Apart from the clear competencies a student gains through math, the sciences, and language arts, there are a number of not-so-obvious crucial skills that are learned through strengthening and mastering these subject areas. These skills are far-reaching, and help grow minds in numerous settings separate from the classroom. They are interwoven into life situations, and transferable across a wide plane of various career settings. Skills which are sought after and highly valuable. When students ride through the motion of their studies, they often do not see the bigger picture of the skills they are obtaining.
To encourage students in their studies, we want to offer this wide-range lense of the underlying advantages which are being strengthened while they power through their difficult scientific, literary and mathematical assignments.
Math
Mathematics offers so much more than simply knowing how to solve formulas and work with numbers. By strengthening math skills, a student is learning how to think critically, how to deal with abstract concepts, and how to convert real-life problems into solvable, logical situations. Critical thinking is a universal skill that all employers look for in an individual, as they look for those who are able to rationalize, skepticize, and come to unbiased analysis and evaluation of factual evidence in a straight-thinking way. Moreover, students who have strong confidence in their mathematical ability are able to state firmly a problem at hand and break that problem down into small, separate parts in order to present a solution concisely and clearly. According to Famous Mathematics in their especially enlightening article on the benefits of mathematics, they state that “math, especially mental arithmetic, is known to significantly boost the capacity of the brain. The study of shapes, numbers, and patterns encourages one to develop solid observational skills and boosts critical thinking.”. Even further than simply a career choice, by solving formulas, students are building valuable brain muscles that will help them with all areas of their life, no matter what they are dealing with.
Physics
Frontiers offers exceptional information on how physics helps to gain conceptual understanding. Through their informative study, they show “information on how the brain develops, and from a large-scale brain network perspective, the brain regions showing physics reasoning-related activation resemble one commonly observed functional brain network known as the central executive network (CEN). The CEN, consisting of lateral prefrontal and parietal regions, is generally associated with externally oriented attentional and executive processes (e.g., working memory, response selection, and inhibition”. Furthermore, physics allows us to better understand the world which surrounds us every day in so much more depth. In an article posted by Scientific World, it states how “Physics helps us analyze, evaluate, and distinguish solutions to different problems. Physics isn’t just in labs, it’s everywhere we look.“.
Chemistry
Chemistry is at times referred to as the “central science”, simply because it connects other sciences to each other. Biology, physics, geology, and environmental science are all interwoven through the magic of chemistry. In the Science Daily article posted about an eye-opening study which was conducted, it proves how studying the sciences strengthens the hippocampus, which is primarily responsible for the memory function of the brain. By studying chemistry and forming relationships and connections in the brain between the sciences, one can better understand science as a whole, which plays a large role in how we view and interact with the world around us – both in our work environment and in our day-to-day lives. Plus, chemistry plays a big part in understanding how our very own bodies and brains work, the vital relationships between our brain functions, and how they play out throughout our bodies. By studying chemistry, we are better able to understand the vital parts of our own immediate realities, and how to better take care of our own selves and help those around us.
Biology
Focusing on biology in your studies provides you with an in-depth comprehension of the natural world around you. It also helps you learn how to problem solve, conduct research, organize, and think critically. Much like, and even more so than chemistry, studying biology allows you to better understand the structures of your body and the way it functions. The information you gain through the subject carries through into how you view the way you eat and take care of your own health. It also allows you to view the living organisms around you in a more complex way; food, plants and animals. All in all, studying the sciences offers so much more than an exciting career path. It provides just that because your mind is opened to the complexity of the life around you. You are able to strengthen the parts of your brain which help you think clearer, obtain more knowledge, retain memory, and think more logically and intricately in so many ways. In addition to this, you are able to evaluate data, put together reasoned arguments and question assumptions – skills which are highly valuable in many different situations and career paths.
Language Arts
In an article posted by Edutopia, they state how the practice of writing can enhance the brain’s intake, processing, retaining, and retrieving of information. Through writing, students can increase their comfort with and success in understanding complex material, unfamiliar concepts, and subject-specific vocabulary. These are highly beneficial skills to obtain no matter what you choose to focus on. There is no doubt that the skills gained through the collecting and processing of in-depth and meaningful information taken in through literature and literacy are important. It allows you to analyze life through a wide and intricate lens, and to break down convoluted information into understandable information.
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