Overview of MRGS Classes

by MK Manning and Rashad Parham

English Language and Composition

This class focuses a lot around books that involve science or the environment. A book will be assigned to read that sometimes you will be given the option to choose between a selection of books, but most of the time the book will be chosen for you. You'll have about a month to read the book but have checkpoints to read in the month to come back to class and have classroom discussions about the book. Class discussion can be done with the whole class or with a small group in the class where you discuss your opinions about how you feel about the story, writing, and plot. Classroom discussions are interesting because you can voice your opinion about the story, but also hear the opinions of someone who might have a different viewpoint on the story. When you finish the book you will have an essay or a book review. Book reviews helps take your opinion during classroom discussions and put it on paper, and essays usually have a general question that you have to answer. Essays and book reviews aren't hard to write and don't take much time because you're not given a specific amount of words you need to write: most of the time it just had to be two pages with double space which isn't a lot of words. The hardest part about the essays and book reviews is learning how to use APA format and MLA format.

Ecology and Environmental Management

Ms. Bates is our Ecology and Environmental Management professor. In her class, you will analyze, design, research, and think critically and logically. Almost everything is hands-on and interactive. For example, you will travel to the river and take tests. Recently, we received our certification so that we are able to test and publish results for macroinvertebrates. This process was fun, like other assignments in her class. The workload is very small-scale. There are a lot of group discussions and small projects. You will learn how to communicate effectively with others.

Statistics

Ms. Klus is our Statistics professor. In her class, you will learn how to graph and analyze different types of test results. You will also learn how to use Minitab and advanced calculators. In her class, students will work in small groups to complete different lab experiments. For example, my small group got to test which gummy bear color went the farthest. These experiments are so much fun and not too complex. Ms. Klus teaches at a speed where students can follow along but also struggle every now and then. This is very helpful in the long run.

Environmental Science

This classes is primarily a geology class that focuses around rocks and minerals. A large portion of assignments will have something to do with different type of rocks and minerals such as identifying sedimentary rocks or identifying fossils. Readings are assigned and are not graded, but give a lot of information that will help in assignments and classroom discussions. A lot of hands-on assignments are given, such as checking the hardness and luster on a rock to identify or analyzing sediment through microscopes and dry sieving. Through these activities you will try and find the background of the rock because every rock has its own story. We look into how rocks have formed whether it is from the bottom of a stream or a rock that was exposed too magma or lava from a previously active volcano.

Research

Research is a class where you choose a project you are interested in and research about it. Your research assignment can be anything you choose as long as it is an achievable goal. Every Friday juniors and seniors work on their research for the entire MRGS day. One of the teachers at governor school will be your research teacher based on your research project, or you can get a mentor outside of MRGS. Before you can work on your research project you will have to write a literature review, methodology, and a proposal. A literature review is an essay discussing information about your research topic using published information from articles or books. A methodology is your method or process of how you are going to carry out your research project. It explains the design of your project, what samples and procedures you are going to use, time period of the your project, limitations you may have, and measurements you are going to take. The proposal is the final step that combines your literature review and methodology into one article and overviews your research project. After your proposal is finished you can carry out your research project and finally make a deliverable. A deliverable is a presentation showing either your finished project or how far you got in your project. Another thing to keep in mind is that just because you do not finish your project or achieve your goal, doesn't mean you'll get a bad grade. What is looked for is the progression of your research project and what you learned from it.