Applying+past+knowledge+to+new+situations

//Often students approach each task as if it were for the very first time. Its like each experience is independent, has no relationship to what has come before or what comes after. Psychologists call this an "episodic grasp of reality" (Feuerstein 1980). "I've never made a mistake. I've only learned from past experience."--Thomas Edison//
 * Applying past knowledge to new situations**

I've taken many sciences classes that have taught chemistry in the past, but this year is the first year that I'm taking a class solely devoted to chemistry. In the past, chemistry has always been a part of a science class that taught a mix of chemistry, biology, physics, etc. As a result of the interdisciplinary nature of my past science classes, I never learned about chemistry in depth; we were only taught the basics. So far, I've learned a lot of new concepts, and I believe that my past knowledge has helped me learn better and more efficiently.

Last in Lab Science 10, during a part of the "chemistry" portion of the course we were told to memorize the first twenty elements of the periodic table of elements. At the time, I found the task time-consuming and boring. I never would have thought that just knowing the first twenty elements would be such a big help to me in the future. This year in chemistry class, we learned how to write the electron configurations of elements, how to draw diagrams of atoms, etc. Knowing the first twenty elements has helped me immensely, because I don't have to constantly refer to a periodic table in order to know an element's atomic number, name, etc. This saved me a lot of time.

Also in science class last year, we learned a bit about accuracy, precision, errors, and uncertainties in measurement in general. Calculating uncertainties has always been one of my weaknesses. After learning more about errors in measurement in class this year, and doing many activities relating to this topic, I feel that I have improved in this area. Part of this is due to my past knowledge. When we learned about errors in measurement this year, much of it was review from last year. By going over a topic another time, especially if it's a topic that you experience hardships in, it can help you improve in that area. This was the case for me in the topic of measurement. By going over the topic again, combined with my previous knowledge, I feel much more confident when dealing with uncertainties in measurement.

Overall, applying past knowledge to new situations has been a great way for me to learn. I look forward to continually using my past knowledge to help me learn new things. []

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