@SuperGeo5999, I imagine from your standpoint, getting through another year or so to do what you want seems like a weight around your neck…but, believe me, one or two years of investment to prepare for the rest of your life is a short time (compared to the rest of your life! ) Right now it feels like forever, but looking back, will be just a flash. If you focus on the task at hand, seek and apply guidance from your professors, these foundation classes will give you the skills to succeed in the more interesting ones.
This may not be fun to hear, but there’s just no getting around it…those of us posting have all been there! We may not have gone to a CC with limited offerings or had all the life difficulties you have had, but I’ll venture to say we have all had to do many difficult and boring things before doing things we like. We’re saying this to you because we want you to have a chance to be successful and reach your goals…we really do (even though we don’t know you 
)
@Gumbymom I was asking about the Geology/Earth Science class that is just called Earth Science or Geology in the lower level to see if you can evaluate the differences between course content. What was it like for your son taking Geology sophomore year? Earth science is offered at my Ivy Tech campus and I think Physical Geology is offered at other Ivy Tech campuses. I know they cover some content that is meteorology but the one thing I crave in meteorology courses that might not be taught in Earth science or Physical Geology is learning how to forecast the weather. The one thing I thought might not make General Biology 2 a Zoology course is if it covered one section vertebrates and one section to invertebrates! I think In High School Zoology they dedicate one semster of Zoology to vertebrates and the other semster to invertebrates! When I read the prerequisites for Ecology it made me feel better about taking my pre-reqs.I really appreciate you taking the time to research what my community college offers and even taking the time to even answer my questions.all of you people in regards to your statement @inthegarden I know do care about me if you guys even took the time to answer my questions or go beyond and do research for what my school offers. I do like Biology,Chemistry,and Physics. All scienss are connected and give me foundation for others but is this a good way to think about it for the three Sciences I menchoned in previous posts? Biology gives me a foundation for Zoology, Chemistry gives me a foundation for Environmental Science, and physics give me a foundation for Meteorology. I’m sorry if I frustrated you guys!
@SuperGeo5999:
Here is the course content of two Geology courses he was required to take as an Environmental Science major. His major offered several different tracks and depending upon which track you pursued, the courses were slightly different.
Every 4 year college/university will have a defined list of courses needed for their majors so a CC offers you the basics in a variety of possible majors.
Physical Geology:
The Earth, its materials, its internal and external processes, its development through time by sea-floor spreading and global plate tectonics.
Energy and the Environment:
Conventional and alternative energy resources and their environmental impacts. Basic principles, historical development, current advantages and disadvantages, future prospects. Oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind, geothermal, water, tidal, solar, hydrogen, and other sources of energy for the 21st century.
I think either the Earth Science course or the Geology course would be fine to fulfill a science course requirement needed for transfer.
I am not familiar with Indiana CC’s but in California, students can use a website assist.org which lists all courses required for transfer for each specific major and target university. If you plan to pursue a STEM major, then the science basics of Biology/Chemistry/Physics/Calculus/Stats would be applicable to many different fields of study. Focus on these basics and you should be in a good position to transfer to a 4 year university. After you have completed the basics along with your general education requirements, you can then narrow down the courses of interest to you.
Hi, @SuperGeo5999, I’m glad you’re taking the advice positively. When you do this, people in general are even more willing to help you…(that will be most important when it comes to your professors and future employers.)
^^That’s a good way to think about your foundation classes as a way to stay motivated. Actually, I think that all the subjects are intertwined to some degree. For example, chemistry is also important in biology, as all cells are made up of chemical building blocks. We usually think about organic chemistry with regard to biology, but nonorganic chemicals impact the biology of organisms too. And math is necessary for understanding chemistry and physics. The more you know, the more you will be able to do in the future! it’s really all very fascinating. I don’t think there’s truly a dull subject…only people who can’t figure out how to appreciate any given subject.
While you are busy with foundation classes, I was wondering (in your spare time) if you can find books, online sources and documentaries (on Netflix or even YouTube) about your interests in meteorology and zoology? That might give you some enjoyment of the subjects you like and keep you motivated in the meantime.
@inthegarden the most boring and dull subjects to me are English and speech becuase I never found them interesting! I don’t like doing presentations or reading books If they are fictional but what I like about doing papers is getting the opportunity to express myself. I know these foundational classes are also important because no matter what I’ll be majoring in I’ll be doing papers and doing presentations. People often think If I major in Engineering, I’ll rarely do papers but even if that were the case I would still wanna gain the skills from those classes becuase communication skills are important no matter what Job I have. I wanna be able to communicate things to people without my background to where they can understand it and I don’t wanna be that rude person on the Job that can’t communicate, let people know the plan, or tell what’s going on. There are rude people that expect you to know how stuff is done or what’s going on. it would rude to expect someone to know Calculus when they haven’t even took that class yet.
Well, you’re very correct that learning to write and communicate in other ways will be very important on the job.
Personally, I love fiction! I have a few friends who think it’s kind of a waste of time, when there are so many other things to read and learn about. But I have always wanted to live many different lives…and have wondered what it would be like to live in different time periods, different cultures, different situations (even if I don’t actually want to live that way.) Reading fiction is a way to get inside another person’s head (even if it’s just the writer’s) and imagine what a different life would be like. I have read studies that suggest reading fiction might help people become more empathetic because it help you imagine how different characters think and feel. Just a different way to exercise your brain…
@inthegarden Is forensic science a good subject? I know that’s another field that combines all the sciences! The lab part of the subjects I mentioned is the most interesting part! I wanna learn how to forecast the weather, Study Animals in there natural habitat(Eclology), and do experiments on the quality of air and water. I think in zoology classes, they do dissections which would be fun but it’s killing animals and I’m against killing animals in any way whether they are endangered species or not. What kind of equipment and technology is used to forecast the weather? Learning about energy resources, oil, coal, climate change, pollution, land and water use, the living world, and Earth systems and resources in Environmental Science will be very interesting but what kind of labs and experiments are done regarding Energy, oil, coal, climate change, or pollution in Environmental science class? Would it be possible that someone at university would give me a tour of the labs where they do these experiments and mentor me in some way in the mean time?
@SuperGeo5999 Why is it really difficult for your not to accept the fact your community college only offers certain classes? I see you’re a pre-engineer major but yet, you still talk about zoology and meteorology. Why not finish doing a major called general studies where you’re open to many opportunities rather than just forcing in on the class from the engineering program.
When I started at my local community college, I was a geology major. I was so hype and happy because I finally get to choose a major I wanted to do since 11th grade. Well in short, I ended up changing my major to math. This is because my geology program required three science courses.
- general physics 1,2
- general chemistry 1,2
- general Biology 1,2
I was really not ready to take so many science courses becaus of the struggle I had with biology in high school. To graduate in a NY state school you are required to pass a state exam called NY regents exam. It took me seven tries to finally pass the biology test. So I wasn’t sure if I was capable of passing a science course in college. So after a good first semester in CC, I told my advisor that I was going to give General biology 1 a try. My biology professor knew me before hand because I told him about the NY exam. He was surprised to see me and take the class. So after first test, I scored a 46 I believe. I knew that at that point I had to find another major. My mind had me thinking of weather. It started with the deadliest event in meteorological event since hurricane Katerina. Hurricane Sandy was the reason why I wanted to follow the steps of becoming a meteorology major.
So when I fully changed my major to math. My math wasn’t really good. I recently passed intermediate algebra with a B. B in algebra is considered good, but I wanted to get an A because I worked so hard. I did so many practice problems, but when it came to the test. I struggled and my first two tests were not that high. I know I had to change my method of studying for a math class. Since every class is dfifrernt I had to find something that could only work with any math class. So next semester I took college algebra and trigonometry. Got a B in that class as well. So after that I finally took precalc. Got a C. No idea why. But I’m glad I passed with a C. If I didn’t pass I would have just retake it again with another professor. Now taking calculus 1 was hard but not hard as people say. I took it twice because first time I got D and this semester I got B. So you see, if I had gotten a good grade in precalc I would have been in calc 2 by now. Precalc is very important, so when you start taking this class make sure you do well on it!!!
@SuperGeo5999 the reason why it was so hard to accept that my community college only offers certain courses is because they should atleast offer introductory level classes in these fields because high schools have them,in previoisly said that in post #12! i’ll just do the pre-engineering program becuase all the programs im interested in require math through atleast calculus 2 and statistics! The program requires Biology if i transfer into Environmental Engineering so I think it’s a good program becuase it requires all the main scinces and a lot of math! Biotechnology or chemical technology might be good too but doesn’t give as broad of an exposure to things!
Conversely, most high schools don’t offer math beyond Calc 1 or, if you’re lucky, Calc 2. Not really comparable. You’re getting more variety in some fields and less in others.
@NASA2014 I accidentally mentioned myself and Ment to mentione you In Post #28!
Anyone got any advice on doing labs and experiments by myself whether it be on the quality of water, dissection, or forecasting the weather?
Here is my plan for the future regarding Community college and interesting courses:
1.work on EdReady over the summer to strengthen my foundation in mathematics or retake Intermediate Algebra in Fall 2017.
2.take courses that are most related to the interests I metioned such as General Biology 2(most related to Zoology), Earth Science or Physical Geology(most related to Meteorlogy because it has a meteorology unit but don’t know if there would be a weather forecasting lab/experiment to get a feel for forecasting in it and I think this course is only online so I don’t know if it’ll be as fun online because I’ll miss out on the lab component), and Environmental Science or Ecology if ever offered at my campus or if i can ever commute 30-60 minutes to another campus.
3.take the courses that most interest me other than the ones metioned above too such as World Civilization, maybe American History or Economics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, maybe Earth Science or Astronomy, and German or French (wish Japanese or Chinese was offered at my campus).
4.focus on the foundation/pre-req/transfer classes such as English Composition, Public Speaking, Mathematics, Engineering design or software tools(if I major in that), Social science, Foreign language, sciences mentioned,and other classes I may need to take.
5.in the mean time, watch documentaries, read books, and do labs/experiments on the sciences I like.
Again, can anyone offer any advice on doing labs and experiments relating to Zoology,Meteorology, or Environmental Science?
In order to take General Biology 2, you need to take the first one, which is General Biology 1.
@NASA2014 at my community college, there is no prerequisite for General Biology 2, other than to have tested into atleast college level English or atleast 100 level math.
By the way,if I do stay focused, get good grades, and transfer to a four year school It will only be two more years at this CC or three more years if i do Engineering. I try to think about how two years in middle school felt like a long time, wasn’t fun, and how I survived and made it through it. I also spent three years at an elementary school that I didn’t like and made it through that.
By the way, the whole reason why I posted this thread was because I was envious of high school students who have access to What would be Introductory level courses since they are at the high school level in Zoology, Meteorology, and Environmental Science.
Why do you always mention “Zoology, Meteorology, and Environmental Science”?
@NASA2014 becuase those are the subjects that strongly interest me. It’s weird because they are three Sciences when there are three main sciences which are Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. They have always interested me since I could talk and see and they are not offered at my school but are offfered at the high school in the same city of mine.
Have you taken Earth Science?