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Learn More About Steve's Experience:

botany Botany is a lot more important than people think. Plants are characterized by being green, and that green color is caused by a certain pigment molecule that can use the energy from sunlight to conduct important carbohydrate (think bread or sugar) manufacturing processes. That's just the tip of the iceberg. I took Botany my sophomore year at college. Prior to that, I didn't really appreciate just how much plants do, or even how much of the environment is included in the study of Botany. It's not just trees and grass, but tiny algae, mold, fungus, ferns, and mosses. The next year I was offered the position of Botany teacher's assistant (TA) and accepted. Through my two years of studying plants, I've gained a broader understanding and a deeper respect for those green producers at the bottom of the food chain. elementary (k-6th) The earlier years of education are not only about developing fundamental skills such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. These years are about piecing together concepts and developing a foundation that can be added onto in the later years. Although I have no formal schooling in the field of education, past experiences have made me feel adequate to teach. Namely, babysitting for my varsity basketball coach who had three energetic boys under the age of 12. At this stage, half the battle is grabbing and holding onto a student's attention. I am capable of accomplishing that. Learning can be and should be enjoyable. physiology I recently finished taking a year-long course on Human Anatomy and Physiology. I scored well because I never had a hard time finding motivation to study. There are so many perfectly designed and remarkably efficient systems and interactions that take place to sustain life. I believe the course I took adequately prepared me to teach the material. There were labs to use hands-on work to solidify the concepts in my mind. Also, group quizzes and reports forced me to put my own understanding of the topics into words that other people would understand. zoology No doubt, animals come in all shapes and sizes. Their natural habitats also vary greatly. How can certain animals survive in the Sahara Desert where water is scarce? How can seals thrive in the frigid Arctic waters? Zoology is the study of what sets different species apart and what mechanisms allow for survival in extreme climates. I've always been interested in animals, so it wasn't surprising that a zoology course in college would be right up my alley. In this course we studied many different classes and orders of terrestrial and aquatic animals. The interesting relations of form to function are mostly intuitive, so once you understand them they stick well. I had a friend to help explain the concepts to me initially and now I feel capable of explaining the concepts to someone else.