Thinking+Interdependently

//Some people have underdeveloped social skill and struggle to work in groups. They seem unable to contribute fully in group situations and either let someone else do all the work or they hog all the work. To work in a group, you have to be willing and open to feedback, you have to be willing to learn and grow and you have to be willing to give up an idea and work with someone else's. Take care of each other. Share your energies with the group. "No one must feel alone, cut off, for that is when you do not make it." --Willie Unsoeld, Mountain climber//
 * Thinking Interdependently**

When doing experiments and labs in Chemistry class, most of the time we work in small groups. This is so often the case that I've always taken working in groups for granted throughout the year, and never really stopped to think about how working with others benefit the whole group, and help everyone learn. Though people don't usually think of it this way, being able to work well in a group is a skill! Not everyone works well in groups; some people don't do any work at all, and some people hog all of the work. By working with others in small groups, and helping each other out when needed, everyone in the group can learn more efficiently than if they were struggling on their own.

I realized the importance of working in groups when we were carrying out a reaction to determine the mole relationship between NaHCO3 and NaCl in the reaction between sodium hydrogen carbonate with hydrochloric acid. Carrying out this reaction safely and successfully required all members of the group to contribute; no one person could have done it all alone.

A large part of this reaction involves heating substances up over a flame. This was when I realized the importance of working in groups; turning on the burner required at least two people. Emily and Lynette, my two partners, worked on turning on the burner while I got the other materials ready. To turn on the burner, one person has to turn on the gas, and then another person immediately has to light the fire on the burner. I don't think I could have done this by myself, and I was thankful for having other people to work with.

Another time when the importance of working in groups was especially evident in this activity was when we had to use a dropper pipette to slowly add HCl to the NaHCO3 in the evaporating dish, a few drops at a time (step 4 in the procedure). This required one person to slowly drop the HCl into the NaHCO3, and another person to gently shake the evaporating dish containing the substances, so that they can mix better. Again, this required the group to work together; one person alone wouldn't have been able to do this step as successfully.

Overall, this experiment truly made me realize the importance of working in groups. My group was able to perform the reaction successfully, because we split up the work, and helped each other as we went along with the procedure. If any one of us had tried to hog all of the work, or didn't do any work at all, the reaction wouldn't have gone as smoothly and successfully.

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