loss of biodiversity. How our food supply is based on how much yield a plant produces, so there is only one type planted. This lack of biodiversity means that a sudden change in temperature could wipe out our food supply. How rising sea levels could displace millions of people. How more intense natural disasters could wipe out ecosystems and take the lives of the people living there. This and so many more effects of climate change have further confirmed my belief and made the urgency of climate change ever more apparent.

How SGC Will Inform My Future:

SGC has informed me of the causes and disastrous effects of climate change. I am currently pursuing an aerospace engineering degree and plan to enter the space track my junior year. The engines used in the launch of a space vehicle release large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. As I finish my degree, pursue a masters, and enter a professional career, the information that SGC has taught me concerning greenhouse gases will always be in either the forefront or back of my mind. If I am successful in my pursuit of working in the space field, I will work to either optimize the engines so they require less fuel or minimize the weight of the launch vehicle. This will ensure that the least possible amount of greenhouse gases is released.

Last modified: 08 December 2024