CH302 Random Musings, March 29, 2007 1. There is an exam coming up next Tuesday. Pretty much you know the drill—30 multiple choice questions from the material since the last exam through the lecture last Thursday. The question types are listed again at the bottom of the musings along with the format and procedure. 2. Of special note, I would really appreciate it if you honored the requirement that you stop taking the exam when you are told “pencils down”. Just because you had a teacher who once told you to bubble in all your answers at the end of the test, or because you didn’t fill in the information on the scantron at the beginning, shouldn’t give you an advantage over other students. 3. Also, why can’t you bring your calculator? Do you really think you don’t have to be responsible? Once I run out of calculators to dole out, you are on your own. 4. I will hold a review session on the 30 question types on Sunday night from 6:30 to 7:30 in this room. I will cover the 30 questions types one by one and will post what I write on the web Monday morning. 5. Extra Credit 1—how to earn an extra 1 % of your grade in this course—time is running out . • I want you to teach a science-hater something interesting about chemistry that you have learned in this class. The person you teach has to say to you, “gee, I had no idea chemistry was that interesting” when you have finished (you can make them say it even if they don’t mean it.). You can choose what you teach but I would recommend that it be something of interest and utility from CH302: while you are on the beach tell someone why fish explode when you clean a fish tank or why they are dying from global warming (if you believe in global warming); while your car breaks down on the way to South padre, explain why you shouldn’t add pure antifreeze to your car; while you are serving up a delicious glass of ice water to your grandmother, explain how neutral water isn’t always pH 7 and on and on. Choose anything from the course and have a fine conversation. • Submit the assignment as simple text in an e-mail (no attachments) • Use the specific text written below as the subject heading of the e-mail: spring break extra credit—your uteid • Send it to [email protected]. • If you do not provide your UTEID you will not receive credit. • Due Date: April 2 at 3 a.m. Now that you are an adult it is time to start fixing the mess that your parents and other folks their age have made. While there are way too many messes to fix to even begin a list, I provide an example here of a mess in which people your age have actually taken on a very creative and energetic effort to focus attention on a staggering tragedy. I leave it to you to learn and draw your own conclusions, but here is a web site for some called the invisible children http://www.invisiblechildren.com/theMovement/ and here is an opportunity to participate in Displace Me, an event in Austin in late April to draw attention to the tragedy, http://www.invisiblechildren.com/displaceMe/Bad Science Joke Corner: A physicist, a biologist and a chemist were going to the ocean for the first time. The physicist saw the ocean and was fascinated by the waves. He said he wanted to do some research on the fluid dynamics of the waves and walked into the ocean. Obviously, he drowned and never returned. The biologist said he wanted to do research on the flora and fauna inside the ocean and walked inside the ocean. He too, never returned. The chemist waited for a long time, until finally he noted and wrote down the observation, "Hmm, so physicists and biologists are soluble in ocean water..." Poetry Corner. If you are wondering if I was a little different from the average college student, use the following as a guide: one of my hobbies in college was typing up the words to really sad songs and putting them on the walls of my room. The weirder thing is that my roommate shared a similar fascination. And we went at this with a vengeance, at the beginning of our sophomore years spending hundreds of hours filling three full walls with hand typed half pages extracted from repeated listenings to bad eight-track tapes. Listed below are some of these sad songs. Enjoy. I Wish I Had a River-Joni Mitchell Its coming on Christmas They’re cutting down trees They’re putting up reindeer And singing songs of joy and peace Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on But it don’t snow here It stays pretty green I’m going to make a lot of money Then I’m going to quit this crazy scene I wish I had a river I could skate away on I wish I had a river so long I would teach my feet to fly Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on I made my baby cry He tried hard to help me You know, he put me at ease And he loved me so naughty Made me weak in the knees Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on I’m so hard to handle I’m selfish and I’m sad Now I’ve gone and lost the best baby That I ever had Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on I wish I had a river so long I would teach my feet to fly Oh I wish I had a river I made my baby say goodbye Its coming on Christmas They’re cutting down trees They’re putting up reindeer And singing songs of joy and peace I wish I had a river I could skate away on Souvenirs-Dan Fogelberg Here is a poem That my lady sent down Some morning while I was away. Wrote on the back of A leaf that she found Somewhere around Monterey. And here is the key To a house far away Where I used to live As a child. They tore down the building When I moved away And left the key unreconciled. And down in the canyon The smoke starts to rise. It rides on the wind Till it reaches your eyes. When faced with the past The strongest man cries...cries. And down in the canyon The smoke starts to rise. It rides on the wind Till it reaches your eyes. When faced with the past The strongest man cries...cries. And here is a sunrise To set on your sill. The ghosts of the dawn Moving near. They pass through your sorrow And leave you quite still... Sitting among souvenirs.At Seventeen-Janis Ian I learned the truth at seventeen That love was meant for beauty queens And high school girls with clear skinned smiles Who married young and then retired The valentines I never knew The Friday night charades of youth Were spent on one more beautiful At seventeen I learned the …
View Full Document
Unlocking...