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Common knowledge, skills, and values present important educational problems and opportunities. Currently, these problems and opportunities are confounding established practices, particularly in an era of global and historical transition. Through their educative experience persons become both socialized and individuated. By common learning, let us understand those elements of a culture — its knowledge, skills, and values — that all or some members come to acquire in common with each other. Acquiring knowledge, skills, and values in common with others is the socializing engine in educative experience, and the irony is, of course, that acquiring common learning is also the individuating engine. No one can acquire the complete pool of potentially shared culture, with the result that the individuation of each person through educative experience takes place, not by acquiring paticular qualities that are unique and idiosyncratic in a positive sense, but because each acquires a distinctive selection of common learning. Individuality consists in the distinctive selection that each makes from what is held in common by all. As some knowledge, skills, and values educate people in common, civic effects emerge — polities form, cultures take effect, economies produce and distribute, communication spreads. Common knowledge, skills, and values educate largely through spontaneous, informal interactions. Yet they educate as well through formal efforts. Historic frustration, contraction, and decline occur as incoherence and cross-purposes undercut the net commonalities resulting from the sum of spontaneous and intentional effort. Historic advance emerges as the spontaneous and the intentional converge in spreading new or renewed commonalities. Effective educational leadership consists in discerning what potential commonalities have most worth and bringing them to fulfillment. Such considerations suggest that the question of how common learning educates has substantial import to the quality of the lives people lead. Does common learning educate? Knowledge, skills, and values that no one shares with others are idiosyncrasies, quirks and tics that set one person off from others. Let us start with the idea that learning held in common with others may educate in important ways. That idea leads to a host of questions. - Might some learning, when held in common, have greater power to educate than other common learning? If so, what learning is it that has these special powers?? - How does the holding of learning in common educate? - When might it miseducate? - How does common learning educate at different levels of sophistication — at a person's initial encounter with things that educate, at more advanced levels, and within different domains of specialization? These and related questions drive the Common Learning Project. What is the historical situation of common learning? Material constraints on educative interactions are changing significantly. Peoples around the world are moving from an elitist cultural condition to a democratic one, not in a normative or ideological sense, but in an empirical, experiential situation. Up until roughly the year 2000, the material constraints of mechanical reproduction limited access to a full set of cultural resources to a relatively small minority of people who engaged in the sustained use of well-stocked libraries and other cultural institutions or had sufficient wealth to acquire such resources for their personal use. In a regime of scarcity, the question of common learning had two forms — 'What least common denominator should all share?' and 'Given all the possibilities, what has most interest and worth?' The first question leads to a popular mass culture and the second to a critical "high" culture. Under a regime of scarcity, most people can only opt for the first yet the most advantaged find themselves confronted by the second. The cultural situation was riven between mass and elite by the material conditions of cultural production. The normative descriptor "high," because only members of elites could engage it. These underlying material constraints are changing profoundly. A deeply unprecedented cultural situation is coming about. Anyone, now, with a simple computer and a phone line has immediate access to extraordinary cultural resources. This change potentially alters the way common learning educates, transforming who it might educate, how, why, when and where. Only the few possessed high culture, which the rest naturally resented, for they found it, given the circumstances, beyond their means. Is an unprecedented situation arising in which nearly all are gaining the material possibility of defining themselves through the conscious choice among an extensive array of cultural options, hitherto confined to elites? What are the educational possibilities and problems embedded in this development?

http://studyplace.org/w/index.php?title=Common_knowledge&oldid=42921

Updated 02 Feb 2012 This page is for those who are just starting out in astronomy and telescopes. It will provide a basic introduction to telescope All telescopes use either a lens or a mirror (some use both) to gather incoming light and to form an image from that light. The telescope's eyepiece takes the image formed by the lens (or mirror) and magnifies it to a larger size so that the human eye can see more details in the image. If you look at a typical eyepiece you will almost certainly see some numbers and possibly some letters printed on the eyepiece. For example, you might see the marking "25mm" or "7.5mm" (or any other number of values ranging from around 4mm to possibly 60mm). This numeric value is known as the focal length of the eyepiece (measured in millimeters). This is probably the most important characteristic of an eyepiece because it allows you to calculate how much magnification the eyepiece will provide. The actual magnification an eyepiece provides depends on the focal length of the telescope. You may see other letters or markings on the eyepiece (such as "H", "SR", "Pl", etc), these indicate the type of eyepiece (we will discuss these in an upcoming section). For now, the thing to take away from this section that the number printed on the eyepiece is the focal length and understand that it is used to calculate the magnification the eyepiece will provide. To determine the magnification that an eyepiece provides, two pieces of information are needed. One is the focal length of the eyepiece and the second is the focal length of the telescope in which the eyepiece will be used. Almost every telescope ever made will have the focal length marked on it, usually near where the eyepiece goes into the scope. Focal lengths for typical beginner telescopes will be in the range from around 500mm to 1200mm. To determine the magnification that a particular eyepiece provides, a simple calculation is done: divide the focal length of the telescope by the focal length of the eyepiece. Let's take an example. Suppose you have a telescope with a focal length of 700mm and an eyepiece of focal length 25mm. The magnification that the eyepiece provides in this telescope will be 700/25 = 28x (often called "28 power"). Now let's take the same scope but use a second eyepiece of focal length 7.5mm. The magnification provided by this eyepiece will be 700/7.5 = 93.3x. Magnifications for other telescope/eyepiece combinations are calculated in the same manner. One thing to note from this: eyepieces with smaller focal lengths produce larger magnifications with any given telescope! The image below shows the results of using appropriate magnification and excessive magnification. The leftmost two images of Saturn are representative of what you might expect to see at low and high power respectively (in a typical entry level scope). The image at right shows what happens when magnification is pushed to excess. The image is bigger to be sure, however the clarity is terrible, the image will be very shaky and much dimmer. No additional detail can be seen beyond a certain point! The image at right is typical of what you might see in an entry level telescope that claims "675x magnification". The most magnification you will normally use is about 50x per inch of lens (or mirror) diameter. For a 3" scope this would be about 150x. Remember, most of your observing will be done at LOW magnification! Representative views of Saturn at low, high and excessive magnification! Yes. Here we are talking about physical size of the eyepiece barrel (the silver part that inserts into the eyepiece holder), not the focal length. There are 3 standard sizes of eyepieces in use for amateur telescopes. They are .965", 1.25" and 2". That said, it should be noted that the .965" size is an older obsolete size that is still being used on some entry level scopes. The 1.25" size is the most commonly used eyepiece size for amateur telescopes. The 2" size is also common on amateur scopes but this size is generally found on larger, more advanced telescopes. Most beginning astronomers will not need to be concerned with 2" eyepieces (a single 2" eyepiece can be as costly as an entire entry level telescope)! The photo below shows the relative sizes of the three standard sizes of eyepieces along with a soda can for reference. Note that the 2" eyepiece shown here is not too much smaller than a soda can! 2", 1.25" and .965" diameter eyepieces with a soda can for reference. All other things being equal, no. The quality of an eyepiece is not related to its size (good quality eyepieces can be made in any of the three sizes). That said, it should be noted that many of the eyepieces that come in the .965" size are not of the best quality. This is not a result of the size but more a result of making things less costly. Yes. When we say "type" of eyepiece we refer to the optical design of the eyepiece. There are many optical designs used in various eyepieces, some use more glass elements than others to achieve different characteristics. Plossl eyepieces (an excellent all around performer) often come with the better entry level telescopes. Unfortunately some entry level telescopes come with eyepiece designs that are not as good. These typically include the Huygens (marked with an "H") and Symmetric Ramsden (typically marked "SR"). These are common designs in entry level telescopes as they are inexpensive to make (however their performance is often not so good compared to the better Plossl design). There are two specifications regarding field of view when speaking of eyepieces. One is known as "apparent field of view" and the other is "actual field of view". Both are measured in degrees. Apparent field of view is constant for any given eyepiece and telescope combination. Actual field of view refers to how much actual sky you can see at any one time (and this will vary depending on what telescope the eyepiece is used in). So what do these two terms really mean? Apparent field of view can be thought of as "how big a window am I looking through". The wider the apparent field of view the more area of sky you will see. Eyepieces come with apparent fields of view ranging from around 30 degrees (quite narrow) to over 80 degrees (extremely wide), with 40 to 50 degrees being very common (and totally adequate for entry level eyepieces). Eyepieces with apparent fields of view in the 60 degree plus range generally cost a considerable amount (several hundred dollars). Although often excellent performers, they are not included as standard equipment when buying a telescope as they are too costly. Getting back to understanding apparent field of view, here's an example of how to better understand what it means. Picture yourself sitting on a couch in your living room and looking out a standard window (say a 3x5 foot window). You can probably see some trees, maybe a portion of the neighbor's house, etc. Now, sitting in the same spot, imagine that there was a 6x12 foot picture window. Now you can see a LOT more outside! Nothing visible through the window looks any LARGER, we just see MORE of what is outside. For eyepieces with a wider apparent field of view, the results will be similar. So what is actual field of view? When you use a particular eyepiece in a given telescope, it will "see" a small portion of the sky. In general, the more magnification that is used the LESS sky we will see. For example the Moon is about 1/2 of a degree wide. Most small telescopes using low magnification can see the entire Moon (with a good amount of "breathing room" surrounding it). If we switch to an eyepiece that results in higher magnification, we will more likely only be able to see a portion of the Moon at any one time. So, for any given eyepiece/telescope combination, the eyepiece will allow you to see a particular portion of the sky. For a low power eyepiece, a typical actual field of view (for an entry level telescope) might be in the order of 2 degrees. For the same telescope using a higher magnification eyepiece, the field of view might be (for example) more like 1/4 of a degree. By use of an eyepiece that has a wide apparent field of view (say 70 degrees or so) and one that also results in a fairly high magnification (for example around 100x), it is possible to obtain some very dramatic views of objects like the Moon (basically you have fairly high magnification AND a wide actual field of view at the same time)! As with most anything good, there is a downside: cost. Eyepieces that have very wide fields of view are often pretty expensive and they will not be "standard equipment" on any entry level telescope. The main thing to take away from this section is that eyepieces with wider apparent fields of view are generally easier to use (think of the difference between looking out a porthole vs. a picture window). For any given eyepiece, the actual field of view is a function of the magnification the eyepiece provides with a particular telescope (the more magnification the less sky you will see at once). Yes. There are 3 or 4 eyepieces to be avoided that are fairly commonly supplied with entry level telescopes. Ones to avoid include eyepieces with the following markings: H25mm, H20mm, H12.5mm and SR4mm. Especially avoid them if they are of the .965" barrel diameter! As mentioned in a previous section, eyepieces with H markings (Huygens optical configuration) are generally of not very good quality (the image will tend to be blurry around the perimeter of the field of view) and the apparent fields of view are on the smaller side. Huygens eyepieces with smaller focal lengths tend to be worse than those with larger focal lengths. Most users that attempt to use an SR4mm eyepiece will find it of little practical use. Such eyepieces are provided with scopes only to allow the scope to claim a very high maximum magnification (many people just starting out associate "high magnification" with "high quality", a notion that is completely false). In general, the smaller the focal length of the eyepiece the harder it is to physically look through. This is because the opening is very small and you have to very carefully center your eye over it in order to see anything. Couple that with the shakiness that a high magnification will result in using a small scope and you will be lucky to see much of anything. Regarding eyepiece size (barrel diameter), I strongly advise avoiding any telescope that can only accept .965" eyepieces. The reason is this: the availability of quality .965" eyepieces has greatly diminished in recent years and you will have a very hard time finding quality eyepieces to upgrade to. There is a huge variety of quality eyepieces available in the 1.25" size so this is the size eyepiece you want your first telescope to be able to use. Number 1. Make sure the telescope accepts the 1.25" size (it is OK if it also takes the 2" size as adapters are widely available to allow using 1.25" eyepieces in scopes that take 2" eyepieces). Number 2. If the telescope comes with 2 eyepieces, you want one of them to produce a good low power magnification (in the range of 25x - 50x) and the other one should produce a good higher magnification (in the range of 90x - 120x). These magnifications will be the ones most commonly used in most any telescope (including expensive advanced telescopes)! Also, if the scope comes with 2 eyepieces try to make sure that the focal length of one is NOT simply twice that of the other. For example, I've seen scopes that come with a 20mm eyepiece and a 10mm eyepiece. Why is this not the best choice? If you eventually obtain a Barlow lens (an accessory that typically doubles the power of any eyepiece) then you will effectively have only 3 unique magnifications with those 2 eyepieces. It would be better to have a a scope come with 2 eyepieces that are more like 25mm and 10mm. When used in conjunction with a Barlow lens this would provide you with 4 unique magnifications (instead of only 3 with the other case) when using a 2x Barlow lens. The bottom line is this: The best eyepieces for an entry level scope will typically include one of approximately 25mm focal length and one in the range of 10m - 7mm (depending on the scope's focal length). Always avoid telescopes with the eyepieces mentioned in the previous paragraph!!! As for the design of the eyepiece, Plossl is arguably the best optical design for an entry level scope. Some of the least expensive scopes won't come with Plossl eyepieces (due to cost); just be sure to stay away from H and SR eyepieces and chances are you will be fine. For most people, 2 will be fine for starting out, and eventually a third eyepiece could be added to your collection. Ideally a low, medium and high magnification eyepiece set is perfect for most people (with low and high magnifications being the first two to obtain). Alternatively, a decent quality 2x Barlow lens will double the magnification of any given eyepiece. So, if you have 2 eyepieces you can likely end up with 4 unique magnifications by using a Barlow lens (a Barlow lens would cost about the same as a decent quality beginner eyepiece, or around $50- $60). You can always add more eyepieces later if your interest grows! Possibly. If you do wear glasses and have to use them when looking through a telescope, you may find eyepieces that produce larger magnifications (eyepieces with smaller focal lengths) difficult to look through. This is because you cannot get your eye close enough to the eyepiece to comfortably see through it while wearing glasses. There is a specification associated with eyepieces that we have not mentioned yet: eye relief. Eye relief specifies how far away you can hold your eye and still easily see image in the eyepiece. There are eyepieces available with what is known as "long eye relief". Such eyepieces typically have eye relief of around 20mm (this should be adequate for most anyone who wears glasses at the scope). Eye relief is not always specified with eyepieces. If it is not called out, chances are it is not a long eye relief eyepiece. The downside with long eye relief eyepieces is that they tend to be somewhat more costly than other eyepiece designs (maybe $100 per eyepiece). Keep in mind however that most people who wear eyeglasses at the scope will typically only find certain eyepieces (the ones that generate higher magnifications) problematic. Most good quality eyepieces will have at least some of their elements treated with anti reflection optical coatings. Such coatings help to transmit more light and reduce glare and loss of contrast. You can often tell that an eyepiece has coatings as the optics will tend to have a bluish or greenish tint to them. Ideally all air-to-glass interfaces in an eyepiece will have anti reflection coatings, but the more coatings an eyepiece has the more it will cost (and the better the view will be too). Filters are used to enhance viewing of certain objects (there are different filters for different subjects and viewing conditions). The filters basically thread into one end of the eyepiece. Virtually all eyepieces available today are threaded to accept filters (all but one brand I have ever encountered use a standardized thread so there is little chance of incompatibility among filters and eyepieces). In general, when changing eyepieces (to get a different magnification), some refocusing of the telescope will be required. Eyepieces that are parafocal will need only a very minor (if any) refocusing. In general parafocal eyepieces are eyepieces of different focal lengths from the same family of eyepieces. Being parafocal (or not) with each other has no bearing on quality or performance, it is simply something that provides convenience. The best thing is to not let them get dirty (keep them covered and in their cases when not in use). If you must clean them, do so carefully. Never use anything like Windex! Use only a soft, CLEAN camel hair brush or use compressed air (from a can, NOT from a garage air compressor), or a cloth that is meant for optics (kits such as Orion Deluxe 6-Piece Optics Cleaning Kit or Orion Optics Cleaning Kit are examples of what should be used if you need to clean your eyepiece optics) . Never disassemble an eyepiece to attempt to clean the interior. No dirt can enter inside the eyepiece, taking it apart almost certainly assures you will not get it back together properly! No. You *can* spend a lot if you want the very best, however for most people starting out the cost of such eyepieces is not justified (or necessary). Very good eyepieces can be had for around $50 each. As you progress in astronomy you can always move up to more expensive eyepieces. The more costly eyepieces offer very wide fields of view with outstanding image quality throughout the field. Some of these eyepieces cost over $500! However, keep in mind that many of the $50 eyepieces will get you 80% of the view of the very best at 1/10 the cost. If you are just starting out and have $500 to spend, it would be much wiser to buy a better telescope before delving into exotic high end eyepieces. Below are some examples of eyepieces that would be very good choices for starting out. If you purchased a good starter scope chances are you already have eyepieces that are perfectly fine. However if you have an older scope or one with less than great eyepieces, the ones I list below are excellent choices for upgrading. Note that these are all 1.25" diameter eyepieces, your scope must accept this size eyepiece for these to work! The first two are ones I recommend as my top 2 picks for excellent low and high power views in the vast majority of entry level telescopes. These eyepieces are of a quality level that you won't outgrow in a month (these are good all around workhorses that will be useful even if you upgrade to a more sophisticated telescope in the future). These eyepieces have all of the features discussed earlier: a wide 50-deg apparent field of view, and the optics are fully coated with magnesium fluoride on every air-to-glass surface (improves contrast and reduces scattering). Cost is around $55 each including shipping. Orion 25mm Sirius Plossl eyepiece. This would be an excellent choice for a low power eyepiece for most telescopes. Orion 7.5mm Sirius Plossl eyepiece. This would be an excellent choice for a high power eyepiece for most telescopes. Orion 12.5mm Sirius Plossl eyepiece. This would be an excellent choice for a medium power eyepiece for most telescopes. Use your browser's "back" button, or use links below if you arrived here via some other path: This page is part of the site Amateur Astronomer's Notebook. E-mail to Joe Roberts HTML text © Copyright 2009 by Joe Roberts.

http://www.rocketroberts.com/astro/eyepiece_basics.htm

6th Grade Research and Inquiry Resources • Students will use the Internet to learn about volcanoes. • Students will watch a movie explaining how volcanoes form and erupt. • Students will take an interactive quiz about volcanoes. Yahooligans! is an Internet guide for children. It features a variety of educational BrainPOP animated movies with science• related themes. The interactive quiz directs students to the correct answers. • Have students conduct a science experiment by building a model volcano. Direct them to the Yahooligans! homepage where they can perform a search for "Volcano." Here they will find instructions on how to build a model volcano from different sources. • Have students connect to http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/volc_images.html. Have students: select a region and list the names of three volcanoes found there. find the United States and look at the names of the volcanoes located there. Which volcano is closest to where they live? find and select the volcano located closest to where they live on the Web site. Have them search the Internet for more information about the volcano, and determine exactly how far away the volcano is from school.

http://treasures.macmillanmh.com/maine/families/resources/grade6/research-and-inquiry-resources/resource/volcanoes

(From the Study Guide)| Before Viewing the Show Examine chart 2 on the world Jewish population found in this chapter of the Study Guide. Watch for . . . and Think About Note the portraits and photographs of Chagall, Kafka, Schoenberg, and Einstein. What does the existence of these famous people tell of the relationship of the Jews to twentieth-century European culture? Street signs warning Jews to keep out of public and private establishments, photographs of book burnings, and location shots of Dachau will help you experience what it was like to be an outsider in Nazi culture during the 1930s. How did the Jews perceive their future in Germany at this time? When viewing the wrenching scenes of Nazi cruelty to Jews, of degradation and mass extermination, reflect on how the Germans could wantonly destroy Jewish lives. Pictures of daily existence in the Jewish ghettos, their cultural activities, and the Warsaw ghetto uprising show how human beings respond in the face of adversity. While Reading the Study Guide and Source Reader Look for the following: After Viewing and Reading - How the German Jews fared in the aftermath of World War I and how the Russian Jews were affected by the Bolshevik revolution. - The cultural activities pursued by the Jews of East Central Europe. - How Weimar Germany disintegrated and Hitler gradually rose to power. - The tactics whereby Hitler eliminated the Jews from German life. Identify Nuremburg Laws, Kristallnacht. - The stages in the destruction of European Jewry. How did the Jews respond? Identify and be able to describe the Judenrat, the "final solution," and Nazi-controlled ghettos. - How would you compare the state of Jewish culture among the Jews of the Soviet Union with those living in East Central Europe? - Give examples of Jewish integration into Weimar Germany. Did some Jews seek out their Jewish roots? - How did the Nuremburg Laws serve to separate the Jews from Germans? - From which countries, in what years, and under what conditions do you find Jews traveling to Palestine and helping to build the Jewish homeland? - How did the Jews attempt to survive in the ghettos? Were they successful? What were their options? - How would you sum up the effect of the Nazi destruction on Jewish life in Europe? On the Jews? On world civilization? Nahum Glatzer, Franz Rosenzweig: His Life and Thought (Jewish Publication Society of America, 1953) Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews (Quadrangle, 1961) Isaiah Trunk, Judenrat (Stein and Day, 1972)

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/teachingheritage/lessons/faculty/unit8/students.html

- slide 1 of 3 Materials and Preparation A topographic map shows the various elevations of a landscape by using contour lines. These contour lines connect the areas that have the same elevation. The following materials will be needed to make the topographic map: - block of modeling clay - piece of wax paper - rubber band - metric ruler - brown and blue colored pencils - butter knife Make a small mountain out of the modeling clay. It needs to be a little over 10 cm high and should include gullies or valleys where streams would run. Place the mountain on the wax paper. Use the rubber band to attach the pencil 2 cm from the end of the ruler as shown in this picture. - slide 2 of 3 - Hold the ruler upright, with the pencil point touching the clay mountain. - Mark a line completely around the clay mountain by moving the ruler/pencil around the clay mountain. - Move the pencil up to the 4 cm mark on the ruler and repeat step 2. - Using the pencil, mark the contour line moving the pencil up 2 cm at a time until you reach the top of the clay mountain. - Remove the wax paper and place the clay on a sheet of blank paper. Trace around the outside edge with the brown pencil. Take the mountain off the paper and place it back on the wax paper. - Using the butter knife, carefully cut the mountain at the 2 cm elevation line, by moving the knife all around the mountain. Make the cut as flat as possible, trying not to change the shape of the mountain. - Remove the wax paper and the bottom slice that you cut off of the mountain. Set the slice aside and place the remainder of the mountain in the center of the first contour line that you traced on the paper. Trace the edge as you did before, and the put the mountain back on the wax paper. - Repeat steps 6-8 for the remainder of the contour lines to complete your topographic map of your mountain. - Label the first contour you drew 0 cm, the next 2 cm, and continue to the top of the mountain. Use the blue pencil to draw streams in the gullies or valleys. - slide 3 of 3 Have the students discuss the following: - Is your topographic map an accurate representation of the mountain? - What is the elevation of your mountain? - Draw a straight line down one side from the top of your mountain to the bottom. Calculate the average slope along this line. As a challenge, ask students to trade topographic maps with a classmate. Have each student get more modeling clay and try to recreate their partner's mountain using their topographic map as a guide. Students can place together the sections cut from their original mountain and compare it with their partner's recreation. Discuss how close they came to the original.

http://www.brighthubeducation.com/elementary-school-activities/24877-making-a-topographic-map/

Computer chip technology and scientific breakthroughs have marched in step for decades. But the ability to cram ever more circuitry onto silicon chips now faces fundamental limits. In recent years, scientists have been going for the ultimate shrinkage: turning single molecules and small chemical groups into transistors and other standard components of computer chips. This year, researchers wired up their first molecular-scale circuits, a feat that Science selects as the Breakthrough of 2001 and that may herald a new generation of molecular electronics. Today's state-of-the-art computer chips pack some 40 million transistors onto a slab of silicon no bigger than a postage stamp. But as impressive as this sounds, the transistors on these chips are still about 60,000 times bigger than molecules. By the late 1990s a spate of studies had shown that individual molecules could conduct electricity like wires or semiconductors, the building blocks of modern microprocessors. Turning individual molecules into devices was not far behind, and by the end of 2000 researchers had amassed a grab bag of molecular electronic devices but no demonstrations of wiring them together. 2001 brought a world of difference, when five labs succeeded in hooking up these devices into more complex circuits that could carry out rudimentary computing operations: - In January, a team led by Charles Lieber, a chemist at Harvard University, reported arranging nanowires into a simple configuration that resembled the lines in a ticktacktoe board that was electronically active. The tiny arrangement wasn't a circuit yet, but it was the first step, showing that separate nanowires could communicate with one another. - In April, James Heath and his colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles, reported at the American Chemical Society meeting that they'd made semiconducting crossbars. Heath's team placed molecules called rotaxanes, which function as molecular transistors, at each junction. By controlling the input voltages to each arm of the crossbar, the scientists showed that they could make working 16-bit memory circuits. - In the 26 August online edition of Nano Letters, a team led by Phaedon Avouris of IBM reported making a circuit out of a single semiconducting carbon nanotube. The team coaxed the device to work like a simple circuit called an inverter, another of the basic building blocks for more complex circuitry. Crucially, the IBM circuit also demonstrated another advantage: "gain," the ability to turn a weak electrical input into a stronger output, which is a necessary feature for sending signals through multiple devices. - A pair of papers in the 9 November issue of Science reported circuits with even stronger gain. The first, by Cees Dekker and his colleagues at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, also relied on carbon nanotubes. By carefully controlling the formation of metal gate electrodes, Dekker's group created transistors with an output signal 10 times stronger than the input. Lieber and colleagues at Harvard also got in on the act, constructing circuits with their semiconducting nanowires, in this case made from silicon and gallium nitride. - Finally, in a report published online by Science on 8 November, a group led by physicist Jan Hendrik Schön of Lucent Technologies' Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, reported similar success in crafting circuits from transistors made from organic molecules that chemically assemble themselves between pairs of gold electrodes. Researchers now face the truly formidable task of taking the technology from demonstrations of rudimentary circuits to highly complex integrated circuitry that can improve upon silicon's speed, reliability, and low cost. Reaching that level of complexity will undoubtedly require a revolution in chip fabrication. But as chip designers race ever closer to the limits of silicon, pressure to extend this year's breakthroughs in molecular electronics will only intensify.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2001/12/20-01.html

The jet stream, one of the most dramatic forces of nature, was discovered during World War II when aviators first tried to cross the Pacific. This strong wind current is often defined as upper atmosphere winds that blow faster than 57 miles per hour. At an altitude above 20,000 feet, or between 6 and 9 miles above the Earth's* surface, the jet stream winds make their presence known. This puts the jet stream near the top of the Earth's troposphere, where most of the Earth's weather occurs. The core of the jet, a fast-moving wind current that blows west to east around the Earth, reaches an average windspeed of about 80 knots, or 92 miles per hour, and can reach speeds upwards of 300 miles per hour in the winter. These winds are stronger during the winter months because at this time of year the surface temperature contrasts are greater. The greater the contrasts in surface temperature, the stronger the jet stream winds blow. Length, Width, and Thickness? Although the jet stream may stretch for thousands of miles around the world, it is only a few hundred miles wide and often less than 3 miles thick. Does it Affect Weather? This strong current of air pushes weather systems around the world, and greatly affects local weather patterns by propelling them forward. Does It Ever Blow North or South? Because the jet stream winds are greatly affected by changes in temperature, their trajectory does not always flow in a uniform west to east direction. Often they might head due north and then arc down in a southerly direction, creating a wavy pattern or what meteorologists call troughs and ridges. What Does It Have to Do With Global Ballooning? Most of the teams plan to catch a ride on the jet stream, which will carry the balloons around the Earth. Therefore, for global balloonists, troughs and ridges present the least desirable air flow pattern. In this scenario, the jet stream would propel a balloon on a wavy north-south course, advancing very slowly around the Earth, losing precious time rather than advancing the balloon on an easterly course around the globe.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/balloon/science/jetstream.html

Playing with Basic Elements For Grades K–12 Inspired by Fletcher Benton: The Alphabet (July 30, 2009–July 3, 2010) Fletcher Benton has another strategy for working. He uses a group of small basic elements and combines them in different ways to create small sculptures. Then he looks at all the sculptures and decides which ones are most interesting. These he turns into large-scale sculpture. - Students will learn that everyday materials can be used as shapes - Students will use everyday materials as repeated shapes in designing and building their own sculptures - Students will learn about balance Select a half dozen elements and give each student a half dozen or so of each. Some everyday objects that might be easy to include as elements are: - Cotton swabs - Peppermint puffs - Styrofoam packing pieces - Sugar cubes - Cotton balls - Geometric shapes cut from cardboard Ask each student to build a small sculpture using whatever means they can to get things to stay together—twist ties, glue, etc. Evaluate each sculpture using the evaluation included with this lesson plan. Choose one sculpture to make a larger version. Have each student build a version of that sculpture, adding color. Compare these sculptures. How are they the same? How are they different? New York State Learning Standards - English Language Arts Standards 1 and 3 - Visual Arts Standards 1–3 Updates in Progress We are in the process of revamping the Lesson Plans section of our website to help you find the lessons that suit your needs more easily. During this time, please click through to an individual lesson plan to see all of the learning standards associated with that lesson. Thank you for your patience. New tools are coming soon! Which works are on view? If you are planning to visit the Gallery to see a specific work of art, please call us first to confirm that it will be on view: 716.882.8700. GUIDED SCHOOL TOURS The Gallery offers guided school tours designed to create the critical and creative thinkers of tomorrow as part of the Art’scool program. Learn more

http://www.albrightknox.org/education/lesson-plans/lesson:playing-with-basic-elements/

The term real wages refers to wages that have been adjusted for inflation In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a... . This term is used in contrast to nominal wages or unadjusted wages. Real wages provide a clearer representation of an individual's wages. The use of adjusted figures is used in undertaking some forms of economic analysis. For example, in order to report on the relative economic successes of two nations, real wage figures are much more useful than nominal figures. If nominal figures are used in an analysis, then statements may be incorrect. A report could state: 'Country A is becoming wealthier each year than Country B because its wage levels are rising by an average of $500 compared to $250 in Country B'. However, the conclusion that this statement draws could be false if the values used are not adjusted for inflation. An inflation rate of 100 percent in Country A will result in its citizens becoming rapidly poorer than those of Country B where inflation is only 2 percent. Taking inflation into account, the conclusion is quite different: 'Despite nominal wages in Country A rising faster than those in Country B, real wages are falling significantly as the currency halves in value each year'. The importance of considering real wages also appears when looking at the history of a single country. If only nominal wages are considered, the conclusion has to be that people used to be a great deal poorer than today. The cost of living was also much lower. In order to have an accurate view of a nation's wealth in any given year, inflation has to be taken into account — and thus using real wages as the measuring stick. Real wages are a useful economic measure, as opposed to nominal wages, which simply show the monetary value of wages in that year. However, real wages does not take into account other compensation like benefits or old age pensions. Consider an example economy with the following wages over three years: - Year 1: $20,000 - Year 2: $20,400 - Year 3: $20,808 Real Wage = W/P (W= wage, P= i, inflation, can also be subjugated as interest) Also assume that the inflation in this economy is 2 percent p.a. These figures have very different meanings depending on whether they are real wages or nominal wages If the figures that are shown are real wages, then it can be determined that wages have increased by 2 percent after inflation has been taken into account. In effect, an individual making this wage actually has more money than the previous year. However, if the figures that are shown are nominal wages then the wages are not really increasing at all. In absolute dollar amounts, an individual is bringing home more money each year, but the increases in inflation actually zeroes out the increases in their salary. Given that inflation is increasing at the same pace as wages, an individual cannot actually afford to increase their consumption Consumption is a common concept in economics, and gives rise to derived concepts such as consumer debt. Generally, consumption is defined in part by comparison to production. But the precise definition can vary because different schools of economists define production quite differently...

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Real_wage

X-ray Exams Printer Friendly Format [DOC] Other common names: - Contrast X-ray Exam Description: X-ray, or radiography, is the oldest and most common form of medical imaging. An X-ray machine produces a controlled beam of radiation, which is used to create an image of the inside of your body. This beam is directed at the area being examined. After passing through the body, the beam falls on a piece of film or a special plate where it casts a type of shadow. Different tissues in the body block or absorb the radiation differently. Dense tissue, such as bone, blocks most of the radiation and appears white on the film. Soft tissue, such as muscle, blocks less radiation and appears darker on the film. Often multiple images are taken from different angles so a more complete view of the area is available. The images obtained during X-ray exams may be viewed on film or put through a process called “digitizing” so that they can be viewed on a computer screen. Sometimes an X-ray exam includes contrast. For a contrast study, you will receive a drug called a contrast agent, which will highlight or contrast parts of the body so they show more clearly on the X-ray image. Example of Uses: X-ray exams can be used to view, monitor, or diagnose - bone fractures - joint injuries and infections - artery blockages - abdominal pain Preparation for an X-ray exam: For most X-ray exams, there is no special preparation needed. You will be asked to wear a hospital gown and remove all jewelry and metal objects before the test. For contrast X-ray exams, you will be given a dose of contrast agent by mouth, as an enema, or as an injection or by catheter (thin tube) into a specific area of the body. Your physician will provide any specific instructions necessary for your contrast study. During the Exam: You will be asked to either lie on an exam table or stand next to the X-ray machine. The room may be cool in order to keep the equipment from overheating. The technologist, or person performing the exam, may use pillows or sandbags to help you hold the proper position. You will be asked to hold very still, without breathing for a few seconds. The technologist will step behind a radiation barrier and activate the X-ray machine. Often multiple images or views are taken from different angles, so the technologist will reposition you for another view and the process will be repeated. You will not feel the radiation. A mammogram is an X-ray exam of the breast. A special machine designed specifically to examine breast tissue is used. It takes a different form of X-ray and uses lower doses of radiation than a usual X-ray. Because these X-rays do not go through breast tissue as easily, the mammogram machine has two plates that compress the breast to spread the tissue apart. A more accurate image is obtained with less radiation this way. Time Required: 5 to 60 minutes Noise During Exam: Minimal clicking or buzzing noises. Space During Exam: You will either lie on an exam table or stand next to the X-ray machine with ample space around you. - X-ray exams are fast and easy. - The equipment used is relatively inexpensive and widely available. Risks: X-ray exams exposure patients to radiation. The amount of radiation exposure is variable depending upon the X-ray type (for example, of the brain, lungs, or abdomen) and the X-ray machine type (for example, different models and manufacturers). Because the radiation exposure is variable, the risks are also variable. Please speak to your radiologist, or your physician who refers you for the X-ray exam, for specific details on radiation exposure and possible risks. - Women should inform their doctor if they are or may be pregnant or nursing prior to any radiological imaging. Your doctor may recommend another type of test to reduce the possible risk of exposing your baby to radiation. - There is a rare risk of a major allergic reaction to the contrast agent. X-rays are recorded on film or recorded digitally. A radiologist, who is a physician with specialized training in X-ray and other imaging tests, will analyze and interpret the results of your X-ray and then send a report to your personal physician. For non-emergency situations, it usually takes a day or so to interpret, report, and deliver the results. Contact your personal physician for information on the results of your exam. The development of lay imaging descriptions is a project of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network Patient Advocacy Committee.

http://www.acrin.org/PATIENTS/ABOUTIMAGINGEXAMSANDAGENTS/ABOUTXRAYS.aspx

Tail-gliding Bugs Are Not Evidence for Flight Evolution by Jeffrey Tomkins, Ph.D. * Researchers recently announced that they have unlocked some of the mystery surrounding the evolution of insect flight.1 Their observance of a certain wingless insect led them to hypothesize that its “directed aerial descent” might be an important stage in flight evolution. But is it? Bristletails, a kind of wingless arthropod, were dusted with fluorescent orange powder (to keep track of them) and then dropped from the Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies canopy walkway near Iquitos, Peru, as well as from jungle tree canopies at Barro Colorado Island, Panama, and Gamba, Gabon. They were observed using the little barbs sticking out of their tails to guide their descent, thus increasing their chances of landing in a neighboring tree. The scientists then cut these barbs off and determined that this markedly reduced the numbers of bristletails reaching nearby tree trunks. After this research was published in a prestigious journal, the scientific press and evolutionary community thought this discovery could help explain the evolution of flight. But how relevant to flight are the bristletails’ bristles really? The origin of flight across the animal kingdom is perhaps one of the most obvious problems in the evolutionary scenario. Flight supposedly developed on at least five different occasions in the following groups: a wide array of insects, bats, dinosaurs, and an immense variety of birds. Not only is it a real stretch to explain how flight could have evolved across the animal spectrum spontaneously in multiple events, but at the time it supposedly happened the various types of wings and supporting body structures appear in the fossil record fully formed, functional, and ready to fly. In fossilized animals, there are no undisputed transitional forms that have wings that are partially developed and considered to be “precursor wings.” The evolution of fully-functional wings would have required hundreds of beneficial mutations to have occurred simultaneously in both genders via massive changes in complex developmental gene networks. Random processes don’t stand a chance of accomplishing such a feat. Even if it did happen, semi-developed, non-functional wings would provide little adaptive benefit to an animal. Another consideration is that wings of all types in the animal kingdom must have proper support structures, bone structures, and accompanying musculature as well. It is not just enough to have a set of wings—the entire frame of the animal must be geared for flight. Natural selection would actually cull out animals with partially developed structures because such features tend to hinder survival in the wild. This rules out any type of slow and gradual evolution of wings and support structures. Thus, there is neither any direct evidence for flight evolution, nor any credible naturalistic story of flight’s origin. The observed, wide variety of flying creatures, whose design is so effective that it is studied and copied by air and space engineers, testifies of a wise Creator who made “every winged fowl after [its] kind: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:21). - Yanoviak, S. P.,M. Kaspari, and R. Dudley. Gliding hexapods and the origins of insect aerial behaviour. Biology Letters. Published online before print on March 18, 2009. * Dr. Tomkins is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research. Article posted on April 2, 2009.

http://www.icr.org/article/4580/281/

- published: 05 Sep 2011 - views: 80787 - author: 123peaceplease Animated Earth and its interior layers. Description of plate tectonics and tectonic boundaries. Remember, we've only got one Earth, please help to take care ... The interior structure of the Earth, similar to the outer, is layered. These layers can be defined by either their chemical or their rheological properties. The Earth has an outer silicate solid crust, a highly viscous mantle, a liquid outer core that is much less viscous than the mantle, and a solid inner core. Scientific understanding of Earth's internal structure is based on observations of topography and bathymetry, observations of rock in outcrop, samples brought to the surface from greater depths by volcanic activity, analysis of the seismic waves that pass through the Earth, measurements of the gravity field of the Earth, and experiments with crystalline solids at pressures and temperatures characteristic of the Earth's deep interior. The force exerted by Earth's gravity can be used to calculate its mass, and by estimating the volume of the planet, its average density can be calculated. Astronomers can also calculate Earth's mass from its orbit and effects on nearby planetary bodies. Observations of rocks, bodies of water and atmosphere allow estimation of the mass, volume and density of rocks to a certain depth, so the remaining mass must be in the deeper layers. The structure of Earth can be defined in two ways: by mechanical properties such as rheology, or chemically. Mechanically, it can be divided into lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesosphere, outer core, and the inner core. The interior of the earth is divided into 5 important layers. Chemically, Earth can be divided into the crust, upper mantle, lower mantle, outer core, and inner core. The geologic component layers of Earth are at the following depths below the surface: |0–60||0–37||Lithosphere (locally varies between 5 and 200 km)| |0–35||0–22||… Crust (locally varies between 5 and 70 km)| |35–60||22–37||… Uppermost part of mantle| |35–660||22–410||… Upper mesosphere (upper mantle)| |660–2,890||410–1,790||… Lower mesosphere (lower mantle)| The layering of Earth has been inferred indirectly using the time of travel of refracted and reflected seismic waves created by earthquakes. The core does not allow shear waves to pass through it, while the speed of travel (seismic velocity) is different in other layers. The changes in seismic velocity between different layers causes refraction owing to Snell's law. Reflections are caused by a large increase in seismic velocity and are similar to light reflecting from a mirror. The average density of Earth is 5,515 kg/m3. Since the average density of surface material is only around 3,000 kg/m3, we must conclude that denser materials exist within Earth's core. Further evidence for the high density core comes from the study of seismology. Seismic measurements show that the core is divided into two parts, a solid inner core with a radius of ~1,220 km and a liquid outer core extending beyond it to a radius of ~3,400 km. The solid inner core was discovered in 1936 by Inge Lehmann and is generally believed to be composed primarily of iron and some nickel. In early stages of Earth's formation about 4.5 billion (4.5×109) years ago, melting would have caused denser substances to sink toward the center in a process called planetary differentiation (see also the iron catastrophe), while less-dense materials would have migrated to the crust. The core is thus believed to largely be composed of iron (80%), along with nickel and one or more light elements, whereas other dense elements, such as lead and uranium, either are too rare to be significant or tend to bind to lighter elements and thus remain in the crust (see felsic materials). Some have argued that the inner core may be in the form of a single iron crystal. On August 30, 2011, Professor Kei Hirose, professor of high-pressure mineral physics and petrology at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, became the first person to recreate conditions found at the earth's core under laboratory conditions, subjecting a sample of iron nickel alloy to the same type of pressure by gripping it in a vise between 2 diamond tips, and then heating the sample to approximately 4000 Kelvins with a laser. The sample was observed with x-rays, and strongly supported the theory that the earth's inner core was made of giant crystals running north to south. The liquid outer core surrounds the inner core and is believed to be composed of iron mixed with nickel and trace amounts of lighter elements. The matter that comprises Earth is connected in fundamental ways to matter of certain chondrite meteorites, and to matter of outer portion of the Sun. There is good reason to believe that Earth is, in the main, like a chondrite meteorite. Beginning as early as 1940, scientists, including Francis Birch, built geophysics upon the premise that Earth is like ordinary chondrites, the most common type of meteorite observed impacting Earth, while totally ignoring another, albeit less abundant type, called enstatite chondrites. The principal difference between the two meteorite types is that enstatite chondrites formed under circumstances of extremely limited available oxygen, leading to certain normally oxyphile elements existing either partially or wholly in the alloy portion that corresponds to the core of Earth. Dynamo theory suggests that convection in the outer core, combined with the Coriolis effect, gives rise to Earth's magnetic field. The solid inner core is too hot to hold a permanent magnetic field (see Curie temperature) but probably acts to stabilize the magnetic field generated by the liquid outer core. The average magnetic field strength in the Earth's outer core is estimated to be 25 Gauss, 50 times stronger than the magnetic field at the surface. Recent evidence has suggested that the inner core of Earth may rotate slightly faster than the rest of the planet. In August 2005 a team of geophysicists announced in the journal Science that, according to their estimates, Earth's inner core rotates approximately 0.3 to 0.5 degrees per year relative to the rotation of the surface. The current scientific explanation for the Earth's temperature gradient is a combination of heat left over from the planet's initial formation, decay of radioactive elements, and freezing of the inner core. Earth's mantle extends to a depth of 2,890 km, making it the thickest layer of the Earth. The pressure, at the bottom of the mantle, is ~140 GPa (1.4 Matm). The mantle is composed of silicate rocks that are rich in iron and magnesium relative to the overlying crust. Although solid, the high temperatures within the mantle cause the silicate material to be sufficiently ductile that it can flow on very long timescales. Convection of the mantle is expressed at the surface through the motions of tectonic plates. The melting point and viscosity of a substance depends on the pressure it is under. As there is intense and increasing pressure as one travels deeper into the mantle, the lower part of the mantle flows less easily than does the upper mantle (chemical changes within the mantle may also be important). The viscosity of the mantle ranges between 1021 and 1024 Pa·s, depending on depth. In comparison, the viscosity of water is approximately 10−3 Pa·s and that of pitch is 107 Pa·s. The crust ranges from 5–70 km in depth and is the outermost layer. The thin parts are the oceanic crust, which underlie the ocean basins (5–10 km) and are composed of dense (mafic) iron magnesium silicate rocks, like basalt.The thicker crust is continental crust, which is less dense and composed of (felsic) sodium potassium aluminium silicate rocks, like granite. The rocks of the crust fall into two major categories – sial and sima (Suess,1831–1914). As the main mineral constituents of the continental mass are silica and aluminium, it is thus called sial (si-silica, 65–75% and al-aluminium). The oceanic crust mainly consists of silica and magnesium. it is therefore called sima (si-silica and ma-magnesium). It is estimated that sima starts about 11 km below the Conrad discontinuity (a second order discontinuity). The uppermost mantle together with the crust constitutes the lithosphere. The crust-mantle boundary occurs as two physically different events. First, there is a discontinuity in the seismic velocity, which is known as the Mohorovičić discontinuity or Moho. The cause of the Moho is thought to be a change in rock composition from rocks containing plagioclase feldspar (above) to rocks that contain no feldspars (below). Second, in oceanic crust, there is a chemical discontinuity between ultramafic cumulates and tectonized harzburgites, which has been observed from deep parts of the oceanic crust that have been obducted onto the continental crust and preserved as ophiolite sequences. Many rocks now making up Earth's crust formed less than 100 million (1×108) years ago; however, the oldest known mineral grains are 4.4 billion (4.4×109) years old, indicating that Earth has had a solid crust for at least that long. In 1692 Edmund Halley (in a paper printed in Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society of London) put forth the idea of Earth consisting of a hollow shell about 500 miles thick, with two inner concentric shells around an innermost core, corresponding to the diameters of the planets Venus, Mars, and Mercury respectively. Halley's construct was a method of accounting for the (flawed) values of the relative density of Earth and the Moon that had been given by Sir Isaac Newton, in Principia (1687). "Sir Isaac Newton has demonstrated the Moon to be more solid than our Earth, as 9 to 5," Halley remarked; "why may we not then suppose four ninths of our globe to be cavity?" The World News (WN) Network, has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to user privacy. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for wn.com, as well as e-mail newsletters. We do not collect personally identifiable information about you, except when you provide it to us. For example, if you submit an inquiry to us or sign up for our newsletter, you may be asked to provide certain information such as your contact details (name, e-mail address, mailing address, etc.). We may retain other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Such third parties may be provided with access to personally identifiable information needed to perform their functions, but may not use such information for any other purpose. In addition, we may disclose any information, including personally identifiable information, we deem necessary, in our sole discretion, to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal proceeding or governmental request. We do not want you to receive unwanted e-mail from us. We try to make it easy to opt-out of any service you have asked to receive. If you sign-up to our e-mail newsletters we do not sell, exchange or give your e-mail address to a third party. E-mail addresses are collected via the wn.com web site. Users have to physically opt-in to receive the wn.com newsletter and a verification e-mail is sent. wn.com is clearly and conspicuously named at the point ofcollection. If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each newsletter or communication or by e-mailing us at michaelw(at)wn.com The security of your personal information is important to us. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during registration and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100 percent secure, however. Therefore, though we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. If we decide to change our e-mail practices, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we think appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. If we make material changes to our e-mail practices, we will notify you here, by e-mail, and by means of a notice on our home page. The advertising banners and other forms of advertising appearing on this Web site are sometimes delivered to you, on our behalf, by a third party. In the course of serving advertisements to this site, the third party may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. For more information on cookies, you can visit www.cookiecentral.com. As we continue to develop our business, we might sell certain aspects of our entities or assets. In such transactions, user information, including personally identifiable information, generally is one of the transferred business assets, and by submitting your personal information on Wn.com you agree that your data may be transferred to such parties in these circumstances.

http://article.wn.com/view/2013/03/19/Earths_interior_cycles_contributed_to_longterm_sealevel_and_/

Building a Reef Part B: Coral Reproduction and Reef Formation A coral reef is formed by the skeletons of many coral polyps joining together. Fossil records suggest that some of these structures have been around for hundreds of millions of years. In order to understand how reefs are formed, you need to know how coral polyps grow and reproduce. - Read the short NOAA article How Do Stony Corals Grow? to learn more about how individual coral polyps grow, secrete skeletal material, and what forms they take when they join together. Click on the images in the article for additional information and images. Answer the following questions to check your understanding of coral growth. - Describe the process by which coral polyps grow upward. - Besides contributing to the growth of the polyp, what other purpose does the coral skeleton serve? X-ray of coral showing age bands. Photo by Jennifer M. Smith. Image source: Ocean World. After corals die, you can learn a lot about how they lived by cutting them open and looking inside, much the way you might dissect an animal in biology class. The inside of a coral reef actually resembles the inside of a tree. The number of annual rings or bands indicates the number of years the coral lived (see image at right). The thickness of the rings tell us how healthy the coral was each year of its life, with thick rings indicating the years in which there were favorable environmental conditions and abundant food, and thin rings indicating times when resources weren't as readily available. Also, as coral skeletons grow, they incorporate traces of the chemicals from the seawater they live in. Scientists can analyze differences in the chemicals in different age bands to determine how ocean and climate conditions changed over the lifetime of the coral. - Read the short NOAA article How Do Corals Reproduce? to learn more about coral reproduction. When you get to the end of the second paragraph, click on the link to watch the short movie of a broadcast spawning event. Answer the following questions to check your understanding of coral reproduction. - Do corals reproduce sexually or asexually? - What are the advantages of mass spawning events in which many corals release their gametes at the same time? - Read the short NOAA article How Do Coral Reefs Form? to learn more about the process by which reefs form and about the different shapes they take. Answer the following questions to check your understanding of coral reef formation. - What are the three major reef structures? - How quickly do coral reefs grow and how long might it take for a reef to form? - Working with a partner or in a small group, come up with a creative way to demonstrate the following coral processes. Use available craft materials to modify, reinvent, or extend the coral polyp model you made in Lab 2. Include as many details as you can to fully describe each process. - Demonstrate how a coral polyp grows upward by depositing calcium carbonate. - Demonstrate how a single polyp can become a coral colony through asexual reproduction. - Put some polyps together and model a coral spawning event. Compare the results of spawning to the results of asexual reproduction. - Come up with a way to illustrate the actual size of coral polyps and the number of polyps in a reef. For instance, if a single polyp were as large as your initial model, how large would its coral reef be? - Connect multiple polyps together to create a model of a coral head in one of the eight shapes that are characteristic of stony corals. - Paired with another group, or in front of the class, use your models to demonstrate and explain coral reef processes. Stop and Think 1: Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each model as well as further ideas for improving them.

http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/corals/3b.html

Threats in the Northern Andes Ecoregional Complex The region's cities have a growing need for food, as Northern Andean urbanites depend on the steady supply of foods farmed by others. The large-scale farming operations that supply the region's growing population are heavily reliant on chemical inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. This contaminates rivers and streams and enters food webs in neighboring and distant ecosystems. Livestock production poses further threats to biodiversity. Also associated with soil erosion, pasturelands have replaced moist forests and paramos, helping to isolate forest remnants. The movement of species between the small forest patches becomes limited. 27% of Colombia's Andean forests have been affected by livestock grazing. With headwaters of over 70 rivers and 300 streams located within the NAEC, governments regard the rivers as an important energy resource. While the dams might produce electricity at lower costs than other energy sources, they threaten mountain and riverside forests with flooding, effectively eliminating the native habitats that once lined river corridors. Though their impacts are fairly localized, extractive industries such as mining and petroleum drilling are quickening the pace of biodiversity loss in NAEC. Pollution has long been recognized as a potential side effect of poorly managed extractive operations. Less well known is the role that the roads surrounding drilling and mining sites play in the loss of biodiversity. Built to deliver supplies and workers to and from the work sites, the new roads can destroy and fragment native habitats as well as open up previously inaccessible areas to settlement. With serious government interest in expanding petroleum and mining operations in Colombia, Ecuador, and Perú, the future of biodiversity in these areas is uncertain.

http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/colombia/wwf_colombia_conservation/northern_andes/threats_naec/

Below you’ll find reading and writing rubrics for teachers, for classroom and home school use. There are several different rubric formats available including rubrics for reading response, reading journal assessment, reading comprehension, peer reading review, essay writing and more. All worksheets and resources on K12reader.com are free to use in the classroom and at home so print away! If you like our resources please post on your school website, Facebook.com, Pinterest.com or your favorite site! Use this rubric to check and see if a narrative essay is meeting expectations. Use this rubric to check and see if a summary essay is meeting expectations. This instructional page informs students regarding what should be included in a home reading log journal. Use this rubric to guide students in the process of putting their mathematical thinking into words on paper. Pairs of two students use this rubric to rate each other’s fluency when reading aloud. Students use this rubric to rate other classmates who are giving oral presentations. Use this rubric to see if students are meeting expectations when writing home reading log journal entries. Use this rubric to self-check the first draft of your writing before a peer edit. Use this rubric to make sure you have included all the necessary elements of a friendly letter.

http://www.k12reader.com/reading-and-writing-rubrics/

In writing and typography, a ligature occurs where two or more graphemes or letters are joined as a single glyph. Ligatures usually replace consecutive characters sharing common components and are part of a more general class of glyphs called "contextual forms", where the specific shape of a letter depends on context such as surrounding letters or proximity to the end of a line. By way of example, the common ampersand (&) represents the conjunctive word "and". The ampersand's symbol is a ligature, or joining of the old handwritten Latin letters e and t, from et, meaning "and". At the origin of typographical ligatures is the simple running together of letters in manuscripts. Already the earliest known script, Sumerian cuneiform, includes many cases of character combinations that over the script's history gradually evolve from a ligature into an independent character in its own right. Ligatures figure prominently in many historical scripts, notably the Brahmic abugidas, or the bind rune of the Migration Period Germanic runic inscriptions. Medieval scribes, writing in Latin, increased writing speed by combining characters and by introduction of scribal abbreviation. For example, in blackletter, letters with right-facing bowls (b, o, and p) and those with left-facing bowls (c, e, o, d, g and q) were written with the facing edges of the bowls superimposed. In many script forms characters such as h, m, and n had their vertical strokes superimposed. Scribes also used scribal abbreviations to avoid having to write a whole character at a stroke. Manuscripts in the fourteenth century employed hundreds of such abbreviations. In hand writing, a ligature is made by joining two or more characters in a way they wouldn't usually be, either by merging their parts, writing one above another or one inside another; while in printing, a ligature is a group of characters that is typeset as a unit, and the characters don't have to be joined — for example, in some cases fi ligature prints letters f and i more separated than when they are typeset as separate letters. When printing with movable type was invented around 1450, typefaces included many ligatures and additional letters, such as the letter þ (thorn) which was first substituted in English with y (e.g. ye olde shoppe), but later written as th. However, they began to fall out of use with the advent of the wide use of sans serif machine-set body text in the 1950s and the development of inexpensive phototypesetting machines in the 1970s, which did not require journeyman knowledge or training to operate. Using ligatures made printing with movable type easier, because one block would replace frequent combinations of letters, that would otherwise require two to three blocks. One of the first computer typesetting programs to take advantage of computer-driven typesetting (and later laser printers) was the TeX program of Donald Knuth (see below for more on this). The trend was further strengthened by the desktop publishing revolution around 1985. Early computer software in particular (except for TeX) had no way to allow for ligature substitution (the automatic use of ligatures where appropriate), and in any case most new digital fonts did not include any ligatures. As most of the early PC development was designed for and in the English language, which already saw ligatures as optional at best, a need for ligatures was not seen. Ligature use fell as the number of employed, traditionally-trained hand compositors and hot metal typesetting machine operators dropped. With the increased support for other languages and alphabets in modern computing, and the resulting improved digital typesetting techniques such as OpenType, ligatures are slowly coming back into use. Latin alphabet Stylistic ligatures Many ligatures combine f with an adjacent letter. The most prominent example is fi (or fi, rendered with two normal letters). The tittle above the i in many typefaces collides with the hood of the f when placed beside each other in a word, and are combined into a single glyph with the tittle absorbed into the f. Other ligatures with the letter f include fj,[note 1] fl (fl), ff (ff), ffi (ffi), and ffl (ffl). Ligatures for fa, fe, fo, fr, fs, ft, fb, fh, fu, fy, and for f followed by a full stop, comma, or hyphen, as well as the equivalent set for the doubled ff and fft are also used, though are less common. Sometimes, a ligature crossing the morpheme boundary of a composite word (e.g., ff in shelfful) is considered undesirable, and for example official German orthography as outlined in the Duden prohibits ligatures across composition boundaries. Some computer programs (such as TeX) provide a means of suppressing ligatures. Some fonts include an fff ligature (the Requiem font by Jonathan Hoefler even contains an fffl ligature), intended for German compound words like Sauerstoffflasche ("oxygen tank") and Schifffahrt ("boat trip").[note 2] Since the sequence fff in German only ever occurs across composition boundaries (Schiff-fahrt, Sauerstoff-flasche) and ligatures are officially prohibited across boundaries, these ligatures cannot be correctly employed for German. Turkish has a dotted and dotless "I" next to "f" in words like fırın ("oven") and fikir ("idea"). The fi ligature would obscure the distinction and is therefore not used in Turkish typography, and neither are other ligatures like that for fl, which correspond to rare letter combinations anyway. Remnants of ſʒ ("sz") and tʒ ("tz") ligatures from Fraktur, a family of German blackletter typefaces, originally mandatory in Fraktur but now employed only stylistically, can be seen to this day on street signs for city squares whose name contains Platz or ends in -platz. Instead, the "sz" ligature has merged into a single character, the German ß – see below. Sometimes ligatures for st (st), ſt (ſt), ch, ct, Qu and Th are used (e.g. in the typeface Linux Libertine). German ß The German Eszett (also called the scharfes s (sharp s)) ß is an official letter of the alphabet in Germany and Austria. There is no general consensus about its history. Its name Es-zett (meaning S-Z) suggests a connection of "long s and z" (ſʒ) and the Latin script also knows a ligature of "long s over round s" (ſs). The latter is used as the design principle for the character in most of today’s typefaces. Since German was mostly set in blackletter typefaces until the 1940s, and those typefaces were never set in uppercase, a capital version of the Eszett never came into common use, even though its creation was discussed since the end of the 19th century. Therefore the common replacement in uppercase typesetting was originally SZ (Maße→MASZE) and later SS (Maße →MASSE). The SS replacement is currently the only valid spelling according to the official orthography in Germany and Austria. For German writing in Switzerland the ß is omitted altogether in favour of ss. Since 2008 the capital version (ẞ) of the Eszett character is part of Unicode and appears in more and more typefaces. The new character has not yet entered mainstream writing. A new standardized German keyboard layout (DIN 2137-T2) includes the capital ß since 2012. Since the end of 2010, the Ständiger Ausschuss für geographische Namen (StAGN) suggests the new upper case character for 'ß' rather than replacing it with 'SS' or 'SZ' for geographical names. Letters and diacritics originating as ligatures As the letter W is an addition to the Latin alphabet which originated in the seventh century, the phoneme it represents was formerly written in various ways. In Old English the Runic letter Wynn (Ƿ) was used, but Norman influence forced Wynn out of use. By the 14th century, the "new" letter W, originated as two Vs or Us joined together, developed into a legitimate letter with its own position in the alphabet. Because of its relative youth compared to other letters of the alphabet, only a few European languages (English, Dutch, German, Polish, Welsh, Maltese, and Walloon) use the letter in native words. The character Æ – lower case æ (in ancient times named æsc) when used in the Danish, Norwegian, or Icelandic languages, or Old English, is not a typographic ligature. It is a distinct letter—a vowel—and when alphabetised, is given a different place in the alphabetic order. In modern English orthography Æ is not considered an independent letter but a spelling variant, for example: "encyclopædia" versus "encyclopaedia" or "encyclopedia". Æ comes from Medieval Latin, where it was an optional ligature in some words, for example, "Æneas". It is still found as a variant in English and French, but the trend has recently been towards printing the A and E separately. Similarly, Œ and œ, while normally printed as ligatures in French, can be replaced by component letters if technical restrictions require it. In German orthography, the umlauted vowels ä, ö, and ü historically arose from ae, oe, ue ligatures (strictly, from superscript e, viz. aͤ, oͤ, uͤ). It is common practice to replace them with ae, oe, ue digraphs when the diacritics are unavailable, for example in electronic conversation. While in alphabetic order, they are equivalent not to ae, oe, ue, but to simple a, o, u except in phone books where they are treated as equivalent to ae, oe and ue (so that a name Müller will appear at the same place as if it were spelled Mueller - German surnames have a strongly fixed orthography, either a name is spelled with ü or with ue). The convention in Scandinavian languages is different: there the umlaut vowels are treated as independent letters with positions at the end of the alphabet. The ring diacritic used in vowels such as å likewise originated as an o-ligature. Before the replacement of the older 'aa' with 'å' became a de facto practice, an 'a' with another 'a' on top (aͣ) could sometimes be used, for example in Johannes Bureus's, Runa: ABC-Boken (1611). The uo ligature ů in particular saw use in Early Modern High German, but it merged in later Germanic languages with u (e.g. MHG fuosz, ENHG fuͦß, Modern German Fuß "foot"). It survives in Czech, where it is called kroužek. The tilde diacritic as used in Spanish and Portuguese, now representing the palatal nasal sound in the letter ñ and nasalization of the affected vowel, respectively, originated as an nn ligature (Espanna = España, anno = año). Similarly, the circumflex in French spelling stems from the ligature of a silent s. The French, Portuguese, Catalan and old Spanish letter ç represents a "c" over a "z". The letter hwair (ƕ), used only in transliteration of the Gothic language, resembles a hw ligature. It was introduced by philologists around 1900 to replace the digraph hv formerly used to express the phoneme in question, e.g. by Migne in the 1860s (Patrologia Latina vol. 18). The Byzantines had a unique o-u ligature (Ȣ) that, while originally based on the Greek alphabet's ο-υ, carried over into Latin-based alphabets as well. This ligature is still seen today on icon artwork in Greek Orthodox churches, and sometimes in graffiti or other forms of informal or decorative writing. The International Phonetic Alphabet formerly used ligatures to represent affricate consonants, of which six are encoded in Unicode: ʣ, ʤ, ʥ, ʦ, ʧ and ʨ. One fricative consonant is still represented with a ligature: ɮ, and the Extensions to the IPA contain three more: ʩ , ʪ and ʫ. Rarer ligatures also exist, such as ꜳ, Ꜵꜵ, Ꜷꜷ, Ꜹꜹ, Ꜻꜻ, Ꜽꜽ, Ꝏꝏ, ᵫ, ᵺ, Ỻỻ, Ꜩꜩ ᴂ and ᴔ. Symbols originating as ligatures The most common ligature is the ampersand &. This was originally a ligature of E and t, forming the Latin word "et", meaning "and". It has exactly the same use (except for pronunciation) in French and is used in English. The ampersand comes in many different forms. Because of its ubiquity, it is generally no longer considered a ligature, but a logogram. Like many other ligatures, it has at times been considered a letter (e.g. in early Modern English); In English it is pronounced "and", not "et," except in the case of &c, pronounced "et cetera." In most fonts, it does not immediately resemble the two letters used to form it, although certain typefaces (such as Trebuchet MS) design & in the form of a ligature. Similarly, the dollar sign, $, possibly originated as a ligature (for "pesos", although there are other theories as well) but is now a logogram. The Spanish peseta was sometimes symbolized by a ligature ₧ (from Pts). Digraphs, such as ll in Spanish or Welsh, are not ligatures in the general case as the two letters are displayed as separate glyphs: although written together, when they are joined in handwriting or italic fonts the base form of the letters is not changed and the individual glyphs remain separate. Like some ligatures discussed above, these digraphs may or may not be considered individual letters in their respective languages. Until the 1994 spelling reform, the digraphs ch and ll were considered separate letters in Spanish for collation purposes. Dutch ij, however, is somewhat more ambiguous. Depending on the standard used, it can be considered a digraph, a ligature or a letter in itself, and its uppercase and lowercase forms are often available as a single glyph with a distinctive ligature in several professional fonts (e.g. Zapfino). Sans serif uppercase IJ glyphs, popular in the Netherlands, typically use a ligature resembling a U with a broken left-hand stroke. Adding to the confusion, Dutch handwriting can render y (which is not found in native Dutch words, but occurs in words borrowed from other languages) as a ij-glyph without the dots in its lowercase form and the IJ in its uppercase form looking virtually identical (only slightly bigger). When written/typed as two separate letters, both should be capitalized —or not— to form a correctly spelled word, like IJs or ijs (ice). Latin-derived alphabets that use special ligatures Non-Latin alphabets Ligatures are not limited to Latin script: - The Brahmic abugidas make frequent use of ligatures in consonant clusters. The number of ligatures employed may be language-dependent; thus many more ligatures are conventionally used in Devanagari when writing Sanskrit than when writing Hindi. Having 37 consonants in total, the total number of ligatures that can be formed in Devanagari using only two letters is 1369, though few fonts are able to render all of them. In particular, Mangal.ttf, which is included with Microsoft Windows' Indic support, does not correctly handle ligatures with consonants attached to the right of the characters द, ट, ठ, ड, and ढ, leaving the virama attached to them and displaying the following consonant in its standard form. - A number of ligatures have been employed in the Greek alphabet, in particular a combination of omicron (Ο) and upsilon (Υ) which later gave rise to a letter of the Cyrillic script — see Ou (letter). - Cyrillic ligatures: Љ, Њ, Ы, Ѿ. Iotified Cyrillic letters are ligatures of the early Cyrillic decimal I and another vowel: Ꙗ (ancestor of Я), Ѥ, Ѩ, Ѭ, Ю (descended from another ligature, Оу, an early version of У). Two letters of the Macedonian and Serbian Cyrillic alphabets, lje and nje (љ, њ), were developed in the nineteenth century as ligatures of Cyrillic El and En (л, н) with the soft sign (ь). A ligature of ya (Я) and e also exists: Ԙԙ, as do some more ligatures: Ꚅꚅ and Ꚉꚉ. - Some forms of the Glagolitic script, used from Middle Ages to the 19th century to write some Slavic languages, have a box-like shape that lends itself to more frequent use of ligatures. - In the Hebrew alphabet, the letters aleph and lamed can form a ligature (ﭏ). The ligature appears in some pre-modern texts (mainly religious), or in Judeo-Arabic texts, where that combination is very frequent, since [ʔ] [a]l- (written aleph plus lamed, in the Hebrew script) is the definite article in Arabic. - In the Arabic alphabet, historically a cursive derived from the Nabataean alphabet, most letters' shapes depend on whether they are followed (word-initial), preceded (word-final) or both (medial) by other letters. For example, Arabic mīm, isolated م, tripled (mmm, rendering as initial, medial and final): ممم . Notable are the shapes taken by lām + ʼalif isolated: ﻻ, and lām + ʾalif medial or final: ﻼ. Unicode has a special Allah ligature at U+FDF2: ﷲ. - Urdu (one of the main languages of South Asia), which uses a calligraphic version of the Arabic-based Nasta`liq script, requires a great number of ligatures in digital typography. InPage, a widely used desktop publishing tool for Urdu, uses Nasta`liq fonts with over 20,000 ligatures. - In ASL, a ligature of the American manual alphabet is used to sign 'I love you', from the English initialism ILY. It consists of the little finger of the letter I plus the thumb and forefinger of the letter L. The letter Y (little finger and thumb) overlaps with the other two letters. - The Japanese language uses two ligatures, one for hiragana, ゟ, which is a vertical writing ligature of the characters よ and り, and one for katakana, ヿ, which is a vertical writing ligature of the characters コ and ト. Both ligatures have fallen out of use in modern Japanese. - Lao uses three ligatures, all comprising the letter ຫ (h). As a tonal language, most consonant sounds in Lao are represented by two consonants, which will govern the tone of the syllable. Five consonant sounds are only represented by a single consonant letter (ງ (ŋ), ນ (m), ມ (n), ລ (l), ວ (w)), meaning that one cannot render all the tones for words beginning with these sounds. A silent ຫ indicates that the syllable should be read with the tone rules for ຫ, rather than those of the following consonant. Three consonants can form ligatures with the letter ຫ. ຫ+ນ=ໜ (n), ຫ+ມ=ໝ (m) and ຫ+ລ=ຫຼ (l). ງ (ŋ) and ວ (w) just form clusters: ຫງ (ŋ) and ຫວ (w). ລ (l) can also be used written in a cluster rather than as a ligature: ຫລ (l). - In many runic texts ligatures are common. Such ligatures are known as bind-runes and were optional. Chinese ligatures Written Chinese has a long history of creating new characters by merging parts or wholes of other Chinese characters. However, a few of these combinations do not represent morphemes but retain the original multi-character (multiple morpheme) reading and are therefore not considered true characters themselves. In Chinese, these ligatures are called héwén (合文) or héshū (合書). One popular ligature used on chūntiē decorations used for Chinese Lunar New Year is a combination of the four characters for zhāocái jìnbǎo (招財進寶), meaning "ushering in wealth and fortune" and used as a popular New Year's greeting. In 1924, Du Dingyou (杜定友; 1898–1967) created the ligature "圕" from two of the three characters 圖書館 (túshūguǎn), meaning "library". Although it does have an assigned pronunciation of tuān and appears in many dictionaries, it is not a morpheme and cannot be used as such in Chinese. Instead, it is usually considered a graphic representation of túshūguǎn. Similar to the ligatures were several "two-syllable Chinese characters" (雙音節漢字) created in the 19th century for expressing non-Chinese measurement units which have since largely disappeared. Computer typesetting TeX is an example of a computer typesetting system that makes use of ligatures automatically. The Computer Modern Roman typeface provided with TeX includes the five common ligatures ff, fi, fl, ffi, and ffl. When TeX finds these combinations in a text it substitutes the appropriate ligature, unless overridden by the typesetter. Opinion is divided over whether it is the job of writers or typesetters to decide where to use ligatures. The OpenType font format includes features for associating multiple glyphs to a single character, used for ligature substitution. Typesetting software may or may not implement this feature, even if it is explicitly present in the font's metadata. XeTeX is a TeX typesetting engine designed to make the most of such advanced features. This type of substitution used to be needed mainly for typesetting Arabic texts, but ligature lookups and substitutions are being put into all kinds of Western Latin OpenType fonts. This table below shows discrete letter pairs on the left, the corresponding Unicode ligature in the middle column, and the Unicode code point on the right. Provided you are using an operating system and browser that can handle Unicode, and have the correct Unicode fonts installed, some or all of these will display correctly. See also the provided graphic. Unicode maintains that ligaturing is a presentation issue rather than a character definition issue, and that, for example, "if a modern font is asked to display 'h' followed by 'r', and the font has an 'hr' ligature in it, it can display the ligature." Accordingly, the use of the special Unicode ligature characters is "discouraged", and "no more will be encoded in any circumstances". Note however that ligatures such as æ and œ are never used to replace arbitrary 'ae' or 'oe' sequences – 'does' can never be written 'dœs'. Ligatures in Unicode (Latin-derived alphabets) - This list is incomplete; several medieval ligatures in the U+A732 to U+A73D range, as well as a few others in that vicinity, are not yet listed. Non-ligature Ligature Unicode HTML et & U+0026 & ſs, ſz ẞ, ß U+00DF ß AE, ae Æ, æ U+00C6, U+00E6 Æ æ OE, oe Œ, œ U+0152, U+0153 Œ œ IJ, ij IJ, ij U+0132, U+0133 IJ ij ue ᵫ U+1D6B ᵫ ff ff U+FB00 ff fi fi U+FB01 fi fl fl U+FB02 fl ffi ffi U+FB03 ffi ffl ffl U+FB04 ffl ſt ſt U+FB05 ſt st st U+FB06 st Ligatures used only in phonetic transcription: Non-ligature Ligature Unicode HTML db ȸ U+0238 ȸ qp (cp) ȹ U+0239 ȹ lʒ (or lezh) ɮ U+026E ɮ dz ʣ U+02A3 ʣ dʒ (or dezh) ʤ U+02A4 ʤ dʑ (or dz curl) ʥ U+02A5 ʥ ts ʦ U+02A6 ʦ tʃ (or tesh) ʧ U+02A7 ʧ tɕ (or tc curl) ʨ U+02A8 ʨ fŋ ʩ U+02A9 ʩ ls ʪ U+02AA ʪ lz ʫ U+02AB ʫ U+0238 and U+0239 are called digraphs, but are actually ligatures. See also - The combination fj is represented in English only in "fjord" and "fjeld", but is encountered in languages where j represents a vocalic or semi-vocalic sound (Norwegian, occasionally in Esperanto) or an affix (Hungarian), or where word-compounding results such ligatures (Hungarian) - "Schifffahrt" is written with fff only if the writer follows the spelling reform of 1996). - "The Ampersand & More" with Kory Stamper, part of the "Ask the Editor" video series at Merriam-Webster.com - Capelli – Dizionario di abbreviature latine ed italiane - Medieval Unicode Font Initiative - Johannes Gutenberg and the Printing Press - Helmut Kopka; Patrick W. Daly (1999). A Guide to LaTeX, 3rd Ed. Addison-Wesley. p. 22. ISBN 0-201-39825-7. - Duden 1, Mannheim 1996, p. 69. - Ständiger Ausschuss für geographische Namen (StAGN) Empfehlungen und Hinweise für die Schreibweise geographischer Namen für Herausgeber von Kartenwerken und anderen Veröffentlichungen für den internationalen Gebrauch Bundesrepublik Deutschland 5. überarbeitete Ausgabe - The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th Ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 1993. p. 6.61. - Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 33. Väderlek – Äänekoski / 905–906 - Bureus, J., Runa ABC boken - "Origen de la 'Ñ'", Aula Hispanica. - Teach Yourself French. Collier's Cyclopedia, 1901. - Cajori, Florian (1993). A History of Mathematical Notations. New York: Dover (reprint). ISBN 0-486-67766-4. – contains section on the history of the dollar sign, with much documentary evidence supporting the theory $ began as a ligature for "pesos". - "'圕'字怎麼念？什麼意思？誰造的？" Sing Tao Daily online. 21 April 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2011.(Chinese) - Ligatures, Digraphs and Presentation Forms, Unicode FAQ - Freytag, Asmus; McGowan, Rick; Whistler, Ken (2006-05-08). "Known Anomalies in Unicode Character Names". Unicode Technical Note #27. Unicode Inc. Retrieved 2009-05-29. - This article incorporates information from - Typedesk.com, Type Desk on ligatures - Ilovetypography.com, Decline and Fall of the Ligature - Typography.com, Hoefler & Frere-Jones Requiem font - Emigre.com, Mrs Eaves ligatures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographic_ligature

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the development of characteristic symptoms that occur following direct or indirect exposure to a traumatic or terrifying event in which physical harm was threatened, witnessed, or actually experienced. PTSD also can occur after the unexpected or violent death of a family member or close friend, or following serious harm or threat of death or injury to a loved one. Studies show that PTSD occurs in 1%-14% of the population. It can be diagnosed at at any age, and can occur as a sudden, short-term response (called acute stress disorder) or develop gradually and become chronic or persistent. Most people with the posttraumatic stress disorder try to avoid any reminders or thoughts of the trauma. Despite this avoidance, they often re-experience the ordeal in the form of intense "flashbacks," memories, nightmares, or frightening thoughts, especially when they're re-exposed to events or objects that remind them of the trauma. Survivor guilt (feelings of guilt for having survived an event in which friends or family died) might also be a component of PTSD. Causes of PTSD Traumatic events that can cause PTSD include: violent assaults such as rape physical or sexual abuse senseless acts of violence (such as school or neighborhood shootings) natural or manmade disasters military combat (this form of PTSD is sometimes called "shell shock") witnessing another person go through these kinds of traumatic events diagnoses of life-threatening medical illnesses Studies indicate that people with PTSD tend to have abnormal levels of key hormones involved in the stress response. For instance, research has shown that they have lower than normal cortisol levels and higher than normal epinephrine and norepinephrine levels — all of which play an important role in the body's "fight-or-flight" reaction to sudden stress. (It's known as "fight or flight" because that's exactly what the body is preparing itself to do — to either fight off the danger or run from it.) The severity and likelihood of developing PTSD varies according to the nature of the event, as well as individual factors such as social support, family history, childhood experiences, personality, and any existing mental health problems or stress. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder usually develop within the first 3 months after the trauma, but they may not surface until months or even years have passed. These symptoms often continue for years following the trauma or, in some cases, may subside and return later in life if another event triggers memories of the trauma. In fact, anniversaries of the event can often cause a flood of emotions and unpleasant memories. Sometimes, symptoms are easy to identify — they often resemble symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. The following signs and symptoms are characteristic of PTSD if they have lasted for about a month or more after the event: Re-experiencing the event recurrent and intrusive (unwanted) memories of the event distressing dreams or nightmares of the event acting or feeling as though the event were happening again (flashbacks) distress and fear when reminded of the event physiological reactivity (feeling jumpy, startled, or anxious) when reminded of the event Persistent avoidance of any reminders of the event avoiding thinking about or talking about the trauma avoiding activities, places, or people that are reminders of the event no memory of an important aspect of the event lack of interest and participation in activities (due to wishing to avoid cues of the event) feeling detached or estranged from others limited range of emotions sense that they will not live to graduate college, get married, have kids, etc. Persistent feelings of anxiety or physical reactivity difficulty falling or staying asleep cranky, irritable, or angry problems paying attention or concentrating overly aware of noises or other cues that remind them of the event (smells, visual cues) exaggerated startle response People with PTSD often don't seek professional help because they may not recognize the link between their symptoms and the trauma they experienced. They also may want to continue avoiding discussing the problem because it makes them feel anxious. Many people recover from experiencing a traumatic event after a period of adjustment. However, if your child or teen has experienced a traumatic event and has experienced symptoms listed above for over a month, it's time to get help from a professional. Your child's teacher, doctor, friends, and other family members who know your child well can play an important role in recognizing PTSD. Other mental health professionals who can help include: licensed clinical social workers licensed professional counselors licensed trauma professionals Therapy can be extremely supportive and helpful, particularly if the trauma was unusually severe or life threatening. Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been shown to be very effective for people who develop PTSD. This type of therapy helps someone to adopt new thoughts (called cognitions) and behaviors in place of destructive or negative ones, while safely revisiting aspects of the trauma. In some cases, medication may be recommended to help alleviate serious symptoms of depression and anxiety, which can help your child cope with school and other daily activities while being treated for PTSD. You can tell your child that medication is often used as a temporary measure to help until people with the disorder feel better. Finally, group therapy or support groups can be beneficial because they can help kids and teens understand they're not alone. Groups also provide a safe atmosphere in which to share feelings. Ask the therapist for specific referrals or suggestions for a group. It's helpful to understand that PTSD is an emotional problem and that your child's traumatic experience has left "emotional scar tissue." This means that first and foremost your child needs your support and understanding. It's usually necessary to seek help from a qualified therapist. Family and friends can also play a key role in helping your child recover. Here are some other things parents can do to support kids with PTSD: Most kids will need a period of adjustment following a stressful event, so during this time, it's especially important for parents to offer support and love, and to monitor their kids carefully. Let them talk about the traumatic event when and if they feel ready. It's important not to force the issue if kids don't feel like sharing their thoughts. Praise them for being strong when they do talk about it. Your child may prefer to draw or write about their experiences. Either way, encouragement and praise can help your child get their feelings out. Reassure them that their feelings are normal and that they're not "going crazy." Support and understanding from parents can help kids process difficult feelings. Some kids find it very helpful to get involved in a support group for trauma survivors. Check with your pediatrician, school, or local library to find groups nearby. Get professional help immediately if there's any suspicion that a child has thoughts of self-harm. Thoughts of suicide are serious at any age and require prompt and effective intervention. Help build self-confidence by encouraging kids to make everyday decisions whenever appropriate. PTSD can make a child feel powerless, so parents can help by showing their kids that they have control over certain aspects of their lives. Depending on their children's ages, parents might consider letting them decide things like what's for dinner, what to wear, or select a weekend activity. Tell them that the traumatic event is not their fault. Encourage kids to talk about their feelings of guilt, but don't let them blame themselves for what happened. Stay in touch with caregivers. It's important to talk to teachers, babysitters, and other people who care for kids with PTSD. Do not criticize regressive behavior (returning to a previous level of development). If children want to sleep with the lights on or take a favorite stuffed animal to bed, it's perfectly normal and can help them feel better. Also, take care of yourself. Helping your child cope with PTSD can be very challenging and may require a lot of patience and support. Time does heal, and getting good support for your family can help everyone get past difficult life events.

http://kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?dn=ChildrensPhysicianNetwork&lic=142&cat_id=145&article_set=20920&ps=104

Contemporary Educational Psychology/Behaviorism: Changes in What Students Do Behaviorism is a perspective on learning that focuses on changes in individuals’ observable behaviors—changes in what people say or do. At some point we all use this perspective, whether we call it “behaviorism” or something else. The first time that I drove a car, for example, I was concerned primarily with whether I could actually do the driving, not with whether I could describe or explain how to drive. And for another example: when I reached the point in life where I began cooking meals for myself, I was more focused on whether I could actually produce edible food in a kitchen than with whether I could explain my recipes and cooking procedures to others. And still another example—one often relevant to new teachers: when I began my first year of teaching, I was more focused on doing the job of teaching—on day-to-day survival—than on pausing to reflect on what I was doing. Note that in all of these examples, focusing attention on behavior instead of on “thoughts” may have been desirable at that moment, but not necessarily desirable indefinitely or all of the time. Even as a beginner, there are times when it is more important to be able to describe how to drive or to cook than to actually do these things. And there definitely are many times when reflecting on and thinking about teaching can improve teaching itself. (As a teacher-friend once said to me, “Don’t just do something; stand there!”) But neither is focusing on behavior necessarily less desirable than focusing on students’ “inner” changes, such as gains in their knowledge or their personal attitudes. If you are teaching, you will need to attend to all forms of learning in students, whether inner or outward. In classrooms, behaviorism is most useful for identifying relationships between specific actions by a student and the immediate precursors and consequences of the actions. It is less useful for understanding changes in students’ thinking; for this purpose we need a more cognitive (or thinking-oriented) theory, like the ones described later in this chapter. This fact is not really a criticism of behaviorism as a perspective, but just a clarification of its particular strength or source of usefulness, which is to highlight observable relationships among actions, precursors and consequences. Behaviorists use particular terms (or “lingo,” some might say) for these relationships. They also rely primarily on two basic images or models of behavioral learning, called respondent (or “classical”) conditioning and operant conditioning. The names are derived partly from the major learning mechanisms highlighted by each type, which I describe next. Respondent Conditioning: Learning New Associations with Prior Behaviors As originally conceived, respondent conditioning (sometimes also called classical conditioning) begins with the involuntary responses to particular sights, sounds, or other sensations (Lavond & Steinmetz, 2003). When I receive an injection from a nurse or doctor, for example, I cringe, tighten my muscles, and even perspire a bit. Whenever a contented, happy baby looks at me, on the other hand, I invariably smile in response. I cannot help myself in either case; both of the responses are automatic. In humans as well as other animals, there is a repertoire or variety of such specific, involuntary behaviors. At the sound of a sudden loud noise, for example, most of us show a “startle” response—we drop what we are doing (sometimes literally!), our heart rate shoots up temporarily, and we look for the source of the sound. Cats, dogs, and many other animals (even fish in an aquarium) show similar or equivalent responses. Involuntary stimuli and responses were first studied systematically early in the twentieth century by the Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov (1927). Pavlov’s most well-known work did not involve humans, but dogs, and specifically their involuntary tendency to salivate when eating. He attached a small tube to the side of dogs’ mouths that allowed him to measure how much the dogs salivated when fed. But he soon noticed a “problem” with the procedure: as the dogs gained experience with the experiment, they often salivated before they began eating. In fact the most experienced dogs sometimes began salivating before they even saw any food, simply when Pavlov himself entered the room! The sight of the experimenter, which had originally been a neutral experience for the dogs, became associated with the dogs’ original salivation response. Eventually, in fact, the dogs would salivate at the sight of Pavlov even if he did not feed them. This change in the dogs’ involuntary response, and especially its growing independence from the food as stimulus, eventually became the focus of Pavlov’s research. Psychologists named the process respondent conditioning because it describes changes in responses to stimuli (though some have also called it “classical conditioning” because it was historically the first form of behavioral learning to be studied systematically). Respondent conditioning has several elements, each with a special name. To understand these, look at Figure 1, and imagine a dog (such as my own, named Ginger) prior to any conditioning. At the beginning Ginger salivates (an unconditioned response (UR)) only when she actually tastes her dinner (an unconditioned stimulus (US)). As time goes by, however, a neutral stimulus—such as the sound of opening a bag containing fresh dog food—is continually paired with the eating/tasting experience. Eventually the neutral stimulus becomes able to elicit salivation even before any dog food is offered to Ginger, or even if the bag of food is empty! At this point the neutral stimulus is called a conditioned stimulus (UCS) and the original response is renamed as a conditioned response (CR). Now, after conditioning, Ginger salivates merely at the sound of opening any large bag, regardless of its contents. (I might add that Ginger also engages in other conditioned responses, such as looking hopeful and following me around the house at dinner time.) Respondent Conditioning and Students “OK,” you may be thinking, “Respondent conditioning may happen to animals. But does anything like it happen in classrooms?” It might seem like not much would, since teaching is usually about influencing students’ conscious words and thoughts, and not their involuntary behaviors. But remember that schooling is not just about encouraging thinking and talking. Teachers, like parents and the public, also seek positive changes in students’ attitudes and feelings—attitudes like a love for learning, for example, and feelings like self-confidence. It turns out that respondent conditioning describes these kinds of changes relatively well. Consider, for example, a child who responds happily whenever meeting a new person who is warm and friendly, but who also responds cautiously or at least neutrally in any new situation. Suppose further that the “new, friendly person” in question is you, his teacher. Initially the child’s response to you is like an unconditioned stimulus: you smile (the unconditioned stimulus) and in response he perks up, breathes easier, and smiles (the unconditioned response). This exchange is not the whole story, however, but merely the setting for an important bit of behavior change: suppose you smile at him while standing in your classroom, a “new situation” and therefore one to which he normally responds cautiously. Now respondent learning can occur. The initially neutral stimulus (your classroom) becomes associated repeatedly with the original unconditioned stimulus (your smile) and the child’s unconditioned response (his smile). Eventually, if all goes well, the classroom becomes a conditioned stimulus in its own right: it can elicit the child’s smiles and other “happy behaviors” even without your immediate presence or stimulus. Figure 2a diagrams the situation graphically. When the change in behavior happens, you might say that the child has “learned” to like being in your classroom. Truly a pleasing outcome for both of you! But less positive or desirable examples of respondent conditioning also can happen. Consider a modification of the example that I just gave. Suppose the child that I just mentioned did not have the good fortune of being placed in your classroom. Instead he found himself with a less likeable teacher, whom we could simply call Mr. Horrible. Instead of smiling a lot and eliciting the child’s unconditioned “happy response,” Mr. Horrible often frowns and scowls at the child. In this case, therefore, the child’s initial unconditioned response is negative: whenever Mr. Horrible directs a frown or scowl at the child, the child automatically cringes a little, his eyes widen in fear, and his heart beat races. If the child sees Mr. Horrible doing most of his frowning and scowling in the classroom, eventually the classroom itself will acquire power as a negative conditioned stimulus. Eventually, that is, the child will not need Mr. Horrible to be present in order to feel apprehensive; simply being in the classroom will be enough. Figure 2b diagrams this unfortunate situation. Obviously it is an outcome to be avoided, and in fact does not usually happen in such an extreme way. But hopefully it makes the point: any stimulus that is initially neutral, but that gets associated with an unconditioned stimulus and response, can eventually acquire the ability to elicit the response by itself. Anything—whether it is desirable or not. The changes described in these two examples are important because they affect students’ attitude about school, and therefore also their motivation to learn. In the positive case, the child becomes more inclined to please the teacher and to attend to what he or she has to offer; in the negative case, the opposite occurs. Note that even though the changes are elicited by events external to the child, the child’s newly learned attitude is best thought of as “inside” or belonging to the child—or intrinsic. The new responses suggest that the child has acquired one type of intrinsic motivation, meaning a desire or tendency to direct attention and energy in a particular way that originates from the child himself or herself. It is sometimes contrasted extrinsic motivation, which is a tendency to direct attention and energy that originates from outside of the child. As we will see, classical conditioning is one way to influence students’ intrinsic motivation, but not the only way to develop it. Many strategies for influencing students’ motivations focus less on their behavior, and more on their thoughts and beliefs about themselves and about what they are learning. I describe these in detail in [[.././Chapter 6/]] (the chapter called “Student Motivation”). First, though, let us look at three other features of classical conditioning that complicate the picture a bit, but also render conditioning a more accurate or appropriate description of students’ learning. Three Key Ideas about Respondent Conditioning This term does not refer to the fate of dinosaurs, but to the disappearance of a link between the conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response. Imagine a third variation on the conditioning “story” described above. Suppose, as I suggested above, that the child begins by associating your happy behaviors—your smiles—to his being present in the classroom, so that the classroom itself becomes enough to elicit his own smiles. But now suppose there is a sad turn of events: you become sick and must therefore leave the classroom in the middle of the school year. A substitute is called in who is not Mr. Horrible, but simply someone who is not very expressive, someone we can call Ms. Neutral. At first the child continues to feel good (that is, to smile) whenever present in the classroom. But because the link between the classroom and your particular smiles is no longer repeated or associated, the child’s response gradually extinguishes, or fades until it has disappeared entirely. In a sense the child’s initial learning is “unlearned.” Extinction can also happen with negative examples of classical conditioning. If Mr. Horrible leaves mid-year (perhaps because no one could stand working with him any longer!), then the child’s negative responses (cringing, eyes widening, heart beat racing, and so on) will also extinguish eventually. Note, though, that whether the conditioned stimulus is positive or negative, extinction does not happen suddenly or immediately, but unfolds over time. This fact can sometimes obscure the process if you are a busy teacher attending to many students. When Pavlov studied conditioning in dogs, he noticed that the original conditioned stimulus was not the only neutral stimulus that elicited the conditioned response. If he paired a particular bell with the sight of food, for example, so that the bell became a conditioned stimulus for salivation, then it turned out that other bells, perhaps with a different pitch or type or sound, also acquired some ability to trigger salivation—though not as much as the original bell. Psychologists call this process generalization, or the tendency for similar stimuli to elicit a conditioned response. The child being conditioned to your smile, for example, might learn to associate your smile not only with being present in your own classroom, but also to being present in other, similar classrooms. His conditioned smiles may be strongest where he learned them initially (that is, in your own room), but nonetheless visible to a significant extent in other teachers’ classrooms. To the extent that this happens, he has generalized his learning. It is of course good news; it means that we can say that the child is beginning to “learn to like school” in general, and not just your particular room. Unfortunately, the opposite can also happen: if a child learns negative associations from Mr. Horrible, the child’s fear, caution, and stress might generalize to other classrooms as well. The lesson for teachers is therefore clear: we have a responsibility, wherever possible, to make classrooms pleasant places to be. Generalization among similar stimuli can be reduced if only one of the similar stimuli is associated consistently with the unconditioned response, while the others are not. When this happens, psychologists say that discrimination learning has occurred, meaning that the individual has learned to distinguish or respond differently to one stimulus than to another. From an educational point of view, discrimination learning can be either desirable or not, depending on the particulars of the situation. Imagine again (for the fourth time!) the child who learns to associate your classroom with your smiles, so that he eventually produces smiles of his own whenever present in your room. But now imagine yet another variation on his story: the child is old enough to attend middle school, and therefore has several teachers across the day. You—with your smiles—are one, but so are Mr. Horrible and Ms. Neutral. At first the child may generalize his classically conditioned smiles to the other teachers’ classrooms. But the other teachers do not smile like you do, and this fact causes the child’s smiling to extinguish somewhat in their rooms. Meanwhile, you keep smiling in your room. Eventually the child is smiling only in your room and not in the other rooms. When this happens, we say that discrimination has occurred, meaning that the conditioned associations happen only to a single version of the unconditioned stimuli—in this case, only to your smiles, and not to the (rather rare) occurrences of smiles in the other classrooms. Judging by his behavior, the child is making a distinction between your room and others’. In one sense the discrimination in this story is unfortunate in that it prevents the child from acquiring a liking for school that is generalized. But notice that an opposing, more desirable process is happening at the same time: the child is also prevented from acquiring a generalized dislike of school. The fear producing stimuli from Mr. Horrible, in particular, become discriminated from the happiness-producing smiles from you, so the child’s learns to confine his fearful responses to that particular classroom, and does not generalize them to other “innocent” classrooms, including your own. This is still not an ideal situation for the student, but maybe it is more desirable than disliking school altogether. Operant Conditioning: New Behaviors Because of New Consequences Instead of focusing on associations between stimuli and responses, operant conditioning focuses on how the effects of consequences on behaviors. The operant model of learning begins with the idea that certain consequences tend to make certain behaviors happen more frequently. If I compliment a student for a good comment during a discussion, there is more chance that I will hear comments from the student more often in the future (and hopefully they will also be good ones!). If a student tells a joke to several classmates and they laugh at it, then the student is more likely to tell additional jokes in the future. And so on. As with respondent conditioning, the original research about this model of learning was not done with people, but with animals. One of the pioneers in the field was a Harvard professor named B. F. Skinner, who published numerous books and articles about the details of the process and who pointed out many parallels between operant conditioning in animals and operant conditioning in humans (1938, 1948, 1988). Skinner observed the behavior of rather tame laboratory rats (not the unpleasant kind that sometimes live in garbage dumps). He or his assistants would put them in a cage that contained little except a lever and a small tray just big enough to hold a small amount of food. (Figure 3 shows the basic set-up, which is sometimes nicknamed a “Skinner box.”) At first the rat would sniff and “putter around” the cage at random, but sooner or later it would happen upon the lever and eventually happen to press it. Presto! The lever released a small pellet of food, which the rat would promptly eat. Gradually the rat would spend more time near the lever and press the lever more frequently, getting food more frequently. Eventually it would spend most of its time at the lever and eating its fill of food. The rat had “discovered” that the consequence of pressing the lever was to receive food. Skinner called the changes in the rat’s behavior an example of operant conditioning, and gave special names to the different parts of the process. He called the food pellets the reinforcement and the lever-pressing the operant(because it “operated” on the rat’s environment). Skinner and other behavioral psychologists experimented with using various reinforcers and operants. They also experimented with various patterns of reinforcement (or schedules of reinforcement), as well as with various cues or signals to the animal about when reinforcement was available. It turned out that all of these factors—the operant, the reinforcement, the schedule, and the cues—affected how easily and thoroughly operant conditioning occurred. For example, reinforcement was more effective if it came immediately after the crucial operant behavior, rather than being delayed, and reinforcements that happened intermittently (only part of the time) caused learning to take longer, but also caused it to last longer. Operant Conditioning and Students’ Learning As with respondent conditioning, it is important to ask whether operant conditioning also describes learning in human beings, and especially in students in classrooms. On this point the answer seems to be clearly “yes.” There are countless classroom examples of consequences affecting students’ behavior in ways that resemble operant conditioning, although the process certainly does not account for all forms of student learning (Alberto & Troutman, 2005). Consider the following examples. In most of them the operant behavior tends to become more frequent on repeated occasions: - A seventh-grade boy makes a silly face (the operant) at the girl sitting next to him. Classmates sitting around them giggle in response (the reinforcement). - A kindergarten child raises her hand in response to the teacher’s question about a story (the operant). The teacher calls on her and she makes her comment (the reinforcement). - Another kindergarten child blurts out her comment without being called on (the operant). The teacher frowns ignores this behavior, but before the teacher calls on a different student, classmates are listening attentively (the reinforcement) to the student even though he did not raise his hand as he should have. - A twelfth-grade student—a member of the track team—runs one mile during practice (the operant). He notes the time it takes him as well as his increase in speed since joining the team (the reinforcement). - A child who is usually very restless sits for five minutes doing an assignment (the operant). The teaching assistant compliments him for working hard (the reinforcement). - A sixth-grader takes home a book from the classroom library to read overnight (the operant). When she returns the book the next morning, her teacher puts a gold star by her name on a chart posted in the room (the reinforcement). Hopefully these examples are enough to make four points about operant conditioning. First, the process is widespread in classrooms—probably more widespread than respondent conditioning. This fact makes sense, given the nature of public education: to a large extent, teaching is about making certain consequences for students (like praise or marks) depend on students’ engaging in certain activities (like reading certain material or doing assignments). Second, learning by operant conditioning is not confined to any particular grade, subject area, or style of teaching, but by nature happens in nearly every imaginable classroom. Third, teachers are not the only persons controlling reinforcements. Sometimes they are controlled by the activity itself (as in the track team example), or by classmates (as in the “giggling” example). A result of all of the above points is a fourth: that multiple examples of operant conditioning often happen at the same time. The Case Study for this chapter (The Decline and Fall of Jane Gladstone) suggests how this happened to someone completing student teaching. Because operant conditioning happens so widely, its effects on motivation are a bit more complex than the effects of respondent conditioning. As in respondent conditioning, operant conditioning can encourage intrinsic motivation to the extent that the reinforcement for an activity can sometimes be the activity itself. When a student reads a book for the sheer enjoyment of reading, for example, he is reinforced by the reading itself; then we often say that his reading is “intrinsically motivated.” More often, however, operant conditioning stimulates both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation at the same time. The combining of both is noticeable in the examples that I listed above. In each example, it is reasonable to assume that the student felt intrinsically motivated to some partial extent, even when reward came from outside the student as well. This was because part of what reinforced their behavior was the behavior itself—whether it was making faces, running a mile, or contributing to a discussion. At the same time, though, note that each student probably was also extrinsically motivated, meaning that another part of the reinforcement came from consequences or experiences not inherently part of the activity or behavior itself. The boy who made a face was reinforced not only by the pleasure of making a face, for example, but also by the giggles of classmates. The track student was reinforced not only by the pleasure of running itself, but also by knowledge of his improved times and speeds. Even the usually restless child sitting still for five minutes may have been reinforced partly by this brief experience of unusually focused activity, even if he was also reinforced by the teacher aide’s compliment. Note that the extrinsic part of the reinforcement may sometimes be more easily observed or noticed than the intrinsic part, which by definition may sometimes only be experienced within the individual and not also displayed outwardly. This latter fact may contribute to an impression that sometimes occurs, that operant conditioning is really just “bribery in disguise”—that only the external reinforcements operate on students’ behavior. It is true that external reinforcement may sometimes alter the nature or strength of internal (or intrinsic) reinforcement, but this is not the same as saying that it destroys or replaces intrinsic reinforcement. But more about this issue later! (See especially Chapter 6: Student Motivation.) Comparing Operant Conditioning and Respondent Conditioning Operant conditioning is made more complicated, but also more realistic, by many of the same concepts as used in respondent conditioning. In most cases, however, the additional concepts have slightly different meanings in each model of learning. Since this circumstance can make the terms confusing, let me explain the differences for three major concepts used in both models—extinction, generalization, and discrimination. Then I will comment on two additional concepts—schedules of reinforcement and cues—that are sometimes also used in talking about both forms of conditioning, but that are important primarily for understanding operant conditioning. The explanations and comments are also summarized in Table 2. In both respondent and operant conditioning, extinction refers to the disappearance of “something.” In operant conditioning, what disappears is the operant behavior because of a lack of reinforcement. A student who stops receiving gold stars or compliments for prolific reading of library books, for example, may extinguish (i.e. decrease or stop) book-reading behavior. In respondent conditioning, on the other hand, what disappears is association between the conditioned stimulus (the CS) and the conditioned response (CR). If you stop smiling at a student, then the student may extinguish her association between you and her pleasurable response to your smile, or between your classroom and the student’s pleasurable response to your smile. In both forms of conditioning, generalization means that something “extra” gets conditioned if it is somehow similar to “something.” In operant conditioning, the extra conditioning is to behaviors similar to the original operant. If getting gold stars results in my reading more library books, then I may generalize this behavior to other similar activities, such as reading the newspaper, even if the activity is not reinforced directly. In respondent conditioning, however, the extra conditioning refers to stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus. If I am a student and I respond happily to my teacher’s smiles, then I may find myself responding happily to other people (like my other teachers) to some extent, even if they do not smile at me. Generalization is a lot like the concept of transfer that I discussed early in this chapter, in that it is about extending prior learning to new situations or contexts. From the perspective of operant conditioning, though, what is being extended (or “transferred” or generalized) is a behavior, not knowledge or skill. In both forms of conditioning, discrimination means learning not to generalize. In operant conditioning, though, what is not being overgeneralized is the operant behavior. If I am a student who is being complimented (reinforced) for contributing to discussions, I must also learn to discriminate when to make verbal contributions from when not to make verbal contributions—such as when classmates or the teacher are busy with other tasks. In respondent conditioning, what are not being overgeneralized are the conditioned stimuli that elicit the conditioned response. If I, as a student, learn to associate the mere sight of a smiling teacher with my own happy, contented behavior, then I also have to learn not to associate this same happy response with similar, but slightly different sights, such as a teacher looking annoyed. In both forms of conditioning, the schedule of reinforcement refers to the pattern or frequency by which “something” is paired with “something else.” In operant conditioning, what is being paired is the pattern by which reinforcement is linked with the operant. If a teacher praises me for my work, does she do it every time, or only sometimes? Frequently or only once in awhile? In respondent conditioning, however, the schedule in question is the pattern by which the conditioned stimulus is paired with the unconditioned stimulus. If I am student with Mr. Horrible as my teacher, does he scowl every time he is in the classroom, or only sometimes? Frequently or rarely? Behavioral psychologists have studied schedules of reinforcement extensively (for example, Ferster, et al., 1997; Mazur, 2005), and found a number of interesting effects of different schedules. For teachers, however, the most important finding may be this: partial or intermittent schedules of reinforcement generally cause learning to take longer, but also cause extinction of learning to take longer. This dual principle is important for teachers because so much of the reinforcement we give is partial or intermittent. Typically, if I am teaching, I can compliment a student a lot of the time, for example, but there will inevitably be occasions when I cannot do so because I am busy elsewhere in the classroom. For teachers concerned both about motivating students and about minimizing inappropriate behaviors, this is both good news and bad. The good news is that the benefits of my praising students’ constructive behavior will be more lasting, because they will not extinguish their constructive behaviors immediately if I fail to support them every single time they happen. The bad news is that students’ negative behaviors may take longer to extinguish as well, because those too may have developed through partial reinforcement. A student who clowns around inappropriately in class, for example, may not be “supported” by classmates’ laughter every time it happens, but only some of the time. Once the inappropriate behavior is learned, though, it will take somewhat longer to disappear even if everyone—both teacher and classmates—make a concerted effort to ignore (or extinguish) it. Finally, behavioral psychologists have studied the effects of cues. In operant conditioning, a cue is a stimulus that happens just prior to the operant behavior and that signals that performing the behavior may lead to reinforcement. Its effect is much like discrimination learning in respondent conditioning, except that what is “discriminated” in this case is not a conditioned behavior that is reflex-like, but a voluntary action, the operant. In the original conditioning experiments, Skinner’s rats were sometimes cued by the presence or absence of a small electric light in their cage. Reinforcement was associated with pressing a lever when, and only when, the light was on. In classrooms, cues are sometimes provided by the teacher or simply by the established routines of the class. Calling on a student to speak, for example, can be a cue that if the student does say something at that moment, then he or she may be reinforced with praise or acknowledgement. But if that cue does not occur—if the student is not called on—speaking may not be rewarded. In more everyday, non-behaviorist terms, the cue allows the student to learn when it is acceptable to speak, and when it is not. Constructivism: Changes in How Students Think Behaviorist models of learning may be helpful in understanding and influencing what students do, but teachers usually also want to know what students are thinking and how to enrich what students are thinking...(read more...) Learning Theories/Behavioralist Theories--a developing Wikibook on this topic, but with less focus on classroom applications. Note misspelling of title--this is necessary to link to the page. Learning theory (education)--a brief explanation of types of learning theories, but without many examples. - Lavond, D. & Steinmetz, J. (2003). Handbook of classical conditioning. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishing - Pavlov, I. (1927). Conditioned reflexes. London, UK: Oxford University Press - Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. - Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden Two. New York: Macmillan. - The selection of behavior: The operant behaviorism of b. F. Skinner. New York: Cambridge University Press. - Alberto, P. & Troutman, A. (2005). Applied behavior alaysis for teachers, 7th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. - Ferster, C., Skiner, B.F., Cheney, C., Morese, W., & Dews, D. Schedules of reinforcement. New York: Copley Publishing Group. - Mazur, J. (2005). Learning and behavior, 6th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

http://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Contemporary_Educational_Psychology/Behaviorism:_Changes_in_What_Students_Do

DLTK's Educational Crafts Pumpkin Shapes Craft This pumpkin is an easy paper craft to help young children learn about shapes. See if you can count how many different shapes there are in the craft. - OPTIONAL: something to color with (crayons, paint, markers, etc) - Print template of choice. - Cut out the template pieces. This may require adult assistance. You can leave the large circle uncut or cut it out as you prefer. - Glue the pieces together. - Glue the square (stem) to the top of the circle (pumpkin). - Glue one triangle (nose) into the center of the circle (pumpkin) - Glue two triangles (eyes) above the nose. - Glue the long, narrow rectangle (mouth) below the nose. - If you are working with a large group of children, you may wish to pre-make an example to display during craft time. - Close the template window after printing to return to this screen. - Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers). Printable version of this instruction page

http://www.dltk-teach.com/shapes/mpumpkin.htm

Science Fair Project Encyclopedia Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, commonly referred to as the European Constitution, is an international treaty signed in 2004 and currently awaiting ratification, intended to create a constitution for the European Union. Its main aims are to replace the overlapping set of existing treaties that comprise the Union's current constitution, and to streamline decision-making in what is now a 25-member organisation. Despite its name, it only covers the European Union, not the whole of Europe in the geographical sense. The Constitution was drafted by the European Convention, convened for the purpose as a result of the Laeken Declaration of 2001. The Convention published its draft in July 2003, and ensuing negotiations between member states, which were often fraught, ended with agreement on a final document the following June. The constitutional treaty was signed on October 29, 2004, and now awaits ratification by all member states. The treaty is scheduled to enter into force on November 1, 2006 provided that is ratified by all 25 member states of the Union. Critically, this will be subject to a referendum in ten countries. 4.1 Length and complexity History and ratification Main article: History of the European Constitution The Constitution is based on the EU's two primary existing treaties, the Treaty of Rome of 1957 and the Maastricht treaty of 1992, as modified by the more recent treaties of Amsterdam (1997) and Nice (2001). The need to consolidate the EU's constitution was highlighted in the text of the Treaty of Nice, and the process was begun following the Laeken declaration in December 2001, when the European Convention was established to produce a draft of the Constitution, which was eventually published in July 2003. After protracted negotiations during which disputes arose over the proposed framework for qualified majority voting, the final text of the proposed Constitution was agreed upon in June 2004. The constitutional treaty was signed in a ceremony at Rome on October 29, 2004. Before it enters into force, however, it must also be ratified by each member state. This process is likely to take around two years to complete. Ratification takes different forms in each country, depending on its traditions, constitutional arrangements, and political processes. Lithuania, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy and Greece have already completed parliamentary ratification of the treaty. In addition the European Parliament has also approved the treaty by a huge majority (in a symbolic rather than a binding vote). Ten of the 25 member states have announced their intention to hold a referendum on the subject, one of which has now taken place. In some cases, the result will be legally binding; in others it will be consultative: |Ratification of the Treaty via referenda| |20 February, 2005||76.7% Yes||Consultative Referendum| |29 May, 2005||Referendum| |1 June, 2005||Consultative Referendum| |10 July, 2005||Referendum| |25 September, 2005(proposed date)||Referendum| |27 September, 2005||Referendum| |December 2005 (proposed)||Referendum| |Parliamentary approval of the Treaty| |11 November, 2004||Yes. 84 to 4 in favour.| |20 December, 2004||Yes. 322 to 12 in favour.| |European Parliament||12 January, 2005||Yes. 500 to 137 in favour.| |1 February, 2005||Yes. 79 to 4 in favour.| |6 April, 2005||Yes. Lower house: 436 to 28 in favour. Upper house: 217 to 16 in favour.| |19 April, 2005||Yes. 268 to 17 in favour.| |(Expected) April 2005| |12 May, 2005| |(Expected end of) May 2005| |(Expected end of) May 2005| |(Expected end of) May 2005| |(Expected) July 2005| |(Expected end of) December 2005| |(Expected end of) December 2005| Strengthened or newly codified provisions Functioning of the Union - The principle of conferral The Constitution specifies that the EU is a union of member states, and that all its competences (areas of responsibility) are voluntarily conferred on it by its member states according to the principle of conferral. The EU has no competences by right, and thus any areas of policy not explicitly specified in the Constitution remain the domain of the sovereign member states (notwithstanding the ‘flexibility clause' – see below). This is explicitly specified for the first time, but since the Union has always been a treaty-based organisation, it has always been the case by default under international law. - The principle of subsidiarity According to the Constitution, the EU may only act (i.e. make laws) where its member states agree unanimously that actions by individual countries would be insufficient. This is the principle of subsidiarity, and is based on the legal and political principle that governmental decisions should be taken as close to the people as possible while still remaining effective. - The principle of proportionality In all areas, the EU may only act to exactly the extent that is needed to achieve its objectives (the principle of proportionality). - Obligations of member states Member states have constitutional obligations. Since the Constitution has the legal status of a treaty, these obligations have the legal status of treaty obligations. They are: - to ensure implementation at national level of what is decided at EU level; - to support the EU in achieving its tasks; - not to jeopardise shared EU objectives. - Primacy of Union law In accordance with the norms of international law among European countries, EU law has primacy over the laws of member states in the areas where member states allow it to legislate. In other words, no member state may pass a national law which is incompatible with an agreement already made at European level. This principle has been the case since the Community was founded in 1957. It is the principle from which the judgements of the European Court of Justice derive their legitimacy. - Mutual values of the Union's member states As stated in Articles I-1 and I-2 , the Union is open to all European States which respect the following common values: Member states also declare that the following principles prevail in their society: These provisions are not new, but some of them are codified for the first time. - Aims of the Union The aims of the EU are made explicit (Article I-3 ): - promotion of peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples - maintenance of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers, and an internal market where competition is free and undistorted - sustainable development based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy - social justice and protection, equality between women and men, solidarity between generations and protection of the rights of the child - economic, social and territorial cohesion, and solidarity among member states - respect for linguistic and cultural diversity In its relations with the wider world the Union's objectives are: - to uphold and promote its values and interests - to contribute to peace, security, the sustainable development of the Earth - solidarity and mutual respect among peoples - free and fair trade - eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights, in particular the rights of the child - strict observance and development of international law, including respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter. Scope of the Union The EU has six exclusive competences. These are policy areas in which member states have agreed that they should act exclusively through the EU and not legislate at a national level at all. The list remains unchanged from the previous treaties: There are a number of shared competences. These are areas in which member states agree to act individually only where they have not already acted through the EU, or where the EU has ceased to act (though there are a few areas where member states may act both nationally and through the EU if they wish). The list of areas is mostly unchanged from previous treaties, with three new competences added (see below). There are a number of areas where the EU may only take supporting, coordinating or complementary action. In these areas, member states do not confer any competences on the Union, but they agree to act through the Union in order to support their work at national level. Again, the list of areas is mostly unchanged from previous treaties, with three new competences added (see below). - Flexibility clause The Constitution's flexibility clause allows the EU to act in areas not made explicit in the Constitution, but: - only if all member states agree; - only with the consent of the European Parliament; and - only where this is necessary to achieve an agreed objective under the Constitution. This clause has been present in EU law since the original Treaty of Rome, which established the EEC in 1958. It is designed to allow EU countries to develop new areas of co-operation without needing to go through the process of a full treaty revision. - Common foreign and security policy The EU is charged with defining and implementing a common foreign and security policy in due time. The wording of this article is taken directly from the existing Treaty on European Union, with no new provisions. Main article: Institutions of the European Union The institutional structure of the Union is unchanged. The Council of the European Union is now formally renamed as the 'Council of Ministers', which had already been its informal title. The "General Affairs Council" is formally split from the "Foreign Affairs Council". (previously the "General Affairs and External Relations" configuration was technically a single formation, but since June 2002, they already held separate meetings). - Symbols of the Union Main article: European symbols - Dialogues with civic society According to the Constitution, the EU maintains a dialogue with churches and non-confessional organisations. Scope of the Union - Legal personality The European Union has legal personality under the Constitution. This means that it is able to represent itself as a single body in certain circumstances under international law. Most significantly, it is able to sign treaties as a single body where all its member states agree. This provision is not new in one sense, since the European Community has always had legal personality. But the parallel Community and Union structures are now merged and simplified as a single entity, so a new recognition of the Union's legal personality is required. - New competences The EU has conferred upon it as new 'shared competences' the areas of territorial cohesion, energy, and space. These are areas where the EU may act alongside its individual member states. The EU has conferred upon it as new areas of 'supporting, coordinating or complementary action' the areas of tourism, sport, and administrative co-operation. - Criminal justice proceedings Member states will continue to co-operate in some areas of criminal judicial proceedings where they agree to do so, as at present. Under the Constitution, seven new areas of co-operation are added: - trafficking in persons; - offences against children; - drugs trafficking; - arms trafficking; - Solidarity clause The new solidarity clause specifies that any member state which falls victim to a terrorist attack or other disaster will receive assistance from other member states, if it requests it. This was already the case in practice, but it is now officially codified. The specific arrangements will be decided by the Council of Ministers. - European Public Prosecutor - Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union The Constitution includes a copy of the Charter already agreed to by all EU member states. This is included in the Constitution so that EU institutions themselves are obliged to conform to the same standards of fundamental rights. - Simplified jargon and legal instruments The Constitution makes an effort to simplify jargon and reduce the number of EU legal instruments (ways in which EU countries may act). These are also unified across areas of policy (referred to as pillars of the European Union in previous treaties). - 'European Regulations' (of the Community pillar) and 'Decisions' (of the Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters pillar) both become referred to as European laws. - 'European Directives' (of the Community pillar) and 'Framework Decisions' (of the PJC pillar) both become referred to as 'European framework laws'. - 'Conventions' (of the PJC pillar) are done away with, replaced in every case by either European laws or European framework laws. - 'Joint actions ' and 'Common positions' (of what is now the Common Foreign and Security Policy Pillar) are both replaced by 'decisions'. - Merging of High Representative and external relations Commissioner In the new Constitution, the present role of High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy is amalgamated with the role of the Commissioner for External Relations. This creates a new Union Minister for Foreign Affairs who is also a Vice President of the Commission. This individual will be responsible for co-ordinating foreign policy across the Union. He or she will also be able to represent the EU abroad in areas where member states agree to speak with one voice. Functioning of the institutions - Qualified majority voting More day-to-day decisions in the Council of Ministers are to be taken by qualified majority voting, requiring a 55 per cent majority of member states representing a 65 per cent majority of citizens. (The 55 per cent is raised to 72 per cent when the Council is acting on its own initiative rather than on a legislative proposal.) The unanimous agreement of all member states is still required for decisions on more sensitive issues, such as tax, social security, foreign policy and defence. - President of the European Council The six-month rotating Presidency of the European Council will switch to a chair chosen by the heads of government, in office for eighteen months and renewable once. The role will be the same as now, i.e. administrative and non-executive. - President of the Council of Ministers The six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of Ministers, which currently coincides with the Presidency of the European Council, will be changed to an eighteen-month rotating Presidency shared by a trio of member countries, in an attempt to provide more continuity. The exception is the Council's Foreign Affair configuration, which will be chaired by the newly-created Union Minister for Foreign Affairs. - Smaller Commission Parliamentary power and transparency - President of the Commission - Parliament as co-legislature The European Parliament acquires equal legislative power with the Council in virtually all areas of policy (previously, it had this power in most cases, but not all). - Meeting in public The Council of Ministers will be required to meet in public when debating new laws. Currently, it meets in public for texts covered under the Codecision procedure since the decision of the European Council of Sevilla. The final say over the EU's annual budget is given to the European Parliament. Agricultural spending is no longer ring-fenced, and is brought under the Parliament's control. - Role of national parliaments Member states' national parliaments are given a new role in scrutinising proposed EU laws, and are entitled to object if they feel a proposal oversteps the boundary of the Union's agreed areas of responsibility. - Popular mandate The Commission is invited to consider any proposal "on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required for the purpose of implementing the Constitution" which has the support of one million citizens. The mechanism by which this will be put into practice has yet to be agreed. (See Article I-46(4) for details.) Further integration, amendment and withdrawal - Enhanced co-operation There is a tightening of existing rules for 'enhanced cooperation', where some member states may choose to act together more closely and others not. A minimum of two thirds of member states must now participate in any enhanced cooperation, and the agreement of the European Parliament is needed. The option for enhanced cooperation is also widened to all areas of agreed EU policy. - Treaty revisions Previously, alteration of treaties was decided by unanimous agreement of the European Council behind closed doors. Any amendments to the Constitutional treaty, however, will involve the convening of a new Convention, similar to that chaired by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in drafting the Constitution itself. This process may be bypassed if the European Parliament agrees. However, small revisions removing national vetoes can be made by unanimous agreement of the European Council through the Passerelle Clause (Article IV-444 ). The final say on adopting proposals will continue to rest with the Council, and needs unanimity of the Council. - Withdrawal clause A new clause allows for the withdrawal of any member state without renegotiation of the Constitution or violation of treaty commitments. Under this clause, when a country notifies the Council of its intent to withdraw, a settlement is agreed in the Council with the consent of Parliament. If negotiations are not agreed within two years, the country leaves anyway. Points of contention Length and complexity Critics of the Constitution point out that, compared to many existing national constitutions (such as the 4,600-word US Constitution), the European Constitution is very long, at around 324 pages and over 60,000 words in its English text. Proponents respond by stating that the document nevertheless remains considerably shorter and less complex than the existing set of treaties that it consolidates. Defenders also point out that it must logically be longer, since it is not an all-embracing, general constitution, but rather a document that precisely delineates the limited areas where the European Union has competence to act over and above the competences of member states. Qualified majority voting Qualified majority voting is extended to an additional 26 decision-making areas that had previously required unanimity. Opponents of the Constitution argue that this demonstrates a palpable loss of sovereignty and decision-making power for individual countries. Defenders argue that these provisions only apply in the areas where Member States have agreed it should ("competency") and not otherwise; that it was necessary to prevent decision-making from grinding to a halt in the enlarged Union. (In the past, there have been cases when it appeared that "veto trading" was being used tactically rather than for issues of principle.) Further, the "qualified majority voting" mechanism is structured such that a blocking minority is not difficult to achieve for matters of substance. Union law and national law Critics sometimes claim that it is unacceptable for the Constitution to enshrine European laws as taking precedence over national laws, and argue that this is an erosion of national sovereignty. Defenders of the constitution point out that it has always been the case that EU law supersedes national law, and that it has long been accepted in European nations that international law which a nation subscribed to overrides national law. The proposed Constitution does not change this arrangement for either existing or future EU law. However, the question of whether the arrangement is considered acceptable in the first place is still an issue for debate. With the widening of Qualified Majority Voting also envisaged in the constitution, however, the issue of the primacy of EU law becomes more sensitive. This is because there is an increase in the number of areas in which laws can be passed by majority vote. It is therefore possible for an individual country to vote against a proposal (unsuccessfully) and subsequently find its national legislature to be bound by it. Trappings of statehood It has been argued that the constitution introduces a number of elements that are traditionally the province of sovereign states: flag, motto, anthem. This is something many see as a shift towards the future creation of a single European state, and the corresponding loss of national identity. Many eurosceptics oppose the constitution for this reason. Defenders of the constitution have pointed out that none of these elements are new, and that many of them are also used by other international organisations. They also argue that key principles enshrined in the constitution, such as the principles of conferral and subsidiarity, are designed to reinforce the status of member states as cooperating sovereign nations, not to erode it. It has likewise been argued that to call the document a 'Constitution' rather than a 'treaty' implies a change in the nature of the EU, from an association of cooperating countries to a single state or something approaching a state. In response, it has been pointed out that many international organisations, including the World Health Organisation, have constitutions, without this implying that they are states. From a legal point of view the European Constitution will still be a treaty between independent states. Lack of democracy It has been argued that the proposed constitution still grants a lot of power to the European Commission, which is appointed by the member states, not directly elected. The European Parliament, seen by some as the true voice of the people as the only directly elected EU institution, still cannot propose new laws, for example. Some of the articles, which may seem very democratic at a first glance are said by some to be pointless when read more carefully. For instance, the obligation for the Commission to consider a petition by 1 million citizens only invites such a petition to be considered. It is open to the Commission to decide how to react, including ignoring the petition if they wish. It is also worth mentioning that european citizens could already submit a petition to the European Parliament, see . Defenders of the Constitution point out that the European Parliament does have the power to oblige the Commission to bring forward a legislative proposal which Parliament and Council may then amend as they see fit. It has been argued that this is sufficient to avoid what might otherwise be regarded as a democratic deficit. It has also been argued that it would not be feasible in practice for the Commission to ignore a mandate from a million citizens, despite the wording in the Constitution. Further, the Commission has no power to enact laws; like a Civil Service, it may only draft proposals into a legal form for others to ratify or reject. Its only real power is to investigate breaches of agreements that the member states themselves have made. See also democratic deficit. Article I-41(3) states that: "Member States shall undertake progressively to improve their military capabilities". It has been argued that this will prevent all partial disarming of any of the states and require them to increase military capabilities without taking into account the geopolitical situation, or the will of the people. The creation of an European weapon office may also lead to an increase of the worldwide arms race, according to some analyses. Others point out that the same article limits any EU joint military action to "peace-keeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security" based on UN principles. It is only under this framework that countries agree to develop their military capabilities. Some commentators have expressed a fear that the proposed Constitution may force upon European countries a Neo-Liberal economic framework which will threaten the European social model. The principles of the "free movement of capital" (both inside the EU and with third countries), and of "free and undistorted competition", are stated several times, and it has been argued that they cover all areas, from healthcare to energy to transport. The European Central Bank remains independent from any democratic institution, and its only purpose is to fight inflation. This contrasts with other organisations, such as the Federal Reserve, which also has the goal of fighting unemployment. It has also been argued that existing national Constitutions do not fix economic policies inside the Constitution itself: It is more common for elected governments to retain the power to decide on economic policy. Unanimity requirement for changes The major provisions contained in Parts I , II and IV of the Constitution can only be changed with the unanimous agreement of all countries. This requirement for unanimity will effectively prevent further transfer of competences to the Union if a single member state objects. Defenders of the Constitution point out that it has always required unanimity among member state governments to change a treaty, so this is nothing more than a retaining of the status quo. It should also be mentioned that there is provision for enhanced cooperation among member countries, under which some countries can choose to integrate more closely in some areas than others. However, this does not constitute an opt-out from the universally agreed provisions in the Constitution. Moreover, enhanced co-operation can be established only the conditions described in Article III-419 , according to which both the Commission and the Council, acting unanimously, must agree. In fact, it is easier to establish an enhanced cooperation under the present law of the Union (as modified by the treaty of Nice); compare for example Article III-419 of the constitutional treaty and Article 27-E of the current treaty. At the same time, Article IV-444 (the Passerelle Clause) allows decisions currently subject to unanimity to be shifted to Qualified Majority Voting if all governments agree, without the need for ratification by national parliaments (though national parliaments would have a six-month period in which they could object if they wish). Also, for the first time, the Constitution provides an explicit means by which a member state can entirely withdraw from the EU without violating treaty obligations. However, some people have pointed out that this just formalises the existing situation, given that Greenland successfully negotiated withdrawal using this method in 1985. Some opponents argue that certain important rights, such as that of habeas corpus, are not provided for or recognised by the Constitution. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Union forms Part II of the Constitution, and habeas corpus is not explicity mentioned among its provisions. However, Article I-9(2) of the Constitution says: "The Union shall accede to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms", Article 5 of which includes the following: - Everyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings by which the lawfulness of his detention shall be decided speedily by a court and his release ordered if the detention is not lawful. Consequently, while the Constitution makes no explicit mention of habeas corpus, the Union must still uphold it because it is constitutionally bound to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights. Advocates of the Constitution often allege that in cases like this, eurosceptics seek to mislead the public by encouraging them to think that if the Constitution is adopted, habeas corpus will be abolished or might not be guaranteed in the future. Development of the Treaties into EU Constitution External links and references - A Constitution for Europe — EU's official Constitution site, including full text in the official languages. - Reader-friendly edition of the EU Constitution — Highlights and commentary (PDFs). - History of the Constitution — Academic site linking to many documents concerning the preparation, negotiation and ratification stages of the Constitution and previous treaties. - Constitution search engine — On-line search engine for the constitution text. - News coverage: - Campaigning and advocacy sites: - Discussion sites: The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details

http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Treaty_establishing_a_Constitution_for_Europe

During systole, the heart muscle contracts (becomes smaller) in response to a complex electrical stimulus generated automatically by the body. This makes the blood flow out of the heart, and into the body and lungs. There are two phases: - Atrial systole - Ventricular systole When the lower chambers are filled and the valves to the atria are closed, the ventricles contract. This is the second phase and is called "ventricular systole". Blood is pumped out of the heart to the body from the left ventricle and to the lungs from the right ventricle as seen in the diagram to the right. This phase is the origin of the pulse. Systolic pressure [change] Because the heart muscle contracts during systole, "Systolic pressure" is the highest pressure within the arterial blood stream during each heart beat. The lowest arterial pressure happens when the heart muscle relaxes, and is called diastolic pressure. When blood pressure is measured for medical purposes, systolic pressure is the first number in the "ratio" of systolic to diastolic pressure; for example: 120/80. Related pages [change] - February 10, 2011. "Systole definition - Medical Dictionary definitions of popular medical terms easily defined on MedTerms". Medterms.com. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=16204. Retrieved 2011-02-10.

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systole_(medicine)

Weddell Seal, Leptonychotes weddellii The Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) is a large true seal in the Lobodontini tribe. It is native to Antarctica, with its range consisting of a large “ring” that surrounds Antarctica. This seal will spend most of its time in the water instead of on land. The Weddell seal appears on the IUCN Red List with a conservation status of “Least Concern”. It is estimated this seal numbers over 800,000 individuals in the wild. First discovered in 1820s by a British sealing captain named James Weddell, the Weddell seal has been placed in the Lobodontini tribe along with three other seals. All four seals share a common ancestor, as well as an adapted tooth structure that allows the seals to pull in the Antarctic krill that make up large portions of their diet. Adult Weddell seals can grow to be an average of 8.2 to 11.5 feet and can weigh between 880 and 1360 pounds. Typically, females are larger than males, and the cat like faces of these seals differ slightly in length, with males bearing noses that are slightly longer. The noses of the species turn upwards, giving the appearance that it is smiling. Each Weddell seal bares a thin coat that can vary in color as the seal ages. Pups are born with gray fur that darkens within the first three to four weeks of age. Adults are typically brown in color, with pale underbellies, and the brown will fade in older seals. The Weddell seal prefers to gather in small groups that will surround holes in the ice, or in larger groups that dwell on continental pack ice. During the harsh winters of its range, it will spend its time in the water, only stretching its head through small holes in the ice to breath. When on land, these docile seals can be seen relaxing on the ice. The reproduction habits of the Weddell seal vary depending upon location. Seals inhabiting areas of higher latitudes will typically give birth between the months of September and December, while those living in lower latitudes will give birth in earlier months. Most of these seals are able to mate at six to eight years of age, but some individuals can mate earlier. Although breeding occurs underwater, calls can be felt through the ice. During breeding, females are often bitten on the neck. The Weddell seal is one of the few species of seals that often gives birth to twins. Pups are able to swim at around two weeks of age, and are weaned at seven weeks. The Weddell seal is skilled at diving, and can swim to a depth of up to 2,300 feet. After taking a large breath from an ice hole, the seal will dive down, slowly descending for up to 164 feet. These seals are able to remain underwater for up to eighty minutes. These adventures consist of foraging for food and searching out cracks in the ice that could be potential breathing holes and are made possible by the increased amount of myoglobin in the muscles. It is thought that this seal can stay underwater for so long with limited oxygen due to a process known as anaerobic metabolism. This process causes lactic acid to build up and remain in the muscles until it surfaces, when the acid then travels into the bloodstream. This is accomplished when the capillaries shrink, but it is though that this process is not the most efficient because it requires a longer recovery period for the seal. Another way that the Weddell seal is able to remain underwater is an increased oxygen carrying capability. This is possible by having an increased amount of red blood cells, as well as having more blood than other animals. Together with an oxygen reserve in the spleen, adjustments in heart rate and PH balance of the blood, this seal can remain underwater longer than other seals. The diet of the Weddell seal consists of many creatures including krill, fish, bottom-feeding prawns, squid, and occasionally penguins. During the warmer months of the year, these seals will rely on eyesight to hunt and forage for food, but when blizzards occur during winter, they must use their whiskers and other senses to locate food. On the fast ice, the Waddell seal has no natural predators, but in the water or on pack ice leopard seals and killer whales will hunt sub-adults and pups. The lifespan of this seal is significantly shorter than most seals that live an average of forty years. Because the Weddell seal scrapes ice with its teeth, it will eventually wear them down, and will live an average of 20 years. It is protected by the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals and the Antarctic Treaty. Image Caption: Weddell Seal. Credit: Samuel Blanc/Wikipedia(CC BY-SA 3.0)

http://www.redorbit.com/education/reference_library/science_1/mammalia/1112647140/weddell-seal-leptonychotes-weddellii/

Homophones, or homonyms, are words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings. For example, “toad” and “towed” are homophones. When it comes to student writing, they need to be able to distinguish the difference in meaning and choose the correct spelling of the word. If they don’t, their writing won’t make sense! (K12reader also offers free, printable homophone worksheets) No worries, though. Most students think learning about and identifying homophones is fun. For teachers, the good news is it’s easy to incorporate engaging and interesting activities into a homophone lesson plan. Before getting started, however, here is a useful list of several homophones you can use to increase student vocabulary and spelling skills. Meet/meat Ad/add Eight/ate Blew/blue Toad/towed Wait/weight Be/bee By/buy/bye Hour/our Know There/their/they’re To/too/two Your/you’re Rose/rows Here/hear One/won Bale/bail Board/bored Byte/bite Bread/bred Break/brake Seller/cellar Censor/sensor Chilly/chile Crews/cruise Days/daze Dear/deer Die/dye Eye/I Find/fined Gate/gait Hay/hey Him/hym Hole/whole Lie/lye Made/maid Male/mail Passed/past Piece/peace Peer/pier Pray/prey Read/reed See/sea Sun/son Would/wood Incorporating homophones into spelling and reading lesson plans. Teachable moments appear all throughout the day, sometimes when you least expect it. Teaching homophones can easily become a part of a spelling and reading lesson. Here are a few suggestions: Have students keep an ongoing list of homophones. When reviewing spelling words, if a particular word has a homophone, tell your student about it and asked them to add it to their homophone list. Use pairs of homophones in a sentence. For example, “The maid made up the bed.” “Jennifer ate eight slices of pizza!” Point out a pair of homophones, such as sun/son, and ask identifying questions such as “Which one is a big yellow ball in the sky?” Incorporating a few mini lessons on homophones into your regular spelling or reading lesson makes the session more memorable, plus they’ll learn new homophones. Student activities for teaching homophones Homophone Concentration Game. This game is a take on the popular Concentration television show. Access to computer clip art To start, choose about 10 homophones pairs. For example, one and won. Using computer clipart find pictures that represent each word in the homophone pair. You’ll use these pictures to make the concentration cards. The easiest way to make the cards is to first create a 10 x 4 table in Microsoft word. Inside each square of the table, cut and paste the pictures you located in clipart. Then laminate the table and cut out each picture to make individual cards. You’ll need to repeat this process for however many groups of students you have playing the game. Place the cards face down on the table. Students take turns turning over two cards at a time with the goal of finding a homophone pair. They’ll have to remember the location of each card as they try to pick out a pair of homophones. Once they’ve identified a pair, they keep the two cards. The student with the most pairs is the winner. Homophone Class Book. After reviewing and generating homophone pairs, students work with a partner to illustrate pages of a homophone class book. Each student will have a pair of homophones. On one page they use the word incorrectly in a sentence and then draw a humorous illustration to go along with the sentence. For example, “Come see my rows garden.” The students could draw a picture of an outside area with rows of chairs amidst trees, flowers, and shrubbery. On a second page the student will use the word correctly with a corresponding picture. Adding pictures not only reinforces the meaning of homophones, it makes it much more enjoyable as well. Try these activities with your students. When it comes to correctly identifying homophones, you’ll class will have it maid…err…made!

http://www.k12reader.com/fun-activities-for-teaching-homophones/

Sharing a common ancestor Humans did not evolve from an ape - we are apes, and our closest living relatives include chimpanzees and gorillas. Evidence from fossils, proteins and genetic studies indicates that humans and chimpanzees had a common ancestor millions of years ago. Most scientists believe that the ‘human’ family tree (known as the sub-group hominin) split from the chimpanzees and other apes about five to seven million years ago. What this common ancestor looked like is not known. Until recently it was widely believed that it looked much like a chimpanzee, with features such as a short back, arms and hands adapted for grasping and swinging in branches, and wrists and forelimbs that enabled knuckle-walking. This view was based on the beliefs that our ancestors probably passed through a proto-ape stage and that African apes are less specialised than humans so have changed less since diverging from this ancestor. However, this lacked supportive fossil evidence as there are almost no fossils of early chimps or gorillas and very few of early hominins. Recent studies on the skeleton of the 4.4-million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus have changed all this. This species dates to a critical time in hominin evolution as it is nearing the time when scientists believe hominins diverged from the ape branch of the family tree. The fact that A.ramidus has a number of physical features that differ significantly from chimpanzees (particularly those that show it was not a knuckle-walker) is crucial to our understanding of hominin and ape evolution. It is highly likely that A.ramidus preserves some of the characteristics of the last common ancestor, suggesting that some of its features (particularly in the limbs and hands) were more like those in living monkeys and early apes like Proconsul. Millions of years of evolutionary change and natural selection meant that later hominin species were less apelike in appearance and behaviour than their early ancestors. The ancestral line that led to modern chimpanzees also changed, possibly with changes that were as dramatic as our own. Our own species Homo sapiens is the result of four major evolutionary changes. These can be summarised as trends involving the development of: 1. bipedalism (walking upright on two legs) 2. shorter jaws with smaller teeth 3. larger brains 4. increasingly complex forms of technology Fossil evidence shows that our ancestors became bipeds first, followed by changes to the teeth and jaws. It was only much later that our larger brains and more complex technology set us apart as Homo sapiens.

http://australianmuseum.net.au/Sharing-a-common-ancestor

The Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was an agreement between Germany and the Allied forces to end World War I. Known as the Big Four, there were four leaders of major Allied nations at the Treaty of Versailles. Initiated in January 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was crafted to settle the populace and maintain peace. The Treaty of Versailles marked the end of World War I, and the beginning of the economic depression in Germany. Who were the Leaders and what did they want? When World War I came to an end, Allied representatives met at the Palace of Versailles in Paris, France during the Paris Peace Conference to discuss and to create peace treaties between the central powers. Of the representatives present, American president Woodrow Wilson was especially concerned with creating one treaty to replace all the smaller secret treaties that came about during the war. Italy, who only joined the Allied forces because of promises made saying that land would be given to Italy if they joined the war, and Japan had both already established treaties among themselves dividing up Germany, Turkey, and other areas. The Big Four present during the discussions were President Woodrow Wilson, Prime Minister of Great Britain David Lloyd George, Premier of France Georges Clemenceau, and Prime Minister of Italy Vittorio Orlando. President Woodrow Wilson represented the United States. His motive for attending the settlement agreement was to attempt to reduce the devastation brought during war through his “Fourteen Points.” He wanted to establish the League of Nations so countries could talk through their political disagreements rather than going to war. David Lloyd George represented England as the prime minister of Great Britain. He aimed to limit the spread of communism. In order to continue to garner public support, he took a hard public stance against Germany although privately he supported only minimal penalties for Germany. Georges Clemenceau was the premier of France. His main goal was to assure that Germany lost all war capabilities. His country took the brunt of Germany’s aggression during World War I, and he did not want Germany to have the opportunity to invade France again. He also wanted Germany to pay for France’s losses during the war. Vittorio Orlando, the prime minister of Italy, wanted to make sure Italy received land that was promised to it in the Treaty of London. He did not achieve his goal, and he was often left out of important settlement talks at the Peace Conference. He resigned his post before signing the Treaty of Versailles. His leaving changed the Big Four into the Big Three. What happened at the Peace Conference? The Treaty of Versailles impacted Europe physically as well as politically and financially. German leaders were forced to accept the terms of the agreement since Allied forces defeated the German military. In the Treaty, World War I is blamed entirely on Germany and therefore much of what the Treaty establishes is directly related to Germany itself. The Treaty established areas of land that would be taken from Germany and returned to their original governments or given to other Allied governments, as well as areas of land that were made into entirely new countries. Countries were created to parallel the ethnic make-up of the land. The land that was taken away from Germany was not only located in Europe but included all overseas German colonies as well. Germany conceded approximately a million square miles of land. Among other terms in the agreement, Germany was also forced to pay reparations to the Allied forces and cut its military to 100,000 men and six warships. Politically the Treaty impacted German's government especially. All German leaders having refused to sign were forced to give up their positions, which were then given to new leaders who signed the Treaty. Many Germans were upset by this and believed the new politicians to be traitors which led to uprisings. What did people in Germany think about the Treaty and why? Having been the most impacted by the Treaty, the Germans did not like the results because they felt it dealt too harshly with Germany and they had expected leniency thanks to Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points. The treaty forced them to give up some of their most valued land resources, people, and money. Since German leaders were not allowed to participate in the treaty conference, and because they refused to sign and new leaders were put into place that would sign the treaty, Germans felt as if the treaty was imposed upon them. There were also many German's who refused to believe that the German military had actually been defeated. They saw no sign of an invasion of Germany so in turn believed that Germany had not lost the war. German's also thought it was unfair that Germany was stated as being entirely to blame for the war when the first shot was a Serbian shooting an Austrian. The results of all this unrest among Germans were violent and unpleasant. Armed street gangs comprised of returning soldiers roamed the streets and eventually attempted to seize power, in 1919 communists attempted a revolution known as the Spartacist Revolt, government officials were murdered, and extremist political parties were formed, including the German Workers Party, the party which in 1921 was taken over by Adolf Hitler. What did people in Italy think about the Treaty and why? Italians felt bitter after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Italy suffered the deaths of approximately 460,000 soldiers in the war, and Italy owed money to other countries due to wartime expenses. To add to the human and monetary losses, Italy did not receive the land promised in the secret Treaty of London. All this led to much unrest and unemployment throughout Italy which in turn led to greater support of the leader of the Fascist Part, Benito Mussolini who promised to recreate the great Roman Empire. The Treaty of Versailles represents the end of World War I, but it also represents the beginning of an era of economic depression. The depression becomes a global factor in subsequent military skirmishes and in World War II. History points to the fact that Adolf Hitler’s rise to power grew out of German resentment of the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles changed the landscape of Europe and altered the course of Germany’s political future.

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Dryland species must adapt to an environment known for its variation in climate, both in terms of temperature and water availability. Some areas have been identified as especially important to the survival of these uniquely adapted plants and animals: Centers of Plant Diversity; Endemic Bird Areas; Protected Areas; and Global 200 Ecoregions. The IUCN-World Conservation Union and World Wildlife Fund-US (WWF-US) have identified 234 Centers of Plant Diversity (CPDs) worldwide. To qualify as CPDs, mainland centers must contain at least 1,000 vascular plant species and at least 10 percent endemism; island centers must contain at least 50 endemics or at least 10 percent endemic flora. CPDs house important gene pools of plants of value to humans, encompass a diverse range of habitat types, support a significant proportion of species adapted to special soil conditions, and are subject to the threats of large-scale devastation. The size of CPDs ranges from approximately 100 to more than 1 million square kilometers. The 234 CPDS can be mapped according to aridity zone. At least 42 of the 234 CPDs are found in drylands. These dryland CPDs are more abundant in lower latitudes, especially in South America. However, every region has at least one dryland CPD and thus, each region includes an area where the diversity of dryland plants is high and where conservation practices could safeguard a great variety of species. For example, the Southwest Botanical Province in Western Australia, an area of nearly 310,000 square kilometers of Eucalypt forests and woodlands, has approximately 2,472 vascular plant species restricted entirely to the province. Diversity in drylands has been identified in areas with a large number of endemic bird species. Birdlife International has identified 217 endemic bird areas (EBAs) worldwide. An EBA is defined as: An area which encompasses the overlapping breeding ranges of restricted-range bird species, such that the complete ranges of two or more restricted-range species are entirely included within the boundary of the EBA. This does not necessarily mean that the complete ranges of all of an EBA’s restricted-range species are entirely included within the boundary of that single EBA, as some species may be shared between EBAs. Birdlife International defines restricted-range species as all landbirds which have had a breeding range of less than 50,000 square kilometers throughout historical times (i.e. post-1800, in the period since ornithological recording began). Some birds that have small ranges today were historically widespread, and are therefore not treated as restricted-range species. Extinct birds that qualify on range size are included. Approximately 60 EBAs are found in whole or in part within the three dryland aridity zones. These EBAs range from 11 to 100 percent dryland; 42 (or 70 percent) are at least 40 percent dryland. They are most extensive in South America and Australia, and are not present at all in Europe. All other regions, Africa, Middle East, Asia, and North and Central America contain at least one EBA which is at least partially dryland. Each EBA is assigned a biological importance rank from 1 to 3 (most biologically important) on the basis of its size and the number and taxonomic uniqueness of its restricted-range species. Several dryland EBAs have the highest rank for biological importance. For example, the Central Chile EBA is 160,000 square kilometers of scrub and semi-arid drylands with 8 restricted-range species. Protected areas around the globe have been identified by IUCN-The World Conservation Union and mapped by UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC). IUCN defines protected area as: An area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means. IUCN assigns each protected area to one of six management categories. These categories vary in management purpose from scientific research to sustainable use, and include: - strict nature reserves and wilderness areas (Category I); - national parks (Category II); - national monuments (Category III); - habitat or species management areas (Category IV); - protected landscapes (Category V); and - areas managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems (Category VI). Approximately 1300 protected areas

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diagrammatic means of representing sets and their relationships. The first use of "Eulerian circles" is commonly attributed to Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707–1783). They are closely related to Venn diagrams. Venn and Euler diagrams were incorporated as part of instruction in set theory as part of the new math movement in the 1960s. Since then, they have also been adopted by other curriculum fields such as reading. OverviewEuler diagrams consist of simple closed curves (usually circles) in the plane that depict sets. The sizes or shapes of the curves are not important: the significance of the diagram is in how they overlap. The spatial relationships between the regions bounded by each curve (overlap, containment or neither) corresponds to set-theoretic relationships (intersection, subset and disjointness). Each Euler curve divides the plane into two regions or "zones": the interior, which symbolically represents the elements of the set, and the exterior, which represents all elements that are not members of the set. Curves whose interior zones do not intersect represent disjoint sets. Two curves whose interior zones intersect represent sets that have common elements; the zone inside both curves represents the set of elements common to both sets (the intersection of the sets). A curve that is contained completely within the interior zone of another represents a subset of it. Venn diagrams are a more restrictive form of Euler diagrams. A Venn diagram must contain all the possible zones of overlap between its curves, representing all combinations of inclusion/exclusion of its constituent sets, but in an Euler diagram some zones might be missing. When the number of sets grows beyond 3, or even with three sets, but under the allowance of more than two curves passing at the same point, we start seeing the appearance of multiple mathematically unique Venn diagrams. Venn diagrams represent the relationships between n sets, with 2n zones, Euler diagrams may not have all zones. (An example is given below in the History section; in the top-right illustration the O and I diagrams are merely rotated; Venn stated that this difficulty in part led him to develop his diagrams). In a logical setting, one can use model theoretic semantics to interpret Euler diagrams, within a universe of discourse. In the examples above, the Euler diagram depicts that the sets Animal and Mineral are disjoint since the corresponding curves are disjoint, and also that the set Four Legs is a subset of the set of Animals. The Venn diagram, which uses the same categories of Animal, Mineral, and Four Legs, does not encapsulate these relationships. Traditionally the emptiness of a set in Venn diagrams is depicted by shading in the region. Euler diagrams represent emptiness either by shading or by the use of a missing region. Often a set of well-formedness conditions are imposed; these are topological or geometric constraints imposed on the structure of the diagram. For example, connectedness of zones might be enforced, or concurrency of curves or multiple points might be banned, as might tangential intersection of curves. In the diagram to the right, examples of small Venn diagrams are transformed into Euler diagrams by sequences of transformations; some of the intermediate diagrams have concurrency of curves. However, this sort of transformation of a Venn diagram with shading into an Euler diagram without shading is not always possible. There are examples of Euler diagrams with 9 sets that are not drawable using simple closed curves without the creation of unwanted zones since they would have to have non-planar dual graphs. Sir William Hamilton in his posthumously published Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic (1858–60) asserts that the original use of circles to "sensualize ... the abstractions of Logic" (p. 180) was not Leonhard Paul Euler (1707–1783) but rather Christian Weise (?–1708) in his Nucleus Logicoe Weisianoe that appeared in 1712 posthumously. He references Euler's Letters to a German Princess on different Matters of Physics and Philosophy1" [1Partie ii., Lettre XXXV., ed. Cournot. – ED.] In Hamilton's illustration the four forms of the syllogism as symbolized by the drawings A, E, I and O are: - A: The Universal Affirmative, Example: "All metals are elements". - E: The Universal Negative, Example: "No metals are compound substances". - I: The Particular Affirmative, Example: "Some metals are brittle". - O: The Particular Negative, Example: "Some metals are not brittle". - "...of the first sixty logical treatises, published during the last century or so, which were consulted for this purpose:-somewhat at random, as they happened to be most accessible :-it appeared that thirty four appealed to the aid of diagrams, nearly all of these making use of the Eulerian Scheme." (Footnote 1 page 100) - “In fact ... those diagrams not only do not fit in with the ordinary scheme of propositions which they are employed to illustrate, but do not seem to have any recognized scheme of propositions to which they could be consistently affiliated.” (pp. 124–125) - "We now come to Euler's well-known circles which were first described in his Lettres a une Princesse d'Allemagne (Letters 102–105). The weak point about these consists in the fact that they only illustrate in strictness the actual relations of classes to one another, rather than the imperfect knowledge of these relations which we may possess, or wish to convey, by means of the proposition. Accordingly they will not fit in with the propositions of common logic, but demand the constitution of a new group of appropriate elementary propositions.... This defect must have been noticed from the first in the case of the particular affirmative and negative, for the same diagram is commonly employed to stand for them both, which it does indifferently well". (italics added: page 424) By 1914 Louis Couturat (1868–1914) had labeled the terms as shown on the drawing on the right. Moreover, he had labeled the exterior region (shown as a'b'c') as well. He succinctly explains how to use the diagram – one must strike out the regions that are to vanish: - "VENN'S method is translated in geometrical diagrams which represent all the constituents, so that, in order to obtain the result, we need only strike out (by shading) those which are made to vanish by the data of the problem." (italics added p. 73) - "No Y is Z and ALL X is Y: therefore No X is Z" has the equation x'yz' + xyz' + x'y'z for the unshaded area inside the circles (but note that this is not entirely correct; see the next paragraph). - "No Y is Z and ALL X is Y: therefore No X is Z" has the equation x'yz' + xyz' + x'y'z + x'y'z' . Couturat now observes that, in a direct algorithmic (formal, systematic) manner, one cannot derive reduced Boolean equations, nor does it show how to arrive at the conclusion "No X is Z". Couturat concluded that the process "has ... serious inconveniences as a method for solving logical problems": - "It does not show how the data are exhibited by canceling certain constituents, nor does it show how to combine the remaining constituents so as to obtain the consequences sought. In short, it serves only to exhibit one single step in the argument, namely the equation of the problem; it dispenses neither with the previous steps, i. e., "throwing of the problem into an equation" and the transformation of the premises, nor with the subsequent steps, i. e., the combinations that lead to the various consequences. Hence it is of very little use, inasmuch as the constituents can be represented by algebraic symbols quite as well as by plane regions, and are much easier to deal with in this form."(p. 75) - "For more than three variables, the basic illustrative form of the Venn diagram is inadequate. Extensions are possible, however, the most convenient of which is the Karnaugh map, to be discussed in Chapter 6." (p. 64) - "The Karnaugh map1 [1Karnaugh 1953] is one of the most powerful tools in the repertory of the logic designer. ... A Karnaugh map may be regarded either as a pictorial form of a truth table or as an extension of the Venn diagram." (pp. 103–104) Example: Euler- to Venn-diagram and Karnaugh mapThis example shows the Euler and Venn diagrams and Karnaugh map deriving and verifying the deduction "No X's are Z's". In the illustration and table the following logical symbols are used: - 1 can be read as "true", 0 as "false" - ~ for NOT and abbreviated to ' when illustrating the minterms e.g. x' =defined NOT x, - + for Boolean OR (from Boolean algebra: 0+0=0, 0+1 = 1+0 = 1, 1+1=1) - & (logical AND) between propositions; in the mintems AND is omitted in a manner similar to arithmetic multiplication: e.g. x'y'z =defined ~x & ~y & z (From Boolean algebra: 0*0=0, 0*1 = 1*0=0, 1*1 = 1, where * is shown for clarity) - → (logical IMPLICATION): read as IF ... THEN ..., or " IMPLIES ", P → Q =defined NOT P OR Q Given the example above, the formula for the Euler and Venn diagrams is: - "No Y's are Z's" and "All X's are Y's": ( ~(y & z) & (x → y) ) =defined P - "No X's are Z's": ( ~ (x & z) ) =defined Q - ( ~(y & z) & (x → y) ) → ( ~ (x & z) ): P → Q - IF ( "No Y's are Z's" and "All X's are Y's" ) THEN ( "No X's are Z's" ) |Square #||Venn, Karnaugh region||x||y||z||(~||(y||&||z)||&||(x||→||y))||→||(~||(x||&||z))| Modus ponens (or "the fundamental rule of inference") is often written as follows: The two terms on the left, "P → Q" and "P", are called premises (by convention linked by a comma), the symbol ⊢ means "yields" (in the sense of logical deduction), and the term on the right is called the conclusion: - P → Q, P ⊢ Q - P → Q , P ⊢ Q - i.e.: ( ~(y & z) & (x → y) ) → ( ~ (x & z) ) , ( ~(y & z) & (x → y) ) ⊢ ( ~ (x & z) ) - i.e.: IF "No Y's are Z's" and "All X's are Y's" THEN "No X's are Z's", "No Y's are Z's" and "All X's are Y's" ⊢ "No X's are Z's" The use of tautological implication means that other possible deductions exist besides "No X's are Z's"; the criterion for a successful deduction is that the 1's under the sub-major connective on the right include all the 1's under the sub-major connective on the left (the major connective being the implication that results in the tautology). For example, in the truth table, on the right side of the implication (→, the major connective symbol) the bold-face column under the sub-major connective symbol " ~ " has the all the same 1s that appear in the bold-faced column under the left-side sub-major connective & (rows 0, 1, 2 and 6), plus two more (rows 3 and 4). A Venn diagram shows all possible intersections. Euler diagram visualizing a real situation, the relationships between various supranational European organisations. Euler diagram visualizing a real situation, the relationships between various supranational African organisations. Humorous diagram comparing Euler and Venn diagrams. Euler diagram of types of triangles, assuming isosceles triangles have at least 2 equal sides. Euler diagram of terminology of the British Isles. - Strategies for Reading Comprehension Venn Diagrams - By the time these lectures of Hamilton were published, Hamilton too had died. His editors (symbolized by ED.), responsible for most of the footnoting, were the logicians Henry Longueville Mansel and John Veitch. - Hamilton 1860:179. The examples are from Jevons 1881:71ff. - See footnote at George Stibitz. - This is a sophisticated concept. Russell and Whitehead (2nd edition 1927) in their Principia Mathematica describe it this way: "The trust in inference is the belief that if the two former assertions [the premises P, P→Q ] are not in error, the final assertion is not in error . . . An inference is the dropping of a true premiss [sic]; it is the dissolution of an implication" (p. 9). Further discussion of this appears in "Primitive Ideas and Propositions" as the first of their "primitive propositions" (axioms): *1.1 Anything implied by a true elementary proposition is true" (p. 94). In a footnote the authors refer the reader back to Russell's 1903 Principles of Mathematics §38. - cf Reichenbach 1947:64 - Reichenbach discusses the fact that the implication P → Q need not be a tautology (a so-called "tautological implication"). Even "simple" implication (connective or adjunctive) will work, but only for those rows of the truth table that evaluate as true, cf Reichenbach 1947:64–66. ReferencesBy date of publishing: - Sir William Hamilton 1860 Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic edited by Henry Longueville Mansel and John Veitch, William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London. - W. Stanley Jevons 1880 Elemetnary Lessons in Logic: Deductive and Inductive. With Copious Questions and Examples, and a Vocabulary of Logical Terms, M. A. MacMillan and Co., London and New York. - John Venn 1881 Symbolic Logic, MacMillan and Co., London. - Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell 1913 1st edition, 1927 2nd edition Principia Mathematica to *56 Cambridge At The University Press (1962 edition), UK, no ISBN. - Louis Couturat 1914 The Algebra of Logic: Authorized English Translation by Lydia Gillingham Robinson with a Preface by Philip E. B. Jourdain, The Open Court Publishing Company, Chicago and London. - Emil Post 1921 "Introduction to a general theory of elementary propositions" reprinted with commentary by Jean van Heijenoort in Jean van Heijenoort, editor 1967 From Frege to Gödel: A Sourcebook of Mathematical Logic, 1879–1931, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, ISBN 0-674-42449-8 (pbk.) - Claude E. Shannon 1938 "A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits", Transactions American Institute of Electrical Engineers vol 57, pp. 471–495. Derived from Claude Elwood Shannon: Collected Papers edited by N.J.A. Solane and Aaron D. Wyner, IEEE Press, New York. - Hans Reichenbach 1947 Elements of Symbolic Logic republished 1980 by Dover Publications, Inc., NY, ISBN 0-486-24004-5. - Edward W. Veitch 1952 "A Chart Method for Simplifying Truth Functions", Transactions of the 1952 ACM Annual Meeting, ACM Annual Conference/Annual Meeting "Pittsburgh", ACM, NY, pp. 127–133. - Maurice Karnaugh November 1953 The Map Method for Synthesis of Combinational Logic Circuits, AIEE Committee on Technical Operations for presentation at the AIEE summer General Meeting, Atlantic City, N. J., June 15–19, 1953, pp. 593–599. - Frederich J. Hill and Gerald R. Peterson 1968, 1974 Introduction to Switching Theory and Logical Design, John Wiley & Sons NY, ISBN 0-71-39882-9. - Ed Sandifer 2003 How Euler Did It, http://www.maa.org/editorial/euler/How%20Euler%20Did%20It%2003%20Venn%20Diagrams.pdf |Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Euler diagrams|

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Science Fair Project Encyclopedia This article is about angles in geometry. For other articles, see Angle (disambiguation) An angle (from the Lat. angulus, a corner, a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin; cognate are the Lat. angere, to compress into a bend or to strangle, and the Gr. ἄγκοσ, a bend; both connected with the Aryan or Indo-European root ank-, to bend) is the figure formed by two rays sharing a common endpoint, called the vertex of the angle. Angles provide a means of expressing the difference in slope between two rays meeting at a vertex without the need to explicitly define the slopes of the two rays. Angles are studied in geometry and trigonometry. Euclid defines a plane angle as the inclination to each other, in a plane, of two lines which meet each other, and do not lie straight with respect to each other. According to Proclus an angle must be either a quality or a quantity, or a relationship. The first concept was used by Eudemus , who regarded an angle as a deviation from a straight line; the second by Carpus of Antioch , who regarded it as the interval or space between the intersecting lines; Euclid adopted the third concept, although his definitions of right, acute, and obtuse angles are certainly quantitative. Units of measure for angles In order to measure an angle, a circle centered at the vertex is drawn. Since the circumference of a circle is always directly proportional to the length of its radius, the measure of the angle is independent of the size of the circle. Note that angles are dimensionless, since they are defined as the ratio of lengths. - The radian measure of the angle is the length of the arc cut out by the angle, divided by the circle's radius. The SI system of units uses radians as the (derived) unit for angles. - The degree measure of the angle is the length of the arc, divided by the circumference of the circle, and multiplied by 360. The symbol for degrees is a small superscript circle, as in 360°. 2π radians is equal to 360° (a full circle), so one radian is about 57° and one degree is π/180 radians. - The grad, also called grade or gon, is an angular measure where the arc is divided by the circumference, and multiplied by 400. It is used mostly in triangulation. - The point is used in navigation, and is defined as 1/32 of a circle, or exactly 11.25°. - The full circle or full turns represents the number or fraction of complete full turns. For example, π/2 radians = 90° = 1/4 full circle Conventions on measurement A convention universally adopted in mathematical writing is that angles given a sign are positive angles if measured counterclockwise, and negative angles if measured clockwise, from a given line. If no line is specified, it can be assumed to be the x-axis in the Cartesian plane. In navigation and other areas this convention may not be followed. In mathematics radians are assumed unless specified otherwise because this removes the arbitrariness of the number 360 in the degree system and because the trigonometric functions can be developed into particularly simple Taylor series if their arguments are specified in radians. Types of angles An angle of π/2 radians or 90°, one-quarter of the full circle is called a right angle. Angles smaller than a right angle are called acute angles; angles larger than a right angle are called obtuse angles. Angles equal to two right angles are called straight angles. Angles larger than two right angles are called reflex angles. The difference between an acute angle and a right angle is termed the complement of the angle, and between an angle and two right angles the supplement of the angle. In Euclidean geometry, the inner angles of a triangle add up to π radians or 180°; the inner angles of a quadrilateral add up to 2π radians or 360°. In general, the inner angles of a simple polygon with n sides add up to (n − 2) × π radians or (n − 2) × 180°. If two straight lines intersect, four angles are formed. Each one has an equal measure to the angle across from it; these congruent angles are called vertical angles . If a straight line intersects two parallel lines, corresponding angles at the two points of intersection are equal; adjacent angles are complementary, that is they add to π radians or 180°. Angles in different contexts This allows one to define angles in any real inner product space, replacing the Euclidean dot product · by the Hilbert space inner product <·,·>. The angle between a line and a curve (mixed angle) or between two intersecting curves (curvilinear angle) is defined to be the angle between the tangents at the point of intersection. Various names (now rarely, if ever, used) have been given to particular cases:—amphicyrtic (Gr. ἀμφί, on both sides, κυρτόσ, convex) or cissoidal (Gr. κισσόσ, ivy), biconvex; xystroidal or sistroidal (Gr. ξυστρίσ, a tool for scraping), concavo-convex; amphicoelic (Gr. κοίλη, a hollow) or angulus lunularis, biconcave. Also a plane and an intersecting line form an angle. This angle is equal to π/2 radians minus the angle between the intersecting line and the line that goes through the point of intersection and is perpendicular to the plane. Angles in Riemannian geometry Angles in astronomy In astronomy, one can measure the angular separation of two stars by imagining two lines through the Earth, each one intersecting one of the stars. Then the angle between those lines can be measured; this is the angular separation between the two stars. Astronomers also measure the apparent size of objects. For example, the full moon has an angular measurement of 0.5°, when viewed from Earth. One could say, "The Moon subtends an angle of half a degree." The small-angle formula can be used to convert such an angular measurement into a distance/size ratio. Angles in maritime navigation The obsolete (but still commonly used) format of angle used to indicate longitude or latitude is hemisphere degree minute' second", where there are 60 minutes in a degree and 60 seconds in a minute, for instance N 51 23′26″ or E 090 58′57″ - Central angle - Complementary angles - Inscribed angle - Supplementary angles - solid angle for a concept of angle in three dimensions. - Angle Bisectors - Angle Bisectors and Perpendiculars in a Quadrilateral - Angle Bisectors in a Quadrilateral - Constructing a triangle from its angle bisectors - Online Unit Converter - Conversion of many different units The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details

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Lectins are proteins of non-immune origin that specifically interact with sugar molecules (carbohydrates) without modifying them. Lectins are found in a variety of species from plants to insects to man. They serve many different biological functions from the regulation of cell adhesion to glycoprotein synthesis and the control of protein levels in the blood. Lectins are also known to play important roles in the immune system by recognising carbohydrates that are found exclusively on pathogens, or that are inaccessible on host cells. Lectins are often found in common foods, and many of them are blood type specific. Because cancer cells often manufacture copious amounts of antigens on their surface, many lectins will agglutinate them in preference to normal cells. |Specificity for human blood groups ||Blood typing; structural studies of blood group substances; identification of new blood types; diagnosis of secretors.| |Toxicity in animals and humans ||Studies of nutritional value of foodstuffs| |Induction of mitosis in lymphocytes ||Studies of chromosomal constitution of cells.| |Agglutination of malignant cells ||Investigation of architecture of cell surfaces. | |Precipitation of polysaccharides and glycoproteins ||Isolation, purification and structural studies of carbohydrate-containing polymers| |Binding of sugars ||Studies of specific combining sites on proteins| Table 1. Properties and uses of lectins. While it is relatively easy to describe what a lectin does, they represent such a large and diverse class of naturally occurring molecules that it would be impossible to come up with a description of any one lectin that would fit all others. In a simple sense, a lectin is a protein-based molecule with a ‘sweet tooth.’ By this we mean that most lectins are comprised at least in part by proteins synthesized by the living organism than made it. Lectins like to attach to carbohydrates, mainly sugars or glycoproteins. Many of these carbohydrates are found on the exterior walls or membranes of simple cells, where they constitute the outer markers, or antigens, of that living creature. The great majority of the plant lectins are present in seed cotyledons where they are found in the cytoplasm or in the protein bodies, although they have also been found in roots, stems and leaves. Not surprising, many of these seeds, stems and leaves are components of many common foodstuffs. Thus lectin ingestion as part of any normally balanced diet is virtually unavoidable. Until recently, it was not recognized that nature could employ sugars for the synthesis of highly specific compounds that can act as carriers of biologic information. Monosaccharides can servo as "letters" vocabulary of biologic specificity, where the words are formed by variations In the nature of the sugars present, the type of linkage, and the presence or absence of branch points. The first proof that sugars could serve as specificity determinants came from the discovery that influenza virus could agglutinate red cells only in the presence of certain membrane-bound carbohydrates. It these were removed, the virus no longer could bind to the cell. Sugars on cell surfaces also seem to determine the distribution of the circulating cells within the body. Radioactively treated rat lymphocytes will migrate to the spleen when re-injected into the animal. However if the sugar fucose is removed from the surface of the cells before reintroduction, the cells migrated to the liver instead, as if the fucose served as a ZIP code - directing the calls where to go. It was not until 1953 that we discovered that the specificity of the ABO blood group-system was determined by similar sugars. For example, the difference between blood types A and B lies in a simple sugar unit that sticks out from the end of a carbohydrate chain of a glycoprotein or glycolipid. In blood type A the determinant is N-acetylgalactosamine, in type O it is fucose, and in group B it is galactose. When a lectin contains multiple binding sites, they can interconnect large numbers of cells, causing them to clump together or agglutinate. Each molecule of a lectin has two or more regions, perhaps clefts or grooves, each of which fits a complementary molecule of a sugar or several sugars. It is by means of these combining sites that the lectin attaches itself to the sugars on cell surfaces. Bacteria typically attach to prospective host cell membranes via receptors with lectin-like sugar specificity. This is of great importance, as the adherence of bacteria to host tissue surfaces is the initial event in a bacterial infection. Salmonella and Escherichia coli both carry several surface lectins with pronounced immunosuppressive ability. Both adhere to epithelial cells by attaching to the sugar mannose on the victim cell’s surface. The attachment of lectins can often be blocked by the use of sugars specific to the lectin as a sort of ‘sacrificial molecule.’ For example, colonization of the urinary tract with E. Coli can markedly be reduced by the administration of mannose sugars, which is probably why cranberry juice works in preventing bladder infections, since it is an excellent source of mannose. The binding of lectins to sugar is quite weak. It does not form a covalent bond, but is reversible, like enzyme-substrate or antigen-antibody reactions. Lectin-sugar reactions actually share many factors in common with antigen-antibody reactions, especially precipitation, which has prompted several investigators to suggest that lectins are plant antibodies. However this has been tempered by several major differences between the two. Antibodies are made by higher organisms which have specific immunologic organs. Lectins are present as constituent proteins. Second, antibodies are all structurally similar to one another, whereas lectins are structurally diverse; examination of the amino acid sequence, molecular size and other molecular properties show that lectins have little in common other than they are all proteins. For example soybean agglutinin is a glycoprotein with no di-sulphide bond; its molecular weight is 120,000, It consists of four subunits and has two binding sites. Wheat germ agglutinin is not a glycoprotein and is rich in di-sulphide bonds with a molecular weight of 36,000, It has two identical subunits and four binding sites for sugars. Naturally occurring agglutinins were first identified in 1888 by Herrmann Stillmark at the University of Dorpat in Estonia. While investigating the toxic effects on blood of castor bean extract (Ricinus communis) it was noticed that the red cells were being agglutinated. The material responsible for the agglutination was isolated and called ricin. Shortly afterward at the same university it was discovered that the toxic extract of the seed Abrus precatoris also caused cells to clump together. This new agglutinin was called abrin. This immediately caught the attention of the German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich who recognized that he could investigate certain immunologic problems with them rather than the then-popular bacterial toxins. With these two agglutinins some of the most basic principles of immunology were discovered. In 1908 Karl Landsteiner, who also discovered the basic ABO blood types, reported that small amounts of lentil lectin would agglutinate rabbit erythrocytes, even high concentrations of the lectin had no effect on pigeon red cells. Due to their peculiar properties, the lectins are used as a tool both for analytical and preparative purposes in biochemistry, cellular biology, immunology and related areas. In agriculture and medicine the use of lectins greatly improved in the last few years. Blood Type Specificity In 1945 William Boyd of the Boston University School of Medicine discovered that lectins can be blood group specific; some lectins being able to agglutinate the red cells of one type but not those of another. He discovered that lima bean lectin would agglutinate red cells of human blood type A but not those of O or B. It was Boyd who also was the first to coin the term ‘lectin’ which is Latin for legere, or ‘to choose.’ The seeds of Lotus Tetragonobolus can agglutinate group O specifically, and Bandairaea simplicofolia is specific to group B. The specificity of lectins is so sharply defined that they can differentiate among blood subgroups. Dolichos biflorens lectin reacts more vigorously with blood group Al than A2. Other blood groups can be distinguished by lectins, such as M and N blood types. Source There is evidence that lectins may be involved in the recognition between cells or cells and various carbohydrate- containing molecules. This suggests that they may be involved in the regulating physiological functions. They seem to play an important role in the defense mechanisms of plants against the attack of microorganisms, pests, and insects. Fungal infection or wounding of the plant seems to increase lectins. Lectins are believed to be nature's own insecticides and because of this, they have attracted the attention of scientists who are genetically engineering them to produce food plants, containing specific lectins, which will not only have an insecticide effect, but on ingestion will also be 'hostile' to harmful bacteria in the human and animal gut. But that is another story. It has increasingly been shown that the body uses lectins (or lectin-like molecules) to accomplish many of its most basic functions, including cell-to-cell adherence, the control of inflammation and the spread of cancer cells and even the programmed death of certain specific cells of the immune system. Lectins in the Diet Lectins are apparently most widely distributed in plants, where they were found in almost 1000 plants of some 3000 examined in recent years. They are particularly abundant in legumes and they account for between 1.5 and 3 percent of the total protein content of soy and jack beans. The second most common source of lectins are seafood. Nachbar and Oppenheim also noted high levels of lectin activity in dry roasted peanuts, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, and Kellogg's Special K. The banana agglutinin was actually enhanced by heating, and was inhibitable by n-acetyl glucosamine (NAG) and N-acetylgalactosamine (blood group A antigen) glycoproteins. Phytohemagglutinins from kidney beans can resist mild cooking and retain lectin activity even at 90 degrees C for 3 hours. Pre-soaking the beans however resulted in complete loss of lectin activity. Several investigators noted year-to-year and batch-to-batch variations in the lectin content of foods, so the occasional lectin is likely to occur even with foods normally considered safe. Nachbar tested 88 common food items and reported erythrocyte agglutination activity in 38. Many foods showed agglutinating activity so substantial that the extracts could be diluted several fold. Crude extracts of various foods tomato, lettuce, cucumber, wheat bran and whole wheat, sesame and sunflower seeds, vanilla yogurt, coconut, banana and baby food banana, carrot, onion, apple, alfalfa and soya protein have also been found to bind, and in some instances precipitate the components of human saliva, including cellular debris and bacteria. This may have some significance in the development of caries. Interestingly, avocado lectin inhibited the sucrose dependent adherence of S. mutans to plaque pellicle. Approximately 1 to 5% of the ingested dietary lectins are absorbed into the blood stream. Here they can clump and bind to red and black blood cells, destroying them. It has been proposed that much of the low grade anemias seen In the third world may be resulting from destruction of red blood cells by lectin rich grain and bean diets. Resistance to Digestion Although many lectins are destroyed by normal cooking (which is why grains and beans are edible), many are not. Relative resistance to lectins was part of the classic description of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) made by Joseph Charles Aub in 1963. WGA as Freed points out is in fact one of the more heat sensitive lectins, being destroyed after 15 minutes at 75 degrees C, whereas other wheat lectins in gluten and gliandin resist autoclaving at 110 degrees C for 30 minutes. Gibbons and Dankers noted that in over 100 food plants found to contain active lectins, seven were autoclave resistant (apple, carrot, wheat bran, canned corn, pumpkin seeds, banana and wheat flour). Lectins which are especially rich in di-sulphide bonds such as WGA are very resistant to proteolytic enzymes, detergents, urea, alkalis and acids. Foodstuffs are naturally rich in fiber and are an important cause of allergies. Dietary lectins also stimulate mast cells which can degranulate and release stored histamine, leading several researchers to ascribe a role for dietary lectins in the genesis of food allergy. Lectins As Bioweapons However it is not generally known why some individuals become sensitized to food in their diets. In an attempt to clarify this, celiac disease has been extensively studied, since patients with this disease usually normalize when placed on a gluten free diet. Researchers reported that the mucous membranes of celiac patients showed sugar residues which were capable of binding to the lectins in wheat germ, which resulted In a cytotoxic reaction. Rats treated with Concavallin-A or wheat germ lectin developed a gut membrane that was paradoxically impermeable to small molecules, but very permeable to large, highly allergenic molecules, a situation which is mimicked in food allergies and celiac disease. Lectins and Microbe Infection The Thomsen-Friedenreich (T-Tn) antigen is generally not found on human cells, but can be exposed after the sialic acid molecule have been removed by the action of neuramidlase. This can commonly occur since all Pneumococci, most strains of influenza, Vibrio cholerae and Clostridium all contain active neuramidase. Antibodies against T antigen are found in humans after the first few months of life. Peanut agglutinin is specific for it. After neuramidase exposure, PNA binding sites for T-antigen can be found on lymphocytes, erythrocytes, breast epithelial cells, glomeruli, milk-fat globule membranes and thrombocytes, serum glycoproteins. Hemolytic-uremic syndromes following pneumoccocal infection, presumably an attack by anti-T antibodies, could possibly result from T-specific lectins. It also interesting to ponder the observation of several investigators who have noticed that many cases of food intolerance develop after influenza. Bacteria typically attach to prospective host cell membranes via receptors with lectin- like sugar specificity. This is of great importance, as the adherence of bacteria to host tissue surfaces is the initial event in a bacterial infection. Salmonella and Escherichia coli both carry several surface lectins with pronounced immunosuppressive ability. Both adhere to epithelial cells through units of mannose on the cell surface. Colonization of the urinary tract with E. Coli can markedly be reduced by the administration of mannose sugars. Inhibition of bacterial adherence to bladder cells has been thought to account for the beneficial effects of cranberry juice. Cranberry juice cocktail inhibited the adherence of urinary isolates of E. Coli expressing type 1 fimbriae (mannose specific) and P fimbrae (specific for apha-d-gal-[1-4] beta-d-gal). Pineapple juice inhibited type 1 but not P type fimbrae. Lectins on type 2 fimbriae, which recognized galactose receptors on lymphocytes, play a crucial role in the phagocytosis of several Actinomyces spp. Irritation of the gut mucosal tract by Salmonella lectin may be as important in the production of the symptoms of food poisoning as the salmonella food toxin itself. In sensitive individuals, lectins in the diet can bind to the intestinal walls, causing severe lesions, inflammation and swelling. gonorrhea, the bacteria which causes the venereal disease gonorrhea, Is unique in that it is the only member of its family that is pathologic and the only member that is agglutinated by wheat germ agglutinin. Several lectins have been shown to possess agglutination properties against bacterial strains. Staphylococcus aureus and mutans has been extensively studied, These have been shown to be agglutinated by several commonly available lectins- including tomato, cantaloupe and wheat. The author has employed tomato lectin in clinical practice by way of topical applications of raw tomatoes to the eyes in staphylococcal conjunctivitis with very satisfactory results. Lectins have been shown to inhibit the release of Myxovirus and Newcastle Disease virus from infected cells. Lectins and Malignancy No other property of lectins has attracted as much attention as their ability to agglutinate malignant cells. This was discovered by chance at Massachusetts General Hospital by Joseph Charles Aub in 1963. Aub believed that the difference between cancer cells and normal cells lay on their surfaces; and that alterations in the properties of the cell surface enabled cancer cells to multiply when normal cells would not, detach from their primary site and spread throughout the body. At the time the idea seemed quite strange, and as Nathan Sharon, in his review article on lectins In Scientific American, put it: "bordered on lunacy". Aub worked with several enzymes, trying to determine whether the surface of a malignant cell was different from that of a normal cell. Only in the case of one enzyme, a lipase from wheat germ, did he observe a difference. Normal cells did not seem to be affected, but malignant cells were agglutinated. When he replace the wheat germ lipase with a pancreatic lipase, however no agglutination took place. Aub also found that the enzyme activity of the wheat germ could be destroyed by heating, but the agglutination took place all the same. Aub and his colleagues then discovered that the wheat germ lipase contained as a contaminant a small protein that was responsible from the agglutinating activity. Burger and Goldmanberg suggested that the surface of malignantly transformed cells contained a component which was not found on the surface of normal cells. It was proposed that this component is N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) or a closely related derivative since ovomucoid, a glycoprotein rich in NAGs inhibited the agglutination at very low concentrations. A higher local density of lectin binding sites have been observed in addition to an interesting phenomenon called "capping?" where lectins begin to cross link more and more surface receptors which result in more and more binding sites becoming available for cross linking. This eventual tends to cluster the binding sites to one side of the cell, producing a "cap" which can be observed by radio identification. This apparently results from a transmembrane effect involving a glycoprotein, spectrin, which aggregates upon contact with a lectin. This discovery began a now era in lectin research. Soon it was found that Concanavallin-A also agglutinated malignant cells. Recently the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel found that soybean agglutinin also possesses the same property. As a rule malignant cells are agglutinated by very low concentrations of a particular lectin and normal cells are not agglutinated unless the concentration is many times higher. The higher proportion of malignant cells agglutinated probably results from the sizeable increase in surface receptors on the malignant cells, which probably results from their incredibly high reproduction rate. Peanut Agglutinin has been shown to inhibit the growth of several breast cancer cell lines, In addition to allowing for the destruction of breast cancer cell In harvested bone marrow with a highly effective and selective (3 or 4 log depending on the cell type) action. Tags: [[tag:ABO Blood Group]] [[tag:Polymorphism]] [[tag:Antigens]] [[tag:Antibody]] [[tag:Lectins]] [[tag:Glycoproteins]]

http://www.drpeterjdadamo.com/wiki/wiki.pl?action=browse;oldid=Lectin;id=Lectins

On January 30, 1863, President Lincoln wrote to his Secretary of Interior, including a $200 voucher to fund a visit to Liberia by a representative of the American Colonization Society. According to historian Phillip W. Magnus, the letter demonstrates that Lincoln was considering the resettlement of freed slaves to Africa, the Caribbean or Central America. The President’s motives were complex. He may have sought to calm Northern fears that freed slaves would compete for jobs. He may also have believed that African Americans would never enjoy equality in this country. Whatever the case, a representative of an African American delegation had warned in the previous summer that: “This is our country as much as it is yours, and we will not leave it.”

http://tpr.org/post/week-civil-war-495

Given two vectors V and W, suppose they are represented by the coordinates a = (xa, ya)and b = (xb, yb).(Place tails of V and W at the origin. Then their heads are at a = (xa, ya)and b = (xb, yb).) Definition: The dot product of V and W is defined to be VW = xa*xb + ya*yb It's hard to see what the dot product is good for at this stage of the game. We'll work on it. One important thing ... What's VV? VV = xa2 + ya2, but that's just the length of V squared - VV = |V||V| (See, dot products are good for something.)

http://mathforum.org/~klotz/Vectors/defn.dot.html

CyberMuse Teachers - Lesson Plans Lesson Plan Activity: How do you Feel?: Grade K-3 Through photography, the students will explore emotions and moods and become aware that a photograph expresses ideas and feelings and generates certain emotions in the person looking at it. An introduction to the expressive character of photography? The students will recognize that there are different ways of representing emotions and that photography can communicate feelings and ideas. The students will produce photographs reflecting various emotions. Using a vocabulary appropriate to photography, the students will demonstrate that photography can communicate emotions and ideas, basing their interpretations on the visual elements of a photograph. Cross Curriculum Links: This lesson also explores the following subject areas: English and dramatic expression. Three 20-minute sessions Look & Discuss Dorothea Lange?s photograph Migrant Mother will serve as a point of departure for this activity. Encourage your students to interpret this photograph. Who are the people in the photograph? How are they dressed? What story can we invent about this photo? Encourage your students to express their comments and observations about the concrete visual components of the photo and thus lead them to notice the way the people in the photo are posed, in what direction the mother is looking, the clothing, the wrinkles on the mother?s face, etc. Only the mother?s face and expression are visible. Is it possible to tell how the children are feeling without seeing their faces? Use school photographs and photos taken from magazines to help the students observe similarities and differences (colour, pose, facial expression). A school photograph generally shows a child staring at the camera, smiling and dressed in his best clothes. How do you feel when you look at a school photo? How do you feel when you look at the photograph by Dorothea Lange? What emotion can be seen on the mother?s face? What emotion can be seen on the face of the student in the school photo? After your discussion, the class will begin a photography activity on the topic of emotions. - Various magazines - Some examples of school photographs (portraits, group photos) - Camera (Polaroid, digital or 35 mm) - Film for the camera if necessary - Photography paper and printer if you use a digital camera - Sheets of paper - Collect the materials. - Collect a variety of old and contemporary portraits, documentary photos, etc., to be used by the students as examples and for comparison purposes. - Arrange a corner of your classroom as a photography studio and decide whether you want a neutral or a coloured background. Express your feelings! Ask the students to use their bodies and facial expressions to illustrate various emotions and moods (anger, sadness, joy, a good mood, etc.). For older groups, more complex emotions can be used (boredom, moodiness, doubt etc.) Use mirrors so that your young actors can see their various facial expressions themselves. You will also be able to call their attention to facial wrinkles. (For example: one child may have dimples when he smiles; when we are angry, we usually wrinkle our forehead?) After experimenting with moods and the expression of feelings as a group, assign each child a specific emotion that he is supposed to simulate in front of the camera. Hold the pose! Ask each student to pose for the camera, simulating the assigned emotion. For the younger groups, you will take the photographs. Older groups can take turns as the photographer. Remind your students regularly to pay particular attention to the pose (position of the body). The goal of this session is not to produce another version of the school photograph but to leave room for expression by using varied poses. How would you position your body? Will your hands be in the photo? Will you look directly at the camera? During the photography session ask the students to sketch on a sheet of paper a portrait or a self-portrait that expresses the emotion they were assigned. Comment and Compare Encourage the students to comment on the results obtained and compare them. Are certain moods easier to express? Can they make up stories based on the photographs they took? Photography is a means of expression and can be used to express moods and feelings. How do you feel today? After the activity, display the photos on a bulletin board or large sheets of cardboard and write under each of them the feeling expressed in it. You can also display the drawings your students made in step 2. You will be able to use this immense display to discuss your students? feelings and day-to-day moods. Take it Further Here are some variations on the activity which can be done with older groups who can benefit from the challenge: - During the photography session, play around with the lighting to create effects and accentuate certain emotions. For example, lighting a face from below generally makes a frightening impression and could be used to express anger. A little challenge: is it possible to create a happy photograph using lighting from below, under the model?s chin? Try out the experiment. - Introduce concepts of composition and framing in photography. Using a viewfinder (a small cardboard frame or slide mount), half the class can frame the gestures and expressions of the students who are miming emotions. What will be included in the photo frame? - Make the activity more complicated by adding the element of colour. Take expressions like seeing the world through rose-coloured glasses, looking white as a sheet, being green with envy, feeling blue etc. as points of departure for the photographs. - This activity is also an ideal opportunity to introduce documentary photography, the photographer?s choices and the concepts of true and false. Remind them that they were pretending during the photo session. They invented a situation. Will this subject of discussion cause them to question their way of looking at the photographic images that surround us? Do those photographs always represent reality? The student identifies few emotions in the photographs studied in class. The student identifies emotions in the photographs studied and recognizes, by giving examples, that a photograph can transmit a message. The student identifies many emotions in the photographs studied and recognizes, by comparing and by giving examples, that a photograph can transmit a message. During the photography session, the student experimented relatively little with ways of representing an emotion. During the photography session, the student experimented with several ways of representing an emotion. During the photography session, the student experimented with ways of representing an emotion which were subtle and varied. The student identifies his own emotions but doesn?t relate them to the visual elements of the photograph. The student frequently bases his observations on the visual elements of the photograph. The student consistently bases his observations on the visual elements of the photograph.

http://www.gallery.ca/cybermuse/teachers/plans/activity_print_e.jsp?lessonid=42&actpid=574

Use the Law of Cosines with SSS When you know the values for two or more sides of a triangle, you can use the law of cosines. In the following case, you know all three sides (which is called SSS, or side-side-side, in trigonometry) but none of the angles. What you see here is how to solve for the measures of the three angles in triangle ABC, which has sides where a is 7, b is 8, and c is 2. As you can see in the preceding figure, the triangle appears to have two acute angles and one obtuse angle, the obtuse angle being opposite the longest side. Solve for the measure of angle A. Using the law of cosines where side a is on the left of the equation, substitute the values that you know and simplify the equation. Now use a scientific calculator to find the measure of A. A = cos–1(0.594) = 53.559 Angle A measures about 54 degrees. Solve for the measure of angle B. Using the law of cosines where side b is on the left of the equation, input the values that you know and simplify the equation. The negative cosine means that the angle is obtuse — its terminal side is in the second quadrant. Now use a scientific calculator to find the measure of B. B = cos–1(–0.393) = 113.141 Angle B measures about 113 degrees. Determine the measure of angle C. Because angle A measures 54 degrees and angle B measures 113 degrees, add them together and subtract the sum from 180 to get the measure of angle C. 180 – (54 + 113) = 180 – 167 = 13. Angle C measures only 13 degrees.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/use-the-law-of-cosines-with-sss.navId-420746.html

Using a Student-Friendly Rubric for Writing about Math This teacher made video discusses research about using student friendly rubrics for writing about math. Teacher grades work using rubric and individual conferences to help students understand rubrics. This is a great professional development opportunity to improve math instruction and mastery in the classroom. (3:57) Lesson 05 - One Minute Romanian In lesson 5 of One Minute Romanian you will learn to say that you're learning Romanian. Remember - even a few phrases of a language can help you make friends and enjoy travel more. Find out more about One Minute Romanian at our website - http://www.oneminutelanguages.com. One Minute Romanian is brought to you by the Radio Lingua Network and is ©Copyright 2008.Author(s): 22.05 Neutron Science and Reactor Physics (MIT) This course introduces fundamental properties of the neutron. It covers reactions induced by neutrons, nuclear fission, slowing down of neutrons in infinite media, diffusion theory, the few-group approximation, point kinetics, and fission-product poisoning. We emphasize the nuclear physics basis of reactor design and its relationship to reactor engineering problems. Alien Abduction Brain Teaser - Khan Academy Saving Earth from becoming a mushroom farm. (16:59) Paint by the Numbers In this pencil and paper activity, learners work in pairs and simulate how astronomical spacecraft and computers create images of objects in space. Learners will discover the process of how light collected from a space object converts into binary data and reconverts into an image of the object. This lesson guide includes background information, tips, extensions, and blackline masters. The Vowel Song (a e i o u) Short Vowels A simple song and video to help practice short vowel sounds. Some of the three letter words formed are cat, bed, dog, and bus. This is a great resource to introduce and/or review short vowels in the early childhood classroom. (1:34) How Many Fingers Do You Have? Counting to 10 A simple song and finger play to help practice numbers 1 - 10. This is a great resource to introduce and/or review number recognition in the early childhood classroom. (0:51) The Concept Of Volume This video lesson investigates the concept of volume as the amount of space that an object takes up. The host shows how various substances have the same volume even though they have different masses. One activity shows water displacement. It explains a unit cube as a standard unit for measuring volume and demonstrates how to determine the volume of an object by finding out how many unit cubes it contains. (14:01) Find the volume of a rectangular prism using unit cubes This video lesson shows how to find the volume of a prism by packing it with unit cubes. At the end of the lesson, the instructor verifies that the packing method produces the same volume as the volume formula method. (2:19) Finding the volume of composite figures In this video lesson, learn how to find the volume of a garage, which consists of a rectangular prism and a triangular prism. A word problem is given, then the instructor demonstrates how to solve for volume by breaking up the figure into two solid shapes. (4:20) Journalist Austin Merrill: Ivory Coast War, Peace and Cocoa Learn more: http://pulitzercenter.org/projects/ivory-coast-civil-war-crimes-elections-conflict-militias-cocoa-farmers-alassane-ouattara-laurent-gbagbo Writer Austin Merrill describes his history with Ivory Coast, why he chose to return, and some of the unfortunate surprises he found as he reported on the country's tentative post-war status. While their intention was to document steps toward justice and reconciliation, Merrill and photographer Peter DiCampo saw more signs of bitter rivalry, woun News #104 - Choose Your Own Way to Learn Spanish, Choose Your Own Spooky Savings It’s no big secret – everyone has their own way of studying and learning Spanish. Some are visual learners, some are auditory and others combine several ways. Do you just listen to lessons? Review with lesson notes? Or do you write down words and phrases and say them out loud until they’re natural? Tune in to [...] Hans Rosling | Pickard Memorial Lecture October 25, 2012 Sponsored by Harvard Statistics Department, Harvard School of Public Health Biostatistics Department, and The Harvard Foundation Tiro en agarre en paralelo con la mano izquierda - clip corto en español Es un tipo de tiro que permite estabilizar la pelota. (.27) Energy diagrams are an important concept to master when learning about kinetics. They will show up on tests like the AP exam for sure. The teacher in this video draws some energy diagrams and talks about the changes a catalyst can cause (03:49). Global Environment Speaker Series: Climate and the Fate of Ancient Maya Kingdoms "Synoptic View of Past Climates in the Yucatan Peninsula: Climate and the Fate of Ancient Maya Kingdoms" Presented by Dr. Martin Medina Centro de Investigacion Cientifica de Yucatan, UCIA, Mexico New Faculty Orientation Lauren Elliott walks you through the basic steps for getting started after you're hired at GRCC. University Park Campus Tour Students from The University of Nottingham give a tour of our University Park campus.

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/xpert/scoreresults.php?keywords=Harvesting%20history,%20Laxton%20:%20the%20medieval%20village%20that%20survived%20the%20mode&start=15720&end=15740

Schoolteacher Miss Mary Longfellow holding down a claim west of Broken Bow, Nebraska. An article in a recent issue of Smithsonian Magazine provided an overview of the Homestead Act, which gave land free to those who would live on it: The Homestead Act, signed by Lincoln on May 20, 1862, embodied a radical promise: free land for the masses. Until then the federal government had generally sold its unoccupied property, favoring men with capital. As a result, by the 1840s big farms were consuming smaller ones, and efforts to change the system were gridlocked as Congressional debate over slavery intensified. The problem became so pressing that Representative Galusha Grow, a Pennsylvania Republican, warned in 1860 that the nation was courting “a system of land monopoly—one of the direst, deadliest curses that ever paralyzed the energies of a nation or palsied the arm of industry.”Further details at Smithsonian. Photo credit Solomon Butcher, via Cool Chicks From History, with these additional comments from NebraskaStudies.Org: From the moment the first homesteader, Daniel Freeman, stepped foot into his local land office in 1863 to apply for 160 acres in Beatrice, Nebraska, to the day in 1979 when the last homesteader, Ken Deardorff, of Alaska, filed for a title to his 50-acre claim, four million settlers—men and women, former slaves and new immigrants—attempted it. About 1.6 million succeeded, homesteading a combined total of 270 million acres, or 10 percent of the country. The Homestead Act of 1862 stated that any person age twenty-one and head of a family could claim land. The Act also contained the provision that widows of Union soldiers could deduct the time of service their husbands spent in the Civil War from the five-year residency requirement. So, while the phrase "head of a family" did place limitations on which women could file, many women took advantage of the Homestead Act and other laws to file claims in their own names.

http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/schoolteachers-homestead.html

You have 8 and 12 smallmouth bass in your class aquarium and a tank of feeder fish (usually minnows). You can learn a lot about the bass and the other fish just by watching them. You can use reference materials to discover other information. Objective: Learn about the fish through direct observation as well as from secondary sources. - Make a small booklet for fish observation. Begin with a drawing labeled to show the basic body parts of the fish you are studying. You can record lots of other information. Be sure to keep track of the dates and times that you make your observations. For example, record: - Length and weight. - Particular behaviors that you see such as groupings of fish and locations they seem to like. - Interactions between one fish and another, or between the bass and their prey. - How and when the bass feed. - Research the habits of bass on the Internet. Check references in the library.Summarize what you learn in your booklet. Compare your observations with your research. List anything you saw that is documented in your research.

http://ed.fnal.gov/help/Meehan_Nolan/student/minilesson3.shtml

Mexico and Manifest Destiny The idea of Manifest Destiny — that the United States had the God-given right to expand across the North American continent — was a popular and fervently held belief in the mid-1800s. The idea justified taking Native American territory, and it incited claims to even more land. Tensions with Mexico coincided with America's quest for expansion. Mexico, which had just won its independence from Spain, had originally encouraged U.S. settlers in Texas, but its dictator, General Antonio López de Santa Anna, later banned further U.S. immigration. And when Texas declared its own independence from Mexico in 1836, Santa Anna marched to San Antonio with a force of 3,000 men to put down the insurrection. He surrounded 200 Texans, including Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, at the Alamo, an old abandoned mission. Refusing to surrender, the Texans held firm for ten days, but the Mexicans captured the Alamo and killed its defenders.

http://www.netplaces.com/american-history/early-american-struggles/mexico-and-manifest-destiny.htm

The following HTML text is provided to enhance online readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML. Please use the page image as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School Although students are actually doing algebra less formally in the earlier grades, they are not forced to generalize their knowledge to a more formal level, nor to operate at a more formal level, before they have had sufficient experience with the underlying concepts. Thus, students may move back and forth among levels of formality depending on the problem situation or on the mathematics involved. Central to curriculum frameworks such as “progressive formalization” are questions about what is developmentally appropriate to teach at various ages. Such questions represent another example of overlap between learnercentered and knowledge-centered perspectives. Older views that young children are incapable of complex reasoning have been replaced by evidence that children are capable of sophisticated levels of thinking and reasoning when they have the knowledge necessary to support these activities (see Chapter 4). An impressive body of research shows the potential benefit of early access by students to important conceptual ideas. In classrooms using a form of “cognitively guided” instruction in geometry, second-grade children’s skills for representing and visualizing three-dimensional forms exceeded those of comparison groups of undergraduate students at a leading university (Lehrer and Chazan, 1998). Young children have also demonstrated powerful forms of early algebraic generalization (Lehrer and Chazan, 1998). Forms of generalization in science, such as experimentation, can be introduced before the secondary school years through a developmental approach to important mathematical and scientific ideas (Schauble et al., 1995; Warren and Rosebery, 1996). Such an approach entails becoming cognizant of the early origins of students’ thinking and then identifying how those ideas can be fostered and elaborated (Brown and Campione, 1994). Attempts to create environments that are knowledge centered also raise important questions about how to foster an integrated understanding of a discipline. Many models of curriculum design seem to produce knowledge and skills that are disconnected rather than organized into coherent wholes. The National Research Council (1990:4) notes that “To the Romans, a curriculum was a rutted course that guided the path of two-wheeled chariots.” This rutted path metaphor is an appropriate description of the curriculum for many school subjects: Vast numbers of learning objectives, each associated with pedagogical strategies, serve as mile posts along the trail mapped by texts from kindergarten to twelfth grade…. Problems are solved not by observing and responding to the natural landscape through which the mathematics curriculum passes, but by mastering time tested routines, conveniently placed along the path (National Research Council, 1990:4). An alternative to a “rutted path” curriculum is one of “learning the landscape” (Greeno, 1991). In this metaphor, learning is analogous to learning

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9853&page=138

Pharyngitis and Tonsillitis What is pharyngitis and tonsillitis?Pharyngitis and tonsillitis are infections in the throat that cause inflammation. If the tonsils are primarily affected, it is called tonsillitis. If the throat is primarily affected, it is called pharyngitis. A child might even have inflammation and infection of both the tonsils and the throat. This would be called pharyngotonsillitis. These infections are spread by close contact with other individuals. The majority of pharyngitis cases occur during the winter or colder months. Facts about pharyngitis and tonsillitis: - Pharyngitis and tonsillitis are most commonly seen in children and are mostly caused by viral agents. - Children under age 3 rarely develop group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GABHS), or strep throat. What causes pharyngitis and tonsillitis?There are many causes of infections in the throat. The following are the most common infectious agents: - influenza virus - Epstein-Barr virus - herpes simplex virus - group A beta-hemolytic streptococci (GABHS) - Neisseria gonorrhea - Haemophilus influenzae Type B - chlamydia pneumoniae - fungal infections - parasitic infections - cigarette smoke What are the symptoms of pharyngitis and tonsillitis?The symptoms of pharyngitis and tonsillitis depend greatly on the cause of the infection and the person affected. For some children, the onset of symptoms may be quick; for others, symptom onset is slow. The following are the most common symptoms of pharyngitis and tonsillitis. However, each child may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include: - sore throat - fever (either low grade or high) - decrease in appetite - not feeling well - stomach aches - painful swallowing - visual redness or drainage in the throat How are pharyngitis and tonsillitis diagnosed?In most cases, it is hard to distinguish between a viral sore throat and a strep throat based on physical examination. It is important, though, to know if the sore throat is caused by GABHS, as this requires antibiotic treatment to help prevent the complications associated with these bacteria. As a result, most children, when they have the above symptoms, will receive a strep test and throat culture to determine if it is an infection caused by GABHS. This usually involves a throat swab (called quick tests or rapid strep tests) in the physician's office. This may immediately become positive for GABHS and antibiotics will be started. If it is negative, part of the throat swab will be kept for a throat culture. This will further identify, in two to three days, if there is any GABHS present. Your child's physician will decide the treatment plan based on the findings. Treatment for pharyngitis and tonsillitis:Specific treatment for pharyngitis and tonsillitis will be determined by your child's physician based on: - your child's age, overall health, and medical history - extent of the condition - cause of the condition - your child's tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies - expectations for the course of the condition - your opinion or preference - acetaminophen (for pain) - increased fluid intake - throat lozenges - antibiotics (if the cause of the infection is bacterial, not viral) The information on this Web page is provided for educational purposes. You understand and agree that this information is not intended to be, and should not be used as, a substitute for medical treatment by a health care professional. You agree that Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital is not making a diagnosis of your condition or a recommendation about the course of treatment for your particular circumstances through the use of this Web page. You agree to be solely responsible for your use of this Web page and the information contained on this page. Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital, its officers, directors, employees, agents, and information providers shall not be liable for any damages you may suffer or cause through your use of this page even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/HealthLibrary/respire/pharton.html

When Do Children Learn To Read The American Association of Pediatrics stresses: Most children learn to read by 6 or 7 years of age. Some children learn at 4 or 5 years of age. Even if a child has a head start, she may not stay ahead once school starts. The other students most likely will catch up during the second or third grade. Pushing your child to read before she is ready can get in the way of your child’s interest in learning. Children who really enjoy learning are more likely to do well in school. This love of learning cannot be forced. As your child begins elementary school, she will begin her formal reading education. There are many ways to teach children to read. One way emphasizes word recognition and teaches children to understand a whole word’s meaning by how it is used. Learning which sounds the letters represent—phonics—is another way children learn to read. Phonics is used to help “decode” or sound out words. Focusing on the connections between the spoken and written word is another technique. Most teachers use a combination of methods to teach children how to read. Reading is an important skill for children to learn. Most children learn to read without any major problems. Pushing a child to learn before she is ready can make learning to read frustrating. But reading together and playing games with books make reading fun. Parents need to be involved in their child’s learning. Encouraging a child’s love of learning will go a long way to ensuring success in school. Reading tips for Parents The following are a few tips to keep in mind as your child learns to read: * Set aside time every day to read together. Many children like to have stories read to them at bedtime. This is a great way to wind down after a busy day and get ready for sleep. * Leave books in your child’s room for her to enjoy on her own. Make sure her room is reading-friendly with a comfortable bed or chair, bookshelf, and reading lamp. * Read books that your child enjoys. After a while, your child may learn the words to her favorite book. When this happens, let your child complete the sentences or take turns reciting the words. * Do not drill your child on letters, numbers, colors, shapes, or words. Instead, make a game out of it and find ways to encourage your child’s curiosity and interests.

http://newcastleschool.com/parent-resources/reading/when-do-children-learn-to-read/

The screened Coulomb interaction is purely repulsive (in a neutron star) and has no explicit length scale, i.e. the system at twice the density behaves just like the system at the original density only at a lower temperature (Eq.2). This causes the material to fail abruptly in a collective manner at a large strain, rather than yielding continuously at low strain as observed in metals, because of the formation of dislocations. For example, the breaking strain of steel is around 0.005, some twenty times smaller than what we find for the neutron star crust. We speculate that the collective plastic behavior found here could help to improve design strategies that suppress the weakening effects of dislocations and other more localized defects in conventional materials. Note that small Coulomb solids have been studied in the laboratory using cold trapped ions. Materials like rock and steel break because their crystals have gaps and other defects that link up to create cracks. But the enormous pressures in neutron stars squeeze out many of the imperfections. That produces extraordinarily clean crystals that are harder to break. A cube of neutron star crust can be deformed by 20 times more than a cube of stainless steel before breaking. So if metals and other material can be made with perfect crystals then they would have 20 times the strength of regular materials. Now, "all else being equal, the maximum height of a 'mountain' on a neutron star is now 10 times what we thought," Owen told New Scientist. That would produce gravitational waves with 100 times the energy as those previously calculated, which could boost the likelihood that ground-based experiments like the US Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) could spot the signals, he added.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2009/04/neutron-star-crust-is-ten-billion-times.html

Nonverbal Learning Disorder One of the neurobehavioral disorders that affects the way the brain processes information is Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD) also known as Nonverbal Learning Disability. Children or adults with NLD are more focused on the verbal side of things. They have very early language acquisition and speech development. Their vocabulary can be huge, even at a young age. Those kind of kids “talk before they can walk” . It’s the nonverbal information they have a hard time understanding due to the fact the right half of their brain does not process the information in the way they need it. This could present problems in four area’s: 1. motor skills: problems in balance, fine motor skills ( handwriting) and coordination 2. social interaction: problems with nonverbal communication and being flexible towards change 3. sensory: oversensitivity of one or more senses (visual, auditory, tactile, taste, smell) 4. processing visual information (such as the size or the distance of objects): problems in spatial perception, visual recall and spatial relations. They are known for losing their way and have problems organizing a messy room or desk. They don’t see where to start. The most commonly recognized learning disabilities affect verbal skills such as speech or spelling. Learning Disabilities are not looked for in children with early speech and reading skills and excellent spelling skills. So a lot of children with Nonverbal Learning Disorder will not be recognized at an early age. • Their IQ test will show superior verbal scores • Speech and language acquisition at a very early age • Excellent rote memory for words or sentences • Good reading decoding ability at a young age • Strong spelling from dictation • Below-average performance scores on their IQ test • Poor writing and written work organization • Math disability • Poor coordination & balance • Poor fine motor skills • Poor visual-spatial part-to-whole perception Asperger Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disorder The overlap in characteristics between Asperger Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disability is huge. Both groups of children will show clumsiness, difficulties in riding a bike, tie shoelaces, catch or throw a ball. Both groups will have excellent verbal skills and express themselves eloquently. They will have trouble interacting with others, show empathy or pick up on nonverbal communication. However there are some differences between Nonverbal Learning Disability and Asperger Syndrome: • The child with Asperger Syndrome will lack imaginative play but the child with NLD will not. • The child with Asperger Syndrome will have difficulty playing with toys. It will prefer to line them up or collect them. When they use toys it will be inappropriate use. The child with Nonverbal Learning Disorder will use the toys what they are meant for. • Those with Asperger Syndrome will use language instrumentally instead of aiming for joint attention. The child with NLD will be able to use language to share ideas or thoughts with others. Back to Asperger-Advice.com Homepage

http://www.asperger-advice.com/nonverbal-learning-disorder.html

Between 1814 and 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte escaped Elba while representatives of Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia met as the Congress of Vienna to reestablish political order in Europe. Napoleon Bonaparte was later defeated at Waterloo, but he the man that resulted in the Congress of Vienna. This meeting was to agree over what to do with France and its inflated territories. The outcomes of this were that the French monarchy was reestablished, and France’s 1792 borders were recognized. The Congress restored the French monarch. Since the French Revolution and Napoleon’s imperial ambitions had threatened the survival of Europe’s old order, the Congress of Vienna agreed that by reestablishing the French monarch, it would provide a strong and stable France, which was the best guarantee of future peace. Ideals that were put forth by French revolutionaries and the rights established under France’s short-lived republic was ignored. Furthermore, France’s borders were cut back to their pre-Napoleonic dimensions. It was agreed on that France was not punished militarily or economically. Prince Klemens von Metternich, Austrian’s foreign minister, sought to offset French strength with a balance of power leading to territorial gains by most of the continental European powers. In addition, Austria, Russia and Prussia formed the “Holy Alliance” to actively confront the revolutionary and nationalist energies that the French Revolution had unleashed. The Alliance repressed republican and nationalist ideas in universities and the press; they defeated liberal revolutions in Spain and Italy. They also attempted to meet the potential challenge posed by subversive ideas. In the end, the Congress rearranged some of the European boundaries and created new kingdoms in Poland, Spain, Holland, and many Italian states. The Congress of Vienna ignored many of the ideals put forth by French revolutionaries and the rights established under France’s short-lived republic. They insisted...

http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/76020.html

What's Next? Sequence Game Difficulty: Very Easy Parental supervision is recommended Preschool and kindergarten children can learn about sequences with this simple game that uses small figures of animals. What you'll need: - Little flocked animals, various colors and types (or any type of small toys) - Tabletop or box lid How to make it: Start out with only a few animals on the box lid. As the child gets better at the game, add more and more animals to make the sequencing longer. Be sure to give examples of sequencing several times before expecting the child to catch on. - Lay out about 4 or 5 animals on the table alternating the animals. - Lay out 1 of each of the animals off to the side. - Ask the child to repeat the sequence. - Have fun! This activity can be made with any variety of little items. See the craft Colored Noodles to use with this activity. See also Little Animals Memory Game for a fun game for two children to play together.

http://crafts.kaboose.com/sequencing-game.html

tracing letters lowercase Help your kindergartener or preschooler with finding and writing the lowercase letter h as you complete this worksheet together. Grab a pencil and get started writing the lowercase letter g with your kindergartener or preschooler. Find the lowercase letter f, trace it, and practice writing f with your kindergarten or preschool student on this worksheet! Practice spotting, tracing, and writing the lowercase letter e with your kindergarten or preschool-age child on this worksheet. Spot, trace, and write the lowercase letter d on this worksheet with your kindergartener or preschooler! Carefully consider the lowercase letter c! Your child will need to pay careful attention, first to finding the letter c, then writing it on this worksheet. Can you spot the letter b? Your child will need to recognize the letter b, trace it, and write it on this lowercase letters worksheet. This lowercase handwriting worksheet asks your child to practice writing the letter a.

http://www.education.com/collection/christina570/tracing-letters-lowercase/?page=3

Abraham Lincoln was born two hundred years ago today, on February 12, 1809. Lincoln was elected the sixteenth president of the United States on November 6, 1860. His opponents in the race were Stephen A. Douglas, a Democrat, John C. Breckinridge, a Southern Democrat, and John Bell, of the Constitutional Union Party. He won despite not even being on the ballot in nine southern states. Abraham Lincoln is the only person whose rise to the presidency was met with violence and civil unrest. As it became clear that Abraham Lincoln would be elected president, several southern states announced their intention to leave the Union. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina declared its secession. By February 1, 1861, six other states had followed, proclaiming themselves a new nation: the Confederate States of America. Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as president on March 4, 1861 (the date of the inauguration was not changed to January 20 until the time of Franklin Roosevelt when the twentieth amendment to the constitution was ratified on January 23, 1933.) In April 1861, after American troops were fired upon at Fort Sumter and force to surrender, President Lincoln called upon the governors of every state to send detachments to recapture the forts, protect the capital, and to “preserve the Union.” North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas then seceded, along with most of Virginia (a few counties refused to join the rest of the state in seceding and became the new state of West Virginia in 1863). Abraham Lincoln’s time as President was consumed by defeating the secessionist Confederate States during the Civil War, the greatest crisis that the United States has ever faced. During the course of the war he introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery. In 1863 he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It freed the slaves in all the territories of the United States that were not, at that time, under Union control. It thus made the abolition of slavery in the rebellious states an official goal of the war. Lincoln then promoted the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery altogether. It was ratified shortly after his assassination in 1865. Lincoln’s rhetoric both before and during the Civil War resulted in a shift in American values. Before him, most politicians had stressed the sanctity of the Constitution. Lincoln shifted the emphasis to the Declaration of Independence as the foundation of American political values: an emphasis on freedom and equality for all, in contrast to the Constitution’s tolerance of slavery. His position gained strength over time, because it highlighted the moral basis of the American conception of government in distinction to the legalisms of the Constitution. He argued in his Gettysburg address that the United States was born, not in 1789 when the Constitution was ratified, but rather in 1776 when the United States declared its independence. Lincoln did more during his administration to centralize the American government than any president before him. In writings before his administration, it was common to hear the phrase, “The United States are…” After his administration, it has always been, “The United States is…” During the Civil War he proclaimed a blockade, he suspended the writ of habeas corpus, and he spent money without congressional authorization. He also imprisoned eighteen thousand suspected Confederate sympathizers without trial. Lincoln was vilified by his political opponents as a despot. Prior to Lincoln’s presidency, the Thanksgiving holiday had been but a regional celebration in New England. In 1863 Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November to be a day of Thanksgiving and the holiday has been celebrated every year since then. It was during Lincoln’s administration, in 1864, that the phrase “In God We Trust” first appeared on an American coin: specifically, the two cent piece. It appeared but intermittently on U.S. coins after that until 1938 when that the phrase became a legal requirement on all coins. “In God We Trust” first appeared on paper money in 1957. Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated. His assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was a well-known actor. He was also a spy for the Confederacy. He had originally intended to kidnap Lincoln and hold him in exchange for the release of Confederate prisoners. But when he heard President Lincoln promote voting rights for the freed slaves, Booth decided to assassinate him instead. Booth shot Lincoln on the night of April 14, 1865 while Lincoln watched a production of the play, Our American Cousin. Lincoln was in a coma for nine hours after being shot and never regained consciousness. He died at 7:22 AM on April 15, 1865.

http://nettelhorst.com/blog1/2009/02/12/happy-200th-birthday-abraham-lincoln/

Objective: To help students develop long-term goals and short-term goals. Grade Level: 5-8 Prep Time: < 10 minutes Duration: One class period Materials Category: Classroom National Education Standards Science in Personal and Social Perspectives Personal and community health History and Nature of Science Science as a human endeavor - Writing materials - 5" x 7" index cards - 3" x 5" index cards - Sticky notes - Student Page Landing a fulfilling career doesn't just happen. It is done by making informed choices about education, activities and the jobs that you pursue. Reaching your career goal begins long before you start college. Setting goals now is important because things that you do in school will affect your future. If you start thinking about goals that are positive and reasonable, you'll be on your way to turning them into reality. Remember not to set goals that are unattainable; otherwise, you might become frustrated and give up. One of life's most important lessons is that there are no big jobs, only a series of little ones. Most big jobs can be cut into several small tasks and activities. Dividing big goals into smaller ones -- and then achieving them -- is a great way to accomplish anything in life. Shape your goals into small, reasonable tasks that are attainable, and you will be more successful. It's important to remember that goals in life don't always have to be large, intimidating projects. Something as small as remembering to smile at people during the day, or helping a family member with a chore can lead to an improved attitude towards life -- and that's a wonderful goal! - Read the following true or false statements aloud. Have students record their answers on a piece of paper. I have specific goals for myself. I regularly plan and schedule my time. I follow a schedule every day. I finish projects before they are due. I seldom waste time. I complete all my assignments on time. I have good study habits. I seldom feel overloaded and behind. I help around the house without being asked. I have plenty of time for fun and relaxation. - Ask the class the following questions and discuss their answers: What are goals? Are goals important? Do you have any goals? How do you make goals? Who makes your goals? Do you have any goals for the future? - Distribute the Student Pages, and read the background information together. - Discuss the importance of setting goals and the difference between short-term and long-term goals. - Explain that the students are going to identify a short-term and a long-term goal for their class to work toward. The short-term goal should be one that each student can achieve within one day, and the long-term goal should be one that can be achieved within a week. Write the students' ideas on the board. The class should vote on a short-term goal and a long-term goal for their class. Allow time for discussion of their ideas. Remember to pick a reward for reaching the long-term goal. Short-term goal: every student will learn a new word each day and will use it when talking and writing in class. Long-term goal: each student will read a certain number of books in a month. - Remind students that they need to choose goals that are reasonable and to take realistic steps to reach them. - Collect the students' Setting Goals charts, and have students share the information with the class. - Display the charts on a bulletin board. Check them periodically throughout the year to observe the progress each student has made. - Students may create a time line for achieving goals. - Research careers of interest, and create plans for reaching those careers. My Goals Student Page

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/features/A_My_Goals.html

When James Clarke Maxwell was doing his work with electrodynamics, several of the concepts that we have been considering had not yet been introduced to the world of mathematics. For instance, vector calculus was a very young discipline, and many of the operators currently in use (Div, Curl, the Laplacian) did not exist in Maxwell's time. The original "Maxwells Equations" were a set of 20 complicated differential equations that placed a primary focus on the idea of magnetic potential (a quantity which is almost completely ignored in the modern variants of these equations). Heinrich Hertz and Oliver Heaviside did much of the work to convert Maxwells original equations into a more convenient form. The Electric and Magnetic fields were deemed to be of primary importance, whereas the magnetic potential was dropped from the formalization. From Hertz and Heaviside we obtained the 4 equations that we know today as "Maxwell's Equations". The 4 Equations Here are Maxwell's equations. Several of these equations have been seen already in previous chapters. [Gauss' Law of Electrostatics] [Gauss' Law of Magnetostatics] Where: is the charge density, which can (and often does) depend on time and position, is the permittivity of free space, is the permeability of free space, and is the current density vector, also a function of time and position. The units used above are the standard SI units. Inside a linear material, Maxwell's equations change by switching the permeability and permitivity of free space with the permeability and permitivity of the linear material in question. Inside other materials which possess more complex responses to electromagnetic fields, these terms are often represented by complex numbers, or tensors. We can write Maxwell's equations in another form, that relates each field to its sources: By taking the curl of the third equation, we get It should be noticed, if not immediately, that the first two equations are essentially equivalent, and that the second two equations have a similar form and should be able to be put into a single form. We can use our field tensors F and G to put the 4 Maxwell's equations into two more concise equations: You may notice that these two equations are very similar, but they are not completely symmetric. The magnetic field equations reduce because magnetic fields always have two opposite poles, whereas an electric field may have only a single charge. This lack of symmetry in these equations has prompted scientists to search for a magnetic monopole, something that we will talk about in later chapters. Besides the forms of these equations, modern "unified theories" of physics seeking to describe all forces of nature (including, significantly, electromagnetism and gravity) often posit the existence of monopoles. As a basic consideration, similarity and symmetry among many equations and processes in physics often leads to the discovery of entirely new entities or phenomena. Thus, the pronounced lack of symmetry between the magnetic and electric field equations is a simple and logical reason for scientists to search for monopoles.

http://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Electrodynamics/Maxwell's_Equations

This section contains 30 daily lessons. Each one has a specific objective and offers at least three (often more) ways to teach that objective. Lessons include classroom discussions, group and partner activities, in-class handouts, individual writing assignments, at least one homework assignment, class participation exercises and other ways to teach students about the text in a classroom setting. Use some or all of the suggestions provided to work with your students in the classroom and help them understand the text. Objective: Chapters One and Two The first part of Yellow Raft in Blue water is told from the point of view of fifteen year old Rayona, who has a Native American mother and an African American father. The objective of this lesson is understanding the importance of ethnic identity to the story. 1) Tasks, Ideas, Challenges and Homework 1. Class Discussion: Discuss as a class Rayona's... This section contains 7,088 words| (approx. 24 pages at 300 words per page)

http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/yellowraftbluewater/lessons.html

Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet and provide vital services such as food production and tourism. Reefs consist of coral animals that provide structure and algae that provide food. When experiencing stressful conditions, corals can lose their symbiotic algae, or bleach; bleaching can be fatal if the stress is extreme or prolonged. Global climate change threatens coral reefs through mass coral bleaching events associated with extreme temperatures. However, corals and their symbiotic algae may have the potential to respond to climate change through physiological acclimation, increased presence of more stress-tolerant coral and algal species, and genetic adaptation. Using mathematical models and computer simulations, this project will:1. explore the potential for coral reefs to respond to a rapidly changing climate 2. compare potential indicators of corals' capacity to survive climate change, and 3. investigate the effect of additional human impacts on coral reef ecosystems (e.g., fishing) on potential coral response to climate change These models will further the scientific understanding of the interaction between ecological processes, such as changes in the species present, and rapid evolutionary processes, such as genetic adaptation to increased temperature stress. In addition, these models will aid conservation management decisions such as determining which coral reefs should be protected given future climate change scenarios.

http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/featured/baskett

From: Jennifer Shaub Time: 8:34:17 AM Remote Name: 184.108.40.206 Jennifer Shaub Weekly Report 4/12/00 The resourcefulness and spirit of African Americans during slavery contributed to their ability to cope with and win their struggle for freedom. Both enslaved and free African Americans utilized their personal resources, revolted, or ran away in attempt to survive the unimaginable racism. Religion and family were a major source of strength for African Americans. From religion, they drew strength, hope, and feeling of worth. "From the realm of culture and fundamental beliefs, African Americans drew the strength to hold their heads high and look beyond their immediate condition"(Divine 402). The sermons and songs spoke to the enslaved and implied their right to be free. Specifically, African Americans turned to the story of the Israelites in The Bible. The church helped create a sense of community and self-esteem, as it was something of their own. Families also acted as a major source of strength unfortunalty; slave trades or death often broke them up. A tight kinship was found both in large plantations and small farms. Motherless children were quickly adopted in to kinship networks and elderly slaves were often referred to as 'auntie and uncle.' Family and religion acted as key elements of strength and independence for both enslaved and free Africans. Slaves often revolted to protest the oppression they were receiving from the whites. The bloodiest revolt was the Nat Turner insurrection in 1831. However, the most successful revolt was held in Florida between 1835-1841. Hundreds of blacks fought alongside the Seminole Indians for freedom. The Indians allowed the African Americans to accompany them to the trans-Mississippi West. Only a small number of blacks chose to revolt, because of the low success rate, which usually resulted in death. Thousands of slaves chose to show their discontent by running away. Most runaways never got passed their town borders before they were found and returned. For many slaves, escaping was not a real option. Either they lived to far down south or they were reluctant to leave family behind. The most common way slaves showed discontent was by engaging in passive resistance. This often involved slaves working slowly or stealing provisions. African Americans coped with the oppression in many ways. The key elements in their survival were the family and Christianity. Without these, they may have lost hope and the strength to survive.

http://www.historians.org/teaching/AAHE/h67cutler/_disc2/00000143.htm

Definition: Broadly defined as one of the three primary ways in which a person can learn. Those include visual (sight), auditory (sound), and kinesthetic (actions/touch). An individual's preferred or best process by which they will learn is typically through one or a combination of these styles. In a more general sense, learning styles can include elements of the environment including their optimal time of day, lighting in the room, temperature of the room, etc. They also include a person's own emotionality, physical needs, and sociological needs. These are often discovered through a learning style inventory which is a short questionnaire often provided by the classroom teacher that allows them an avenue to more readily meet and individual student's needs.

http://teaching.about.com/od/gloss/g/Learning-Styles.htm

Although you might not know it, your thinking and questioning can be the start of the scientific inquiry process. Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence they gather. If you have ever tried to figure out why a plant has wilted, then you have used scientific inquiry. Similarly, you could use scientific inquiry to find out whether there is a relationship between the air temperature and crickets’ chirping. Scientific inquiry often begins with a problem or question about an observation. In the case of the crickets, your question might be: Does the air temperature affect the chirping of crickets? Of course, questions don’t just come to you from nowhere. Instead, questions come from experiences that you have and from observations and inferences that you make. Curiosity plays a large role as well. Think of a time that you observed something unusual or unexpected. Chances are good that your curiosity sparked a number of questions. Some questions cannot be investigated by scientific inquiry. Think about the difference between the two questions below. Does my dog eat more food than my cat? Which makes a better pet—a cat or a dog? The first question is a scientific question because it can be answered by making observations and gathering evidence. For example, you could measure the amount of food your cat and dog each eat during a week. In contrast, the second question has to do with personal opinions or values. Scientific inquiry cannot answer questions about personal tastes or judgments. How could you explain your observation of noisy crickets on that summer night? “Perhaps crickets chirp more when the temperature is higher,” you think. In trying to answer the question, you are in fact developing a hypothesis. A hypothesis (plural: hypotheses) is a possible explanation for a set of observations or answer to a scientific question. In this case, your hypothesis would be that cricket chirping increases at higher air temperatures. In science, a hypothesis must be testable. This means that researchers must be able to carry out investigations and gather evidence that will either support or disprove the hypothesis. Many trials will be needed before a hypothesis can be accepted as true. To test your hypothesis, you will need to observe crickets at different air temperatures. All other variables , or factors that can change in an experiment, must be exactly the same. Other variables include the kind of crickets, the type of container you test them in, and the type of thermometer you use. By keeping all of these variables the same, you will know that any difference in cricket chirping must be due to temperature alone. An experiment in which only one variable is manipulated at a time is called a controlled experiment . The one variable that is purposely changed to test a hypothesis is called the manipulated variable (also called the independent variable). In your cricket experiment, the manipulated variable is the air temperature. The factor that may change in response to the manipulated variable is called the responding variable (also called the dependent variable). The responding variable here is the number of cricket chirps. Suppose you are designing an experiment to determine whether birds eat a larger number of sunflower seeds or millet seeds. What is your manipulated variable? What is your responding variable? What other variables would you need to control? Another aspect of a well-designed experiment is having clear operational definitions. An operational definition is a statement that describes how to measure a variable or define a term. For example, in this experiment you would need to determine what sounds will count as a single “chirp.” For your experiment, you need a data table in which to record your data. Data are the facts, figures, and other evidence gathered through observations. A data table is an organized way to collect and record observations. After the data have been collected, they need to be interpreted. A graph can help you interpret data. Graphs can reveal patterns or trends in data. Figure 8A Controlled Experiment In their controlled experiment, these students are using the same kind of containers, thermometers, leaves, and crickets. The manipulated variable in this experiment is temperature. The responding variable is the number of cricket chirps per minute at each temperature. Controlling Variables What other variables must the students keep constant in this experiment? A conclusion is a summary of what you have learned from an experiment. In drawing your conclusion, you should ask yourself whether the data support the hypothesis. You also need to consider whether you collected enough data. After reviewing the data, you decide that the evidence supports your original hypothesis. You conclude that cricket chirping does increase with temperature. It’s no wonder that you have trouble sleeping on those warm summer nights! Scientific inquiry usually doesn’t end once a set of experiments is done. Often, a scientific inquiry raises new questions. These new questions can lead to new hypotheses and new experiments. Also, scientific inquiry is not a rigid sequence of steps. Instead, it is a process with many paths, as shown in Figure 9. An important part of the scientific inquiry process is communicating your results. Communicating is the sharing of ideas and experimental findings with others through writing and speaking. Scientists share their ideas in many ways. For example, they give talks at scientific meetings, exchange information on the Internet, and publish articles in scientific journals. When scientists communicate their research, they describe their procedures in full detail so that other scientists can repeat their experiments. Figure 9Scientific Inquiry There is no set path that a scientific inquiry must follow. Observations at each stage of the process may lead you to modify your hypothesis or experiment. Conclusions from one experiment often lead to new questions and experiments.

http://district.fms.k12.nm.us/Departments/currinst/textbooks/Science/Life_Science_Textbook/iText/products/0-13-190309-8/ch1/ch1_s2_1.html

A new study concludes that human-generated carbon pollution over the last 100 to 200 years has rapidly and dramatically changed the chemistry of the oceans – a process likely to intensify in the coming century at great risk to the world’s coral reefs. Using computer modeling of Earth’s climate and oceans along with direct observations over the past 30 years, an international team of scientists, including The Nature Conservancy’s own marine scientist Elizabeth McLeod, found that carbon dioxide emissions from the past two centuries have raised the ocean’s acidity far beyond the natural variations of the last 21,000 years. Published in the Jan. 22 online edition of the journal Nature Climate Change, the study was led by researchers at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and co-funded by The Nature Conservancy and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. Scientists know that nearly one-third of the carbon pollution created from people’s activities is absorbed by the oceans. When this carbon dioxide reacts with sea water, the ocean becomes more acidic. And with rising acidity, the more difficult it becomes for ocean life such as mollusks, plankton and corals to produce shells or skeletons from calcium carbonate (a process known as calcification). To visualize the acidification from 1800 to the present, and to look ahead to 2100, check out the animation above, prepared by lead author Tobias Friedrich. The spreading orange/red zones indicate lower saturations of aragonite (a form of calcium carbonate needed by marine life) on the ocean’s surface as acidification increases — a widely used indicator of the process. What does all this mean for brightly colored coral reefs— so important not only to tourists and divers — but as a source of medicines, and as shelter for fish and sea life that provide protein for many people of island and coastal communities? “Our results suggest that severe reductions are likely to occur in coral reef diversity, structural complexity and resilience by the middle of this century,” says co‐author Professor Axel Timmermann. The study indicates that corals are currently found in about half of the oceans, mostly in the tropics – areas with adequate levels of aragonite. But these zones are expected to continue shrinking, with Hawaii, the Caribbean and the western Pacific likely to be vulnerable to acidification. Though some regions seem to be more resilient to man-made influences on ocean chemistry, the study predicts that continued use of fossil fuels may leave only about 5 percent of the oceans hospitable to corals by 2100. “When Earth started to warm 17,000 years ago, terminating the last glacial period, atmospheric CO2 levels rose from 190 parts per million (ppm) to 280 ppm over 6,000 years. Marine ecosystems had ample time to adjust,” researcher Friedrich explains. “Now, for a similar rise in CO2 concentration, to the present level of 392 ppm, the adjustment time is reduced to only 100 – 200 years.” Previous research by Conservancy scientist McLeod includes study of so-called “blue carbon,” or the important role of coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, sea grasses and salt marshes in storing carbon dioxide. Through the Reef Resilience Initiative, the Conservancy works to identify the healthiest reefs and protect them from damage, so they can better withstand climate impacts. Click here to hear learn more about the Conservancy’s work to protect corals. Lisa Hayden is a blogger and writer for The Nature Conservancy Photo 1: © Rod Salm (Healthy corals, Komodo National Park, Indonesia). Thumbnail, Photo 2: © J.E. Maragos (Coral gardens in reef pool, Palmyra Atoll). Animation by Tobias Friedrich 2012, International Pacific Research Center. (Spreading orange/red zones indicate lower saturations of aragonite (a form of calcium carbonate needed by marine life) on the ocean’s surface as sea water becomes more acidic — a widely used measure of ocean acidification. The animation shows how aragonite saturation is projected to decrease towards the end of the 21st century as man-made carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere continues to rise.) Tags: Blue Carbon, carbon dioxide, carbon pollution, coral reefs, Elizabeth Mcleod, International Pacific Research Center, Nature Climate Change journal, ocean acidification, reef resilience, shellfish Trackback from your site.

http://change.nature.org/2012/01/26/study-peoples-carbon-pollution-not-only-changing-the-atmosphere-but-also-the-oceans/

Over a decade after the Mariner 4 became the first mission to photograph Mars, two probes named Vikings 1 and 2 headed for the planet with the astonishing aim of actually deploying a craft to land on the surface. Viking 1 landed on the smooth plain of Chryse on July 20, 1976 at 4:53 a.m. PDT. Coincidentally this date was also the seventh anniversary of the first Apollo lunar landing, the most significant day in the history of our space program. July 20 also happened to be a Tuesday, the day named for Tiu, the Scandinavian equivalent for the god Mars. This date will also be remembered as the first time Earthlings established a foothold on the surface of Mars. Photo. An artist's conception of the Viking Lander approaching its soft landing on the Red Planet's surface. Courtesy of NASA, JPL. Chryse Planitia--Plains of Gold--is located at the mouth of a huge canyon. Once Viking landed, it began to take photographs of its surroundings--first a picture of its own footpad. Scientists wanted to make sure the lander wouldn't sink into the Martian soil. This picture, the first taken from the surface of another planet, its signal travelling at the speed of light, began to arrive at Earth twenty minutes later. Both of the Landers were equipped with television cameras, but neither ever saw a plant, an animal, or an animal track. It did see a deserted, rock strewn landscape and a pink sky. Soon after landing, each Viking would perform several important experiments on the soil surrounding the landing site; serving as the first Martian photographers, though, was in itself quite an achievement. Photo. Viking snapped a picture of its own landing mechanisms, confirming it had literally set foot on Mars. Courtesy of NASA, JPL. Mission to Mars. An educational site created for the ThinkQuest contest.

http://library.thinkquest.org/11147/landers.htm

"Our Place In Space" Instead of just listening to someone talk about the Earth and the Sun, students will be asked to help solve a crossword puzzle about the sky. Some clues are easier than others. Starting with ideas as basic as the difference between a star and a planet, one clue builds on another. The answers lead to exploration of the relationship between the Earth and Sun, how apparent size changes with distance, the rotation of the Earth and the effects of gravity (or the lack thereof), and the cause(s) of day and night. There is a brief segment about constellations and how the sky is a big dot-to-dot game. From there, students will use their imaginations to take a trip into space to visit the planets in the Solar System and travel beyond the realm of the Milky Way galaxy. Our Place in Space was produced for Tarleton Science Planetarium by Peggy Neill.

http://www.tarleton.edu/planetarium/shows/ourplace.html

A passive margin is the transition between oceanic and continental crust which is not an active plate margin. It is constructed by sedimentation above an ancient rift, now marked by transitional crust. Continental rifting creates new ocean basins. Eventually the continental rift forms a mid-oceanic ridge and the locus of extension moves away from the continent-ocean boundary. The transition between the continental and oceanic crust that was originally created by rifting is known as a passive margin. Global distribution Passive margins are found at every ocean and continent boundary that is not marked by a strike-slip fault or a subduction zone. Passive margins define the region around the Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean, and western Indian Ocean, and define the entire coasts of Africa, Greenland, India and Australia. They are also found on the east coast of North America and South America, in western Europe and most of Antarctica. East Asia also contains some passive margins. Key components Active vs. passive margins This refers to whether a crustal boundary between oceanic tracts and continental crusts are boundaries of plates or not. Active margins are found on the leading edge of a continent where subduction occurs. These are often marked by uplift and volcanic mountain belts on the continental plate, and by island-arc chains on the oceanic plate. Less often there is a strike-slip fault, as is defining the southern coastline of W. Africa. Most of the eastern Indian Ocean and nearly all of the Pacific Ocean margin are examples of active margins. While a weld between oceanic and continental crusts are called a passive margin, it is not an inactive margin. Active subsidence, sedimentation, growth faulting, pore fluid formation and migration are all very active processes on passive margins. Passive margins are only passive in that they are not active plate boundaries. Passive margins consist of both onshore coastal plain and offshore continental shelf-slope-rise triads. Coastal plains are often dominated by fluvial processes, while the continental shelf is dominated by deltaic and longshore current processes. The great rivers (Amazon. Orinoco, Congo, Nile, Ganges, Yellow, Yangtze, and Mackenzie rivers) drain across passive margins. Extensive estuaries are common on mature passive margins. Although there are many kinds of passive margins, the morphologies of most passive margins are remarkably similar. Typically they consist of a continental shelf, continental slope, continental rise, and abyssal plain. The morphological expression of these features are largely defined by the underlying transitional crust and the sedimentation above it. Passive margins defined by a large fluvial sediment budget and those dominated by coral and other biogenous processes generally have a similar morphology. In addition, the shelf break seems to mark the maximum Neogene lowstand, defined by the glacial maxima. The outer continental shelf and slope may be cut by great submarine canyons, which mark the offshore continuation of rivers. The main features of passive margins lie underneath the external characters. Beneath passive margins the transition between the continental and oceanic crust is a broad transition known as transitional crust. The subsided continental crust is marked by normal faults that dip seaward. The faulted crust transitions into oceanic crust and may be deeply buried due to thermal subsidence and the mass of sediment that collects above it. The lithosphere beneath passive margins is known as transitional lithosphere. The lithosphere thins seaward as it transitions seaward to oceanic crust. Different kinds of transitional crust form, depending on how fast rifting occurs and how hot the underlying mantle was at the time of rifting. Volcanic passive margins represent one endmember transitional crust type, the other endmember (amagmatic) type is the rifted passive margin. Volcanic passive margins they also are marked by numerous dykes and igneous intrusions within the subsided continental crust. There are typically a lot of dykes formed perpendicular to the seaward-dipping lava flows and sills. Igneous intrusions within the crust cause lava flows along the top the subsided continental crust and form seaward-dipping reflectors. Subsidence mechanisms Passive margins are characterized by thick accumulations of sediments. Space for these sediments is called accommodation space and is due to subsidence of especially the transitional crust. Subsidence is ultimately caused by gravitational equilibrium that is established between the crustal tracts, known as isostasy. Isostasy controls the uplift of the rift flank and the subsequent subsidence of the evolving passive margin and is mostly reflected by changes in heat flow. Heat flow at passive margins changes significantly over its lifespan, high at the beginning and decreasing with age. In the initial stage, the continental crust and lithosphere is stretched and thinned due to plate movement (plate tectonics) and associated igneous activity. The very thin lithosphere beneath the rift allows the upwelling mantle to melt by decompression. Lithospheric thinning also allows the asthenosphere to rise closer to the surface, heating the overlying lithosphere by conduction and advection of heat by intrusive dykes. Heating reduces the density of the lithosphere and elevates the lower crust and lithosphere. In addition, mantle plumes may heat the lithosphere and cause prodigious igneous activity. Once a mid-oceanic ridge forms and seafoor spreading begins, the original site of rifting is separated into conjugate passive margins (for example, the eastern US and NW African margins were parts of the same rift in early Mesozoic time and are now conjugate margins) and migrates away from the zone of mantle upwelling and heating and cooling begins. The mantle lithosphere below the thinned and faulted continental oceanic transition cools, thickens, increases in density and thus begins to subside. The accumulation of sediments above the subsiding transitional crust and lithosphere further depresses the transitional crust. Classification of passive margins There are four different perspectives needed to classify passive margins: - map-view formation geometry (rifted, sheared, and transtensional), - nature of transitional crust (volcanic and non-volcanic), - whether the transitional crust represents a continuous change from normal continental to normal oceanic crust or this includes isolated rifts and stranded continental blocks (simple and complex), and - sedimentation (carbonate-dominated, clastic-dominated, or sediment starved). The first describes the relationship between rift orientation and plate motion, the second describes the nature of transitional crust, and the third describes post-rift sedimentation. All three perspectives need to be considered in describing a passive margin. In fact, passive margins are extremely long, and vary along their length in rift geometry, nature of transitional crust, and sediment supply; it is more appropriate to subdivide individual passive margins into segments on this basis and apply the threefold classification to each segment. Geometry of passive margins Rifted margin This is the typical way that passive margins form, as separated continental tracts move perpendicular to the coastline. This is how the Central Atlantic opened, beginning in Jurassic time. Faulting tends to be listric: normal faults that flatten with depth. Sheared margin Sheared margins form where continental breakup was associated with strike-slip faulting. A good example of this type of margin is found on the south-facing coast of west Africa. Sheared margins are highly complex and tend to be rather narrow. They also differ from rifted passive margins in structural style and thermal evolution during continental breakup. As the seafloor spreading axis moves along the margin, thermal uplift produces a ridge. This ridge traps sediments, thus allowing for thick sequences to accumulate. These types of passive margins are less volcanic. Transtensional margin This type of passive margin develops where rifting is oblique to the coastline, as is now occurring in the Gulf of California. Nature of transitional crust Transitional crust, separating true oceanic and continental crusts, is the foundation of any passive margin. This forms during the rifting stage and consists of two endmembers: Volcanic and Non-Volcanic. This classification scheme only applies to rifted and transtensional margin; transitional crust of sheared margins is very poorly known. Non-volcanic rifted margin Non-volcanic margins are formed when extension is accompanied by little mantle melting and volcanism. Non-volcanic transitional crust consists of stretched and thinned continental crust. Non-volcanic margins are typically characterized by continentward-dipping seismic reflectors (rotated crustal blocks and associated sediments) and low P-wave velocities (<7.0 km/s) in the lower part of the transitional crust. Volcanic rifted margin Volcanic margins form part of large igneous provinces, which are characterised by massive emplacements of mafic extrusives and intrusive rocks over very short time periods. Volcanic margins form when rifting is accompanied by significant mantle melting, with volcanism occurring before and/or during continental breakup. The transitional crust of volcanic margins is composed of basaltic igneous rocks, including lava flows, sills, dykes, and gabbro. Volcanic margins are usually distinguished from non-volcanic (or magma-poor) margins (e.g. the Iberian margin, Newfoundland margin) which do not contain large amounts of extrusive and/or intrusive rocks and may exhibit crustal features such as unroofed, serpentinized mantle . Volcanic margins are known to differ from magma-poor margins in a number of ways: - a transitional crust composed of basaltic igneous rocks, including lava flows, sills, dykes, and gabbros. - a huge volume of basalt flows, typically expressed as seaward-dipping reflector sequences (SDRS) rotated during the early stages of crustal accretion (breakup stage), - The presence of numerous sill/dyke and vent complexes intruding into the adjacent basin, - the lack of significant passive-margin subsidence during and after breakup, and - the presence of a lower crust with anomalously high seismic P-wave velocities (Vp=7.1-7.8 km/s) – referred to as lower crustal bodies (LCBs) in the geologic literature. The high velocities (Vp > 7 km) and large thicknesses of the LCBs are evidence that supports the case for plume-fed accretion (mafic thickening) underplating the crust during continental breakup. LCBs are located along the continent-ocean transition but can sometimes extend beneath the continental part of the rifted margin (as observed in the mid-Norwegian margin for example). In the continental domain, there are still open discussion on their real nature, chronology, geodynamic and petroleum implications. Example of volcanic margins: - The Yemen margin - The East Australian margin - The West Indian margin - The Hatton-Rockal margin - The U.S East Coast - The mid-Norwegian margin - The Brazilian margins - The Namibian margin Heterogeneity of transitional crust Simple transitional crust Passive margins of this type show a simple progression through the transitional crust, from normal continental to normal oceanic crusts. The passive margin offshore Texas is a good example. Complex transitional crust A fourth way to classify passive margins is according to the nature of sedimentation of the mature passive margin. Sedimentation continues throughout the life of a passive margin. Sedimentation changes rapidly and progressively during the initial stages of passive margin formation because rifting begins on land, becoming marine as the rift opens and a true passive margin is established. Consequently, the sedimentation history of a passive margin begins with fluvial, lacustrine, or other subaerial deposits, evolving with time to Depending on how the rifting occurred, when, how and what type of sediment varies. Constructional margins are the “classic” mode of passive margin sedimentation. Normal sedimentation results from the transport and deposition of sand, silt, and clay by rivers via deltas and redistribution of these sediments by longshore currents. The nature of sediments can change remarkably along a passive margin, due to interactions between carbonate sediment production, clastic input from rivers, and alongshore transport. Where clastic sediment inputs are small, biogenic sedimentation can dominate especially nearshore sedimentation. The Gulf of Mexico passive margin along the southern United States is an excellent example of this, with muddy and sandy coastal environments down current (west) from the Mississippi River Delta and beaches of carbonate sand to the east. The thick layers of sediment gradually thin with increasing distance offshore, depending on subsidence of the passive margin and the efficacy of offshore transport mechanisms such as turbidity currents and submarine channels. Development of the shelf edge and its migration through time is critical to the development of a passive margin. The location of the shelf edge break reflects complex interaction between sedimentation, sealevel, and the presence of sediment dams. Coral reefs serve as bulwarks that allow sediment to accumulate between them and the shore, cutting off sediment supply to deeper water. Another type of sediment dam results from the presence of salt domes, as are common along the Texas and Louisiana passive margin. Sediment-starved margins produce narrow continental shelves and passive margins. This is especially common in arid regions, where there is little transport of sediment by rivers or redistribution by longshore currents. The Red Sea is a good example of a sediment-starved passive margin. There are three main stages in the formation of passive margins: - In the first stage a continental rift is established due to stretching and thinning of the crust and lithosphere by plate movement. This is the beginning of the continental crust subsidence. Drainage is generally away from the rift at this stage. - The second stage leads to the formation of an oceanic basin, similar to the modern Red Sea. The subsiding continental crust undergoes normal faulting as transitional marine conditions are established. Areas with restricted sea water circulation coupled with arid climate create evaporite deposits. Salt has low density so this later may migrate upwards as salt domes. Crust and lithosphere stretching and thinning are still taking place in this stage. Volcanic passive margins also have igneous intrusions and dykes during this stage. - The last stage in formation happens only when crustal stretching ceases and the transitional crust and lithosphere subsides as a result of cooling and thickening (thermal subsidence). Drainage starts flowing towards the passive margin causing sediment to accumulate over it. Economic significance Passive margins are important reservoirs of petroleum. Mann et al. (2001) classified 592 giant oil fields into six basin and tectonic-setting categories, and noted that continental passive margins account for 31% of giants. Continental rifts (which are likely to evolve into passive margins with time) contain another 30% of the world's giant oil fields. Basins associated with collision zones and subduction zones are where most of the remaining giant oil fields are found. Passive margins are petroleum storehouses because these are associated with favorable conditions for accumulation and maturation of organic matter. Early continental rifting conditions led to the development of anoxic basins, large sediment and organic flux, and the preservation of organic matter that led to oil and gas deposits. Crude oil will form from these deposits. These are the localities in which petroleum resources are most profitable and productive. Productive fields are found in passive margins around the globe, including the Gulf of Mexico, western Scandinavia, and Western Australia. Law of the Sea International discussions about who controls the resources of passive margins are the focus of Law of the Sea negotiations. Continental shelves are important parts of national exclusive economic zones, important for seafloor mineral deposits (including oil and gas) and fisheries. - Hillis, R. D.; R. D. Müller (2003). Evolution and Dynamics of the Australian Plate. Geological Society of America. - Morelock, Jack (2004). "Margin Structure". Geological Oceanography. Retrieved 2007-12-02. - Curray, J. R. (1980). "The IPOD Programme on Passive Continental Margins". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. A 294 (1409): 17–33. doi:10.1098/rsta.1980.0008. JSTOR 00804614.[dead link] - "Diapir". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. - "Petroleum". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. | http://www.mantleplumes.org/VM_Norway.html - "UNIL: Subsidence Curves". Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the University of Lausanne. Retrieved 2007-12-02.[dead link] - "P. Mann, L. Gahagan, and M.B. Gordon, 2001. Tectonic setting of the world's giant oil fields, Part 1 A new classification scheme of the world's giant fields reveals the regional geology where explorationists may be most likely to find future giants". - Bird, Dale (February 2001). "Shear Margins". The Leading Edge (Society of Exploration Geophysicists) 20 (2): 150–159. doi:10.1190/1.1438894. - Fraser, S.I.; Fraser, A. J.; Lentini, M. R.; Gawthorpe, R. L. (2007). "Return to rifts - the next wave: Fresh insights into the Petroleum geology of global rift basins". Petroleum Geoscience 13 (2): 99–104. doi:10.1144/1354-079307-749. - Gernigon, L.; J.C Ringenbach, S. Planke, B. Le Gall (2004). "Deep structures and breakup along volcanic rifted margins: Insights from integrated studies along the outer Vøring Basin (Norway)". Marine and Petroleum Geology 21–3 (3): 363–372. doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2004.01.005. | http://www.mantleplumes.org/VM_Norway.html - Continental Margins Committee, Ocean Studies Board, National Research Council, ed. (1989). Margins: A Research Initiative for Interdisciplinary Studies of the Processes Attending Lithospheric Extension and Convergence (PDF). The National Academies Press. Retrieved 2007-12-02. - Geoffroy, Laurent (October 2005). "Volcanic Passive Margins" (PDF). C. R. Geoscience 337 (in French and English). Elsevier SAS. Retrieved 2007-12-02. - R. A. Scrutton, ed. (1982). Dynamics of Passive Margins. USA: American Geophysical Union. - Mjelde, R.; Raum, T.; Murai, Y.; Takanami, T. (2007). "Continent-ocean-transitions: Review, and a new tectono-magmatic model of the Vøring Plateau, NE Atlantic". Journal of Geodynamics 43 (3): 374–392. doi:10.1016/j.jog.2006.09.013.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_margin

Why do we see stars? If the sun seems so small at only 8 minutes of light speed away, how is it that we are able to see stars at all that are light-years away? It seems to me that their visible size should be infinitesimally small and therefore they should be invisible. Whether we are able to see an object or not just depends only on the amount of light that is reaching us and is independent of its size. If you cannot see an object, it just means that the amount of light coming is not enough for your eye to discern it. It is true that the angular size of stars is extremely small and that is the reason why no telescope has ever taken a well resolved picture of a star. For us at the Earth, the atmosphere causes an angular blurring by scintillation (which is why stars twinkle) and smears their size to about 1 arcsecond (which is 1/3600 of a degree). Even for telescopes like Hubble which is above the Earth's atmosphere, the star's angular size is too small to be resolved. But remember that each star produces a lot of light which is more than enough for the eye to discern them. Hence we see stars; However they are too small; so we see them as points and not disks (as you would with planets). Get More 'Curious?' with Our New PODCAST: - Podcast? Subscribe? Tell me about the Ask an Astronomer Podcast - Subscribe to our Podcast | Listen to our current Episode - Cool! But I can't now. Send me a quick reminder now for later. - Why are there stars? - How can we see galaxies if their stars are so faint? - How do photons from distant objects maintain enough energy to reach us? How to ask a question: If you have a follow-up question concerning the above subject, submit it here. If you have a question about another area of astronomy, find the topic you're interested in from the archive on our site menu, or go here for help. This page has been accessed 46452 times since August 24, 2002. Last modified: August 24, 2002 3:40:59 PM Ask an Astronomer is hosted by the Astronomy Department at Cornell University and is produced with PHP and MySQL. Warning: Your browser is misbehaving! This page might look ugly. (Details)

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Dolphins are smart--but who knew they could do math? A research team from the University of Southampton has shown that the animals use something akin to advanced mathematics when they hunt. Dolphins have long been observed using a hunting technique in which they blow bubbles around fish to force them closer together (the so-called "bubble nets" make the fish easier to catch). The dolphins then use echolocation (sonar) to pinpoint their prey. But how do dolphins distinguish the fish from the bubbles? Research led by Dr. Tim Leighton, a professor of ultrasonics and underwater acoustics at the university, suggests that dolphins somehow "count" the feedback from the sonar signals they emit--an ability that seems to require advanced "nonlinear" math. "These dolphins were either 'blinding' their most spectacular sensory apparatus when hunting--which would be odd, though they still have sight to reply on--or they have a sonar that can do what human sonar cannot," Dr. Leighton said in a written statement. When they use sonar, dolphins emit clicks of varying strength (amplitude)--a phenomenon that seems to be central to their amazing ability. "The variation in amplitude of these clicks is the key," Leighton said. "It produces changes in the echoes which can identify the target [fish] in the bubble net, where man-made sonar does not work." Leighton found that an advanced form of sonar called biased pulse summation sonar (BiaPSS) can do what dolphins do naturally--separate sonar "clutter" from prey. The research doesn't prove that dolphins use this technique but shows it's possible. "The researchers are asking whether or not it’s feasible," engineer Hugh Griffiths from University College London in England told ScienceNews. “And they conclude--quite rightly--that yes, in principle, it is.” The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A on July 12, 2012. The rhinoceros beetle (pictured) can push around 850 times its weight. Largest Invertebrate (Land) The coconut crab weighs about 6.6 pounds and its legs can span up to two and a half feet Liz Hall from the Melbourne Aquarium inspects Coconut Crab as he takes possesion of a coconut in Melbourne, 19 December 2006. They Coconut crab (also known as the Robber Crab) are the largest living crab in the world and can climb coconut trees to harvest coconuts which they can break with their huge nippers and have been gruesomely know to feed on injured or unconcious people in the bush. (William West, AFP / Getty Images) The giant squid is the world's largest invertebrate, and the largest ever measured was 59 feet long. Giant squids also have the largest eyes of any animal, each one about the size of a human head. The etruscan shrew is the smallest mammal (by weight) in the world. The smallest animal by skull size is the bumblebee bat. Most Venomous Animal The sea wasp jellyfish (pictured) has enough venom to kill 60 adult humans. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/65578066@N00" target="_hplink">Guido Gautsch/Flickr</a> Arctic terns migrate about 11,000 miles to the Antarctic each year...and then come all the way back! An Arctic Tern dives down to protect its nest on June 24, 2011 on Inner Farne, England. (Dan Kitwood, Getty Images) Blue whales' low-frequency pulses can be heard over 500 miles way. At 188 decibels, these sounds are louder than a jet engine. In this picture taken on March 26, 2009, shows a blue whale swimming in the deep waters off the southern Sri Lankan town of Mirissa. (Ishara S. Kodikara, AFP / Getty Images) World's Most Extreme Animals North African ostriches run up to 45 miles an hour, making them the fastest land bird. They are also the biggest, weighing up to 345 pounds. An african ostrich eats at the Addo National Elephant Park, north of Port Elizabeth, on June 24, 2010. South Africa is hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup. (Patrick Hertzog, AFP / Getty Images) Peregrine falcons dive toward their prey at over 200 mph. A young male Peregrine Falcon eats meat taken from the protective glove of Taronga Zoo bird trainer Erin Stone (unseen) following a short flying lesson in Sydney on December 9, 2009. (Greg Wood, AFP / Getty Images) Sailfish can swim at speeds of up to 68 mph, although experts disagree as to just which species of sailfish is the fastest. Sailfish jumping out of the water on January 16, 2006 in the Florida Keys, Florida. (Ronald C. Modra, Sports Imagery / Getty Images) Cheetahs can run at speeds up to 70 mph. Majani, a 2-year-old male African cheetah, exhibits lighting speed Friday, March 19, 2004 while chasing a mechanical rabbit at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park as part of the Park's environmental enrichment program. (Ken Bohn, San Diego Zoo / AP) Three giant tortoises are estimated to have lived over 175 years, with one estimated at a whopping 255 years. Image: Harriet, who died in 2006, was thought to be the third longest-lived tortoise on record. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/123660557/" target="_hplink">Cory Doctorow/Creative Commons</a> World's Most Extreme Animals African elephants are the heaviest and second tallest land animals. Large males can exceed 13,000 pounds and are 12 feet tall at the shoulder. This photo made on February 10, 2011 shows an elephant in Tsavo west national park, some 350 kilometres southeast of Nairobi. (Tony Karumba, AFP / Getty Images)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/dolphin-math-signal-processing_n_1686301.html

A metal pin adorning a military uniform signifies rank; a ring on the left hand’s fourth finger announces matrimony. Most scientists thought that the capability for such symbolic thinking was unique to modern humans, but a new study suggests that it dates back to before the Neandertals. Archaeologist João Zilhão of the University of Bristol in England and his colleagues found 50,000-year-old perforated painted seashells and pigment containers on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, a region that was inhabited solely by Neandertals at the time. Modern humans who lived in Africa at that time used similar objects as jewelry and for body painting to symbolize their social standing. The find suggests that the brains of the common ancestor of both species must have already had the biological basis for symbolic thought, meaning its development dates back to about half a million years ago, Zilhão says. He adds that the discovery also implies that the foundation for language was already in place that long ago, because assigning specific meanings to arbitrary words and sounds is “symbolic thinking by definition.” This article was originally published with the title Neandertal Symbolism.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=neandertal-symbolism

Connect students in grades 4 and up with science using Learning about Cells. In this 48-page resource, students learn what cells are, the parts of cells, how cells live and reproduce, and how to use a microscope to view them. It establishes a dialogue with students to encourage their interest and participation in creative and straightforward activities. The book also includes a vocabulary list and a unit test. This book supports National Science Education Standards. Buyback (Sell directly to one of these merchants and get cash immediately) |Currently there are no buyers interested in purchasing this book. While the book has no cash or trade value, you may consider donating it|

http://www.campusbooks.com/books/sell.php?isbn=9781580373210

- Report Checklist - A handy checklist which children can complete when trying to find the features of report books. - Appraising Information Books - A set of questions (in PDF) which encourage children to appraise Tudor information books. - Research Template - A very useful template which will help children when researching for different topics. Contributed by a Canadian. - Persuasive Blurbs - A worksheet for children to record their observations after examining the back of (fiction and non-fiction) books, and reading the 'blurb'. Contributed by Sue Powell. - Newspaper Activities - A number of activities using newspapers. - Quotes - Use phrases and quotes each day, and ask children to make up their own! - Fact or Opinion - Ask your pupils to decide if these sentences are facts or opinions and drag them to the correct side of the Smartboard. - What's in the News? - Encourage your children to be aware of current events using this interactive activity. Find more ideas and resources for children's books in the Teaching Ideas Library. The resources below are all part of an owl project which was contributed by Iman Bendjedidi. You can find out more about this here. - Long-Eared Owl Facts - A set of facts about long-eared owls which can be used for comprehension. - Long-Eared Owl Questions - A collection of questions based on the long-eared owl facts pages. - Screech Owl Facts - A set of facts about screech owls which can be used for comprehension. - Screech Owl Questions - A collection of questions based on the screech owl facts pages. - Owl Crossword - A crossword which tests children's knowledge of owls. - Owl Project - Use your own research to answer these questions about owls. Non-Fiction Books Banner Our Favourite Non-Fiction

http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/contents_readingnonfiction.htm

Photo: Howard Davies/Oxfam Why do disasters happen? Can they be prevented? What can be done to help? Dealing with Disasters makes it easier for teachers to tackle and explore some of these questions in the classroom. It provides case study material, focussing particularly on Bangladesh. In particular, this material supports the teaching of Geography, Citizenship, PSE/PSD, and English. The background information on disasters and natural hazards includes extensive background information on earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and famine. These pages have been adapted from Oxfam’s print publication, Dealing with Disasters, which you can order online. Resources for use in the classroom Resources for use in the classroom - a series of ready-to-use lesson plans Lesson plan: Disasters: Raising the issues - raises initial ideas about disasters and explores preconceptions Lesson plan: What is a disaster? - explores pupils’ current understanding of disasters Lesson plan: Disaster Strikes - what needs to happen immediately when disaster strikes, and can this help development in the long term? Lesson plan: Exploring a cyclone shelter - how those affected by disasters cope Lesson plan: A causes web - causes of and solutions to disasters Lesson plan: Activities using the media - range of activities exploring the ways in which disasters are presented by the media Lesson plan: Whose ideas? - awareness of long-term responses to tackling disasters

http://educacionenvalores.org/spip.php?article500

The Trees of the Dancing Goats Teaching Plan - Grades: 3–5 In The Trees of the Dancing Goats, as Trisha’s family prepares to celebrate Hanukkah, they learn that many of their neighbors have been stricken with the fever. Concerned that their friends might not be able to prepare for and celebrate Christmas, the family is moved to action. Working into the night, they prepare food, candles, and small trees decorated with Grandpa’s hand-carved toys—goats and other animals lovingly created for his grandchildren for Hanukkah. After delivering the Christmas cheer, the giving family rejoices over the miracle of true friendship as they light the last candles of their Hanukkah celebration. Ask children to think about special celebrations they observe with their families—such as Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa—and what they do to prepare for these celebrations. Have them illustrate some of their activities. Then set the drawings aside to use in the After Reading activity. Introduce the book by telling children that this story is about friends who celebrate the holidays in different ways. Trisha’s family celebrates Hanukkah, while her friends celebrate Christmas. Compare the customs of the two celebrations. How are they alike? Different? Extend the Before Reading activity by having children illustrate two more pages each—one showing their families during the celebration and the other depicting the end of the celebration. Display each child’s set of pictures on a large chart labeled “Before,” “During,” and “After.” Ask children to use their picture sequences to tell about their family celebrations. Dancing Goat Decoration (PDF) To wish their neighbors well, Trisha’s family made sure that a dancing-goat decoration hung on each tree. Invite children to make these dancing goats for family members and friends to whom they want to send holiday wishes. First, have students color and cut out the goat patterns. Ask them to write holiday wishes and the names of the recipients on the back of their goats, then glue designs cut from gift wrap or designs they make to the front of the goats. Help students attach the legs with brass fasteners, then punch holes to add yarn hangers. Encourage children to present their goat ornaments during the holiday season. In The Trees of the Dancing Goats, the family made latkes. Challenge children to search the following books to find the names and descriptions of other Russian foods: The Keeping Quilt (kulich); Rechenka’s Eggs (kulich and pashka); and Uncle Vova’s Tree (kutya). Then create and prepare your own simple versions of some of these foods. Check for food allergies before serving the foods.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/trees-dancing-goats-teaching-plan

This course on land animals is the third book in the Zoology series and follows Exploring Creation With Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day though its only prerequisite is Exploring Creation With Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. This is because foundational concepts, such as animal classification, nomenclature, instincts, endangered species, parasites, and other important ideas are explained in the first book. Attainment of this knowledge is assumed in Zoology 3. What separates people from apes? How can a Great Dane be related to a Chihuahua? Is there evidence that people and dinosaurs lived at the same time? What should you do if you encounter a bear? How can you tell if a snake is poisonous? Come find out answers to these questions and many, many more with Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoology 3! This book takes students on a safari through jungles, deserts, forests, farms, and even their own backyard to explore, examine and enjoy the enchanting creatures God designed to inhabit the terrain. Families will snuggle together and discover the amazing animals from primates to parasites, kangaroos to caimans, and turtles to terrifying T-Rexs—this safari doesn't end there! Students will also keep a record of where each animal is found on a map and learn to identify animal tracks. As with all the Apologia elementary books, students will continue the practice of narration, keeping a notebook of what they have learned, and enjoy many hands on projects and experiments throughout the course. Table of Contents Lab List by Module

http://www.exodusbooks.com/details.aspx?id=10734

The barometer reading measures the atmospheric pressure at the observing location. Atmospheric pressure is the force that the air exerts on an object. The barometric pressure can be thought of as the weight of the air above you. The less air that is above you, the less force it exerts on you. The more air above you, the stronger the force of air pressure. So as the amount of air above you decreases, so does the barometric pressure. As the weight of a column of air above you increases, so does the pressure. Nature always likes to equalize differences in nature. Hot flows to cold, and high pressure flows to low pressure. As the relatively higher pressure air flows in to the lower pressure area (to equalize the difference) at the surface, something called convergence results. Obvioulsy, the air cannot force its way into the ground, therefore it is forced to rise. As the air rises, it cools off as a result of the decreased pressure (remember the ideal gas law?). As the air cools, it cannot hold the same amount of water vapor as it could before, thus water condenses into clouds. Clouds can only form, however, if there is enough water vapor in the air. Sometimes air can rise wihtout ever forming clouds because there is not alot of water in the air. When the barometric pressure falls, a storm is usually on the way. For us here in the Northeast, a falling barometer with winds out of the Southwest usually spell inclement weather. The faster the pressure falls, the stronger the storm that is potentially on the horizon. Please note that although a certain barometric pressure reading at the surface can indicate stormy weather, the actual relative pressure of different layers in the atmosphere can vary. It is possible to have high pressure at the surface, and low pressure aloft. The term barometric pressure, however, is used to describe the surface pressure at the observation station. The pressure observed by a barometer can be affected in many ways. First and foremost is the elevation of the observer. As you go higher and higher into the atmosphere, the pressure drops substantially. In order to standardize the barometric pressure readings taken all over the globe, the readings are converted with a formula to the "Sea Level Pressure." The sea level pressure takes into account the elevation of the observing station, the temperature of the air, and also the latitude of the observer. The temperature comes into play, since colder temperatures result in air that is more dense, thus increasing its weight. The latitude of the observer matters because the effects of gravity change as one travels from latitude to latitude. The Earth is not a perfect sphere, but rather an oblate spheroid. That means the Earth is a little squished, being compressed from pole to pole. This compression is analogous to pressing down on the top of a basketball with your foot. The side-to-side measurement becomes greater than the top-to-bottom measurement. Since barometric pressure can be though of as the weight of the air above you, it varies as the gravity varies. After all, if it weren't for gravity objects would have mass, but not weight! Please report any errors above to Max Riseman

http://weathermaine.com/Davis/Educate/Barometer.htm

by Jeremy Leaming There really are very few Supreme Court justices worth celebrating and many more who are easily forgettable. But Thurgood Marshall, who joined the high court 45 years ago today, was a champion of equality before he became the first African American to join, at that time, the all-male, all-white Supreme Court. Marshall was named to the federal appeals court by President John F. Kennedy, and later to the Supreme Court by Lyndon B. Johnson. Both were historic appointments. As John Schachter notes in this post, much of Marshall’s life included historic achievements. After being denied admissions to the University of Maryland’s law school, because of racism, Marshall earned a law degree from Howard University and launched what would be a trailblazing legal career bolstering and advancing equality and liberty in the country. In 1940 he founded the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which has become one of the nation’s leading civil liberties groups. Before reaching the federal bench, Marshall, as a highly successful attorney, took to the courts and started toppling Jim Crow era laws, tawdry efforts to continue the oppression of African Americans. As Juan Williams wrote in Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary, it was Marshall “who ended legal segregation in the United States. He won Supreme Court victories breaking down the color line in housing, transportation and voting, all of which overturned the ‘Separate-but-equal’ apartheid of American life in the first half of the century.” Of course Marshall’s greatest victory before the high court came in Brown v. Board of Education, where he argued that the odious separate-but-equal principle aimed to keep African Americans “as near [slavery] as possible,” violated the Constitution.

http://www.acslaw.org/acsblog/all/brown-v.-board-of-education

What is an ependymoma? An ependymoma is a tumor that arises from the ependymal cells, which line the brain and spinal cord. Over 90 percent of ependymoma originate from the brain and 10 percent from the spinal cord. Ependymomas rarely spread (metastasize) from their site of origin. Ependymomas are classified as either supratentorial (in the cerebral hemispheres) or infratentorial (in the back of the brain). Variations of this tumor type include subependymoma, subependymal giant-cell astrocytoma, and malignant ependymoma. Ependymomas are the third most common type of central nervous system (CNS) tumor in children (following astrocytoma and medulloblastoma). Approximately 200 cases of childhood ependymoma are diagnosed in the U.S. each year. Ependymomas account for between six percent and 12 percent of brain tumors in children less than 18 years of age, but 30 percent of brain tumors in children less than three years of age. The average age at diagnosis is four to six years of age. What are the symptoms of an ependymoma? Symptoms of ependymoma are determined by where they are located within the brain or spine. Symptoms of ependymoma in the brain typically include headache, weakness, visual field cut or seizures, double vision. Ependymoma of the brain often cause hydrocephalus (too much cerebrospinal fluid) that can lead to headache, vomiting, poor balance, and decreased level of consciousness. Symptoms of spinal cord ependymoma may include weakness and/or loss of sensation, pain, and bowel or bladder dysfunction, and possibly severe pain in the lower back and legs. How is an ependymoma diagnosed? Patients suspected of having a brain or spinal cord tumor undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain and spine to further define the location of the tumor and to assess if there is any metastasis (spread) of the tumor. A biopsy of the tumor is required to make the final diagnosis of an ependymoma and to subtype the ependymoma according to World Health Organization guidelines. Patients with ependymoma of the brain require a spinal tap (lumbar puncture) to assess for any spread of the tumor through the spinal fluid. How is an ependymoma treated? The initial treatment for ependymoma is surgery. In general, the neurosurgeon will attempt to remove as much of the tumor as possible, without causing damage to the normal brain. A complete resection, confirmed by post-operative MRI or computed tomography (CT) scan, often yields a favorable prognosis. Although total resection is optimal, it is not always possible because vital structures can be involved by the tumor. Children whose have tumor spread within the cerebrospinal fluid (metastatic disease) benefit from craniospinal radiation therapy. Chemotherapy is reserved for patients with residual tumor following surgery (incomplete surgical resection) with the goal to shrink the tumor and make it more amenable to a second surgery. Chemotherapy is also used in children younger than three years of age in an attempt to delay radiation therapy until they are older. About treatment for ependymoma at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota Our cancer and blood disorders program consistently achieves excellent results ranking it in the top ten programs in the United States. Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota treats the majority of children with cancer and blood disorders in Minnesota and provides patients access to a variety of clinical trials using ground-breaking new treatments. Through our renowned program, patients experience unparalleled family support, a nationally recognized pain management team, and compassionate, coordinated care. If you are a family member looking for a Children’s neuro-oncologist, please call our clinic at (612) 813-5940. If you are a health professional looking for consultation or referral information, please call Children's Physician Access at 1-866-755-2121 (toll-free) and ask for the on-call hematologist/oncologist. Additional information on Ependymoma For additional information, check out these web sites:

http://www.childrensmn.org/health-professionals/resources/radiology-image-transfer/607-services/cancer-and-blood-disorders/cancer/brain-and-spinal-tumors/types-of-brain-and-spinal-cord-tumors/ependymomas/1361-ependymoma

Tutorial below is regarding Java writer class. Java writer class is an abstractly implemented idea for writing text files using character streams. It is defined inside java.io package. This class is the root of all the classes that write character output streams. In short, writer class provides foundation for the classes that write character output streams. This java writer hierarchy contains many classes such as PrintWriter, BufferedWriter, FileWriter, OutputStreamWriter and many more. Diagram below demonstrates a subset of the Writer hierarchy. Diagram demonstrates the classes that are used to create an OutputStream environment of characters for writing text files. Class PrintWriter defined inside the abstract class writer, writes or has function defined to put the data (characters) into the character output stream. Similarly class BufferedWriter creates a temporary memory called buffer for the character output stream so that the stream values that are the actually the characters, can be processed more efficiently. Class FileWriter interconnects the character output stream to the path of a file. Class OutputStream Writer creates interface (like a bridge as connector) from a character output stream to a binary Note: Al l data is stored as text characters with one character per byte on disk. A Stream is the flow of data from one location to another and an output stream is the flow of data as characters from the internal memory of an application to a disk file. With writer classes data as text are written on text files. Stream to get its functionality requires layering in which two or more streams are layered and forms a filtered stream. This filtered stream now possess all the functionality to perform either Input or Output operation. While working with writer classes following three different types of exceptions are often generated. IOException :- Is thrown when an error occurs during I/O processing. EOFException :- Is thrown when the program control attempts to read beyond the end of the file. FileNotFoundException :- Is thrown when the program control attempts to open a file that does not exists . All the above exceptions can be handled with try and catch blocks. Also can be avoided by using throws keyword. Syntax for using throws keyword :- throws Exception_name For example :- throws IOException If you are facing any programming issue, such as compilation errors or not able to find the code you are looking for. Ask your questions, our development team will try to give answers to your questions.

http://www.roseindia.net/java/java-write/java-writer-class.shtml

This portion of the training was designed to provide basic skills in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). We relied heavily on lessons from an ESRI text called Mapping Our World: GIS Lessons for Educators. The text uses various geographic lessons to introduce students to the basic tools and concepts used in ArcMap. The lessons were useful in establishing a basic working knowledge of ArcMap software. To make the lessons more relevant to the YNMI program, we customized them using data from our study areas. The main advantage to using the ESRI text was that it helped the students to understand the multiple uses of GIS: it’s not just for creating maps, but is also critical in analyzing data to recognize trends and changes. The lessons were sequenced so that each one built upon the other, working up toward a final map. Some examples of skills learned include creating a spreadsheet of historic properties and then geocoding the addresses for later spatial inquiry, attaching .dbf files to parcel data, formatting and setting up a map for final presentation, and exporting a map as a .jpeg or a .pdf. Several of the lessons we used are described below: ArcMap: The Basics This lesson introduces the user to the basic functionality and tools of ArcMap and ArcCatalog. The students will learn how to open the program, navigate to and open a prepared map, turn layers on and off dock and float a toolbar, identify features in a map, open an attribute table and locate a specific feature, and use the basic tools on the toolbar such as zoom and find. The Earth Moves: A global perspective The lesson begins by reviewing previous learned concepts and then begins to expand upon these and go more in depth. The ultimate goal of the educational portion of the lesson is to have the students analyze the relationships between plate tectonics and volcanoes, but achieves it by having the students select specific attributes of various layers and then Life on the Edge: A GIS Investigation This lesson expands the geographic concepts introduced previously and adds some additional tools to aid the in the investigation into the relationship between earthquakes, plate tectonics, and earthquakes. The main tool added during this lesson is the measure tool. Mapping Tectonic Hot Spots: An advanced investigation The primary skill presented in this lesson is how to import a text file into ArcMap and attach a coordinate system to it. Running Hot and Cold: A GIS investigation This lesson begins to introduce skills that enable users to customize a map to fit their specific needs. The first skill it teaches is how to change the label properties using Layer Properties. In addition to introducing layer properties, the lesson also demonstrates alternative methods for selecting specific attributes within each layer using the attribute table. The concept that the lesson seeks to communicate is for students to recognize a correlation between temperature variations, latitudinal locations, and elevation. Seasonal Differences: A GIS investigation The GIS skills taught in this lesson include adding new layers to a map and selecting individual features on a map. In addition, the lesson introduces the graph generator and teaches students about the connection between graphs and maps.

http://memphis.edu/planning/YNMI_pages/ynmi_gis.htm

In 1929, Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe was expanding, and the velocity of expansion was a function of the distance from the Earth. For example, galaxies at a “proper distance” D from the Earth were moving away from the Earth at a velocity v, according to the following equation: v = H0D, where H0 is the constant of proportionality (the Hubble constant). In this context, the phrase “proper distance” means a distance (D) measured at a specific time. Obviously, since the galaxies are moving away from the Earth, the distance D will change (i.e. increase) with time. Until 1998, most physicists and cosmologists believed that the expansion would eventually be slowed by gravity and be reversed (i.e. all matter in the universe would eventually be pulled by gravity to a common point resulting in the “Big Crunch”). In 1998, three physicists (Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, and Adam G. Riess) decided to measure the expansion and expected to confirm that it was slowing down. To their surprise, and the scientific community’s surprise, they discovered that the universe’s expansion was accelerating. In 2011, they received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery. The accelerated expansion of the universe is one of the great mysteries in science. Since the vast majority of scientists believe in the principle of cause and effect, the scientific community postulated that something was causing the accelerated expansion. They named the cause “dark energy,” which they believed was some kind of vacuum force. Today we know that extremely distant galaxies are actually moving away from the Earth with a velocity that exceeds the speed of light. This serves to deepen the mystery. Let us turn our attention to what is causing the accelerated expansion of the universe. First, let us understand that the extremely distant galaxies themselves are not moving away from the Earth faster than the speed of light. A mass, including a galaxy, cannot obtain a velocity greater than the speed of light, according to Einstein’s special theory of relativity. Any theory that attempts to explain the faster than light velocity of extremely distant galaxies via any type of force acting on the galaxies would contradict Einstein’s special theory of relativity. Therefore, we must conclude the galaxies themselves are not moving faster than the speed of light. However, no law of physics prohibits the expansion of space faster than the speed of light. With this understanding, it is reasonable to conclude the space between extremely distant galaxies is expanding faster than the speed of light, which accounts for our observation that the galaxies are moving away from Earth at a velocity faster than the speed of light. What is causing the space between extremely distant galaxies to expand faster than the speed of light? To address this question, let us discuss what we know about space and, more specifically, about vacuums. In my book, Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries, I explain that vacuums are actually a reservoir for virtual particles. This is not a new theory. Paul Dirac, the famous British physicist and Nobel Laureate, asserted in 1930 that vacuums contain electrons and positrons (i.e. a positron is the antimatter counterpart of an electron). This is termed the Dirac sea. Asserting that vacuums contain matter-antimatter particles is equivalent to asserting that vacuums contain positive and negative energy, based on Einstein’s famous mass-energy equivalence equation, E = mc2 (where E stands for energy, m is the rest mass of an object, and c is the speed of light in a vacuum). Do vacuum really contain particles or energy? Our experimentation with laboratory vacuums proves they do. However, we have no way to directly measure the energy of a vacuum or directly observe virtual particles within the vacuum. As much as we physicists talk about energy, we are unable to measure it directly. Instead, we measure it indirectly via its effects. For example, we are able to measure the Casimir-Polder force, which is an attraction between a pair of closely spaced electrically neutral metal plates in a vacuum. In effect, virtual particles pop in and out of existence, in accordance with the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, at a higher density on the outside surfaces of the plates. The density of virtual particles between the plates is less due to their close spacing. The higher density of virtual particles on the outside surfaces of the plates acts to push the plates together. This well-known effect is experimental evidence that virtual particles exist in a vacuum. This is just one effect regarding the way virtual particles affect their environment. There is a laundry list of other effects that prove virtual particles are real and exist in a vacuum. I previously mentioned the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. I will now explain it, as well as the role it plays in the spontaneous creation of virtual particles. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle describes the statistical behavior of mass and energy at the level of atoms and subatomic particles. Here is a simple analogy. When you heat a house, it is not possible to heat every room uniformly. The rooms themselves and places within each room will vary in temperature. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle says the same about the energy distribution within a vacuum. It will vary from point to point. When energy accumulates at a point in a vacuum, virtual particle pairs (matter and antimatter) are forced to pop into existence. The accumulation of energy and the resulting virtual particle pairs are termed a quantum fluctuation. Clearly, vacuums contain energy in the form of virtual particle pairs (matter-antimatter). By extension, we can also argue that the vacuums between galaxies contain energy. Unfortunately, with today’s technology, we are unable to measure the amount of energy or the virtual particle pairs directly. Why are we unable to measure the virtual particle pairs in a vacuum directly? Two answers are likely. First, they may not exist as particles in a vacuum, but rather as energy. As stated previously, we are unable to measure energy directly. Second, if they exist as particles, they may be extremely small, perhaps having a diameter in the order of a Planck length. In physics, the smallest length believed to exist is the Planck length, which science defines via fundamental physical constants. We have no scientific equipment capable of measuring anything close to a Planck length. For our purposes here, it suffices to assert that vacuums contain energy. We are unable to measure the amount of energy directly, but we are able to measure the effects the energy has on its environment. Next, let us consider existence. Any mass requires energy to exist (move forward in time). In my book, Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries, the Existence Equation Conjecture is derived, discussed, and shown to be consistent with particle acceleration data. The equation is: KEX4 = – .3 mc2, where KEX4 is the kinetic energy associated with moving in the fourth dimension (X4) of Minkowski space, m is the rest mass of an object, and c is the speed of light in a vacuum. This asserts that for a mass to exist (defined as movement in time), it requires energy, as described by the Existence Equation Conjecture. (For simplicity, from this point forward I will omit the word “conjecture” and refer to the equation as the “Existence Equation.”) Due to the enormous negative energy implied by the Existence Equation, in my book, Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries, I theorized that any mass draws the energy required for its existence from the universe, more specifically from the vacuum of space. Below, I will demonstrate that this gives rise to what science terms dark energy and causes the accelerated expansion of space. At this point, let us address two questions: 1. Is the Existence Equation correct? I demonstrated quantitatively in Appendix 2, Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries, that the equation accurately predicts a muon’s existence (within 2%), when the muon is accelerated close to the speed of light. Based on this demonstration, there is a high probability that the Existence Equation is correct. 2. What is the space between galaxies? The space between galaxies is a vacuum. For purposes here, I am ignoring celestial objects that pass through the vacuum between galaxies. I am only focusing on the vacuum itself. From this standpoint, based on Dirac’s assertion and our laboratory experiments, we can conclude that vacuums contain matter-antimatter (i.e. the Dirac sea), or equivalently (from Einstein’s famous mass-energy equivalence equation, E = mc2) positive-negative energy. Given that a vacuum contains mass, we can postulate that each mass within a vacuum exerts a gravitational pull on every other mass within the vacuum. This concept is based on Newton’s classical law of gravity, F = G (m1 m2)/r2, where m1 is one mass (i.e. virtual particle) and m2 is another mass (i.e. virtual particle), r is the distance between the two masses, G is constant of proportionality (i.e. the gravitational constant), and F is the force of attraction between the masses. If we think of a vacuum as a collection of virtual particles, it appears reasonable to assume the gravitational force will define the size of the vacuum. This is similar to the way the size of a planet is determined by the amount of mass that makes up the planet and the gravitational force holding the mass together. This is a crucial point. The density of virtual particles defines the size of the vacuum. However, we have shown that existence requires energy (via the Existence Equation). A simple review of the Existence Equation delineates that the amount of energy a mass requires to exist is enormous. The energy of existence is directly proportional to the mass. Therefore, a galaxy, which includes stars, planets, dark matter, and celestial objects, would require an enormous amount of energy to exist. In effect, to sustain its existence, the galaxy must continually consume energy in accordance with the Existence Equation. Using the above information, let us address three key questions: 1. What is causing the vacuum of space between galaxies to expand? To sustain their existence, galaxies remove energy from the vacuum (i.e. space) that borders the galaxies. The removal of energy occurs in accordance with the Existence Equation. The removal of energy results in the gravitational force defining the vacuum to weaken. This causes the vacuum (space) to expand. 2. Why are the distant galaxies expanding at a greater rate than those galaxies closer to the Earth? The galaxies that are extremely distant from the Earth have existed longer than those have closer to the Earth. Therefore, distant galaxies have consumed more energy from the vacuums of space that surround them than galaxies closer to the Earth. 3. Why is the space within a galaxy not expanding? A typical galaxy is a collection of stars, planets, celestial objects, and dark matter. We know from observational measurements that dark matter only exists within a galaxy and not between galaxies. I believe the dark matter essentially allows the galaxy to act as if it were one large mass. From this perspective, it appears that the dark matter blocks any removal of energy from the vacuum (i.e. space) within a galaxy. Dose this solve the profound mystery regarding the accelerated expansion of the universe? To my mind, it does. I leave it to you, my colleagues, to draw your own conclusions.

http://www.louisdelmonte.com/unraveling-the-universes-accelerated-expansion/

Star formation is one of the great unsolved problems in astronomy. It is very difficult to simulate the star formation process with a computer mainly because it is a problem that spans many orders of magnitude in size, temperature and pressure, and must incorporate a variety of chemical processes. More simply put, there are hardly any spots to make approximations. But solving star formation is still very important, because without stars, you wouldn’t be sitting here reading this blog today. When massive stars explode (or supernova) they seed the space around them with heavy elements, such as the iron in your blood. These explosions also help future generations of stars form. Understanding how star formation works today keeps a lot of astronomers (both theorists and observers) very busy, but some astronomers like a challenge. These astronomers study the first stars to ever form. In a great article by John Wise of Georgia Tech, we learn about the formation of the very first stars. After the Big Bang, most of the regular (that is, not dark) matter was found in hydrogen and helium. However, in order to form stars, you need to bring large amounts of hydrogen together into a relatively small place. This requires large pressures and low temperatures. But in order for gas to cool, it needs to transfer energy out of the system. At the present day, gas can cool relatively quickly because there are many avenues for energy to leak out. This was not the case in the past. The gas that formed the first stars was warmer, which leads to more material being available to the forming star, leading to more massive stars. The article focuses on the advancements in simulating the formation of the first stars. There have been some interesting improvements over the last few decades. First, stars were an important source of light in the early ages of the Universe (it wasn’t just quasars). Next, the first stars probably weren’t as massive as we first thought. They tend to form pairs (or binaries) where the total mass of the system was roughly what we originally thought went into one star. Finally, these stars probably aren’t around any more (or at least not in the Milky Way), but with more powerful telescopes (such as the JWST), we should be able to glimpse their influence on young galaxies.

http://psastronomy.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/the-first-stars-in-the-universe/

The exact date that American Indians first occupied the Americas is open to debate. Archaeological evidence suggests that sometime around 14,000 years ago or earlier, the ancestors of American Indians arrived on the North American continent. Archaeologists generally believe that American Indians migrated from northeast Asia across the Bering Straits land bridge, known as Beringia, between Siberia and Alaska during the late Pleistocene Epoch, or last Ice Age. Over the course of centuries, these new arrivals settled both the North and South American continents from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego on the tip of South America. The first American Indians, called Paleo-Indians (paleo meaning ancient) by archaeologists, were hunters and gatherers. They hunted Pleistocene mega-fauna, or big game animals, such as mammoths, mastodons, giant bison, ancient horses, camels, and giant sloths. Although mammoths and other Pleistocene mammal skeletons have been discovered in the Salt River Valley, no Paleo-Indian remains have yet been recovered. However, several mammoth kill sites containing Paleo-Indian spear points have been excavated in southeastern Arizona. With the end of the Pleistocene, a warmer climate resulted in mass extinctions of Ice Age megafauna. (Link to 68K file of adjacent image. Photo courtesy of National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico.) Noted paleobotanist Paul Martin has proposed that Paleo-Indians may have hunted the megafauna into extinction, but current data indicate major climatic changes had the greatest influence. With the disappearance of most of the megafauna, the Paleo-Indians were forced to hunt smaller game, which led to the development of a new American Indian culture archaeologists call the Archaic (meaning old). Sometime around 9,000 years ago, Desert Archaic people lived throughout the American Southwest. These small bands of hunters and gatherers led a nomadic life, traveling from place to place with the seasons, searching out a variety of wild plants. About 3,000 years ago their way of life began dramatically to change as many Archaic peoples of the Southwest adopted an agricultural lifestyle and became more sedentary. As time went on and farming became more established, groups began developing differences in their material culture. Through these differences, cultures of the Southwest became more visibly distinct from one another. Archaeologists have defined several prehistoric cultures in the Southwest. In the Four Corners area of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, groups known today as the Anasazi (prehistoric Pueblo) began constructing permanent hamlets and villages. The Mogollon people lived along the rim of the Colorado Plateau and the mountains of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico. The Patayan occupied the area along the Colorado River in western Arizona. Finally, the Hohokam, (pronounced ho-ho-KHAM), settled the region of central and southern Arizona.

http://phoenix.gov/recreation/arts/museums/pueblo/education/resources/df1stamericans.html

New Haven, Conn.Over one-third of the world's population already lives in areas struggling to keep up with the demand for fresh water. By 2025, that number will nearly double. Some countries have met the challenge by tapping into natural sources of fresh water, but as many examples such as the much-depleted Jordan River have demonstrated, many of these practices are far from sustainable. A new Yale University study argues that seawater desalination should play an important role in helping combat worldwide fresh water shortages once conservation, reuse and other methods have been exhausted and provides insight into how desalination technology can be made more affordable and energy efficient. "The globe's oceans are a virtually inexhaustible source of water, but the process of removing its salt is expensive and energy intensive," said Menachem Elimelech, a professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale and lead author of the study, which appears in the Aug. 5 issue of the journal Science. Reverse osmosis forcing seawater through a membrane that filters out the salt is the leading method for seawater desalination in the world today. For years, scientists have focused on increasing the membrane's water flux using novel materials, such as carbon nanotubes, to reduce the amount of energy required to push water through it. In the new study, Elimelech and William Phillip, now at the University of Notre Dame, demonstrate that reverse osmosis requires a minimum amount of energy that cannot be overcome, and that current technology is already starting to approach that limit. Instead of higher water flux membranes, Elimelech and Phillip suggest that the real gains in efficiency can be made during the pre- and post-treatment stages of desalination. Seawater contains naturally occurring organic and particulate matter that must be filtered out before it passes through the membrane that removes the salt. C |Contact: Suzanne Taylor Muzzin|

http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-technology-1/Better-desalination-technology-key-to-solving-worlds-water-shortage-20177-1/

Indigenous Rights and Human Rights The aim of this research activity is for students to consider the existence of the rights of Indigenous peoples within Australian democracy, and to see these rights as coexisting simultaneously with citizenship rights but as unique to Indigenous peoples. As they explore this arrangement, they will become acquainted with the national and international legal protection afforded to indigenous peoples, and will be able to compare the kind of rights afforded to Indigenous peoples in Australia with those offered in the United Nations (UN) Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Once students are familiar with the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, they will be able to apply this knowledge in an examination of the current crisis in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, and to consider whether Australia should be a signatory to the UN Draft Declaration. Studies of Society and Environment National Statements of Learning for Civics and Citizenship Education – Year 9 Government and law Students explore principles, features and practices that characterise democracy in Australia. Students explore concepts of justice and law and the ways in which legal institutions and processes uphold people’s rights in a democracy. They have the opportunity to: - recognise that there are different types of law; and - evaluate the effectiveness of an international organisation in protecting human rights. Citizenship in a democracy Students have the opportunity to: - evaluate Australian society’s effectiveness in balancing majority rule and respect for minorities in civic decision making; - recognise that acts of racism and prejudice constitute discrimination; and - investigate how citizens influence governments on issues. Number of lessons: 6–8 (50 min each)

http://www.civicsandcitizenship.edu.au/cce/default.asp?id=17940

Take this example: One day, a boy was walking to the store and a ball hit him in the face. He bent down and picked up the ball. Before he could reach it, the ball was taken away by Steven. Now, before we dissect this paragraph we need to understand what is a subject and what is an object and what is a verb. And what makes a sentence passive. Notice the boxes below: 1) All sentences will have a form of the verb - to be: is, was, has been, will be, can be, is being, was being, had been, will have been, would be, would have been. 2) You could have the word BY in the sentence. I say 'could' because this sentence: "A letter was written." does not have the word by but it is passive. When you read the sentence, in your head you could add the word 'by' when continuing. 3) Object comes before the subject. Now, lets dissect those sentences. Object Subject TO BE verb BY (Active) 1) One day, a boy was walking to the store (Most people would think this is a passive sentence but it isn't. Though it has a TO BE verb, the subject still comes before the object and there is no BY required.) (Active) 2) and a ball hit him in the face. (Active) 3) He bent down and picked up the ball. (Active) 4) Before he could reach it, (Passive) 5) the ball was taken away by Steven. (This is a passive sentence. The object comes before the subject, the TO BE verb is there and so is the word BY.)

http://clarissadraper.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html

Comets are relatively small icy bodies, often only a few kilometers in extent, that formed in the outer solar system where temperatures are cold enough to sustain (predominately water) ices. They represent the leftover bits and pieces from the outer solar system formation process that took place some 4.6 billion years ago. Over long time periods, some comets are perturbed from their distant orbits and sent close enough to the sun that their ices begin to vaporize. This out-gassing of gas and dust from a comet's nucleus produces an atmosphere (i.e., coma) often extending many hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Because of the reflection of sunlight from its dust particles and the fluorescence of its excited gases, this atmosphere glows with a "fuzzy" appearance when viewed from the ground. As this coma material continues to expand away from the solid cometary nucleus, the gas component is eventually "blown" away from the sun by a high speed stream of charged particles from the sun (solar wind). The comet's dust component is also blown away from the sun - this time by the pressure of sunlight on the tiny dust particles. Thus a comet can have both a gas tail and a dust tail. Comets originate in the outer regions of our planetary system with one group forming in the region near the current orbits of Uranus and Neptune and another group, called the Kuiper belt objects, forming somewhat more distant to the sun - beyond the orbit of Neptune. As a result of their interactions with the outer major planets, the comets in the first group can be thrown out to the distant Oort cloud some 50,000 to 150,000 times further from the sun than the Earth. Close passing single stars and the gravitational interaction with our Milky Way disk of stars can then nudge these comets back into the inner solar system where they can arrive with any inclination with respect to the Earth's orbital plane. Sometimes these objects can be seen as impressive, long-period comets like comet Hale-Bopp that was easily observable to the naked-eye in 1997. comets orbit the sun with periods ranging from 200 to several million years. Comets that form in the so-called Kuiper belt (or Edgeworth-Kuiper belt after the two researchers who hypothesized these comets in the mid twentieth century) are also acted upon gravitationally by the massive outer planets and they often evolve into the short-periodic comets, whose orbital inclinations are usually relatively close to the Earth's orbital plane. With their orbital periods of about 5-7 years, these short-period comets orbit the sun frequently, lose much of their volatile ices, and are often far less visually impressive than their long-period cometary cousins that arrive fresh from the Oort cloud. Read this short article by Don Yeomans to learn why comets are particularly interesting and why we should study these primitive bodies. Then, learn about some of the great comets of the past in this article by Don Yeomans. Orbits: Diagrams & Elements The orbit of any comet (or asteroid) can be viewed using our java-based orbit applet. Start with our small-body browser to find the asteroid of interest, then select the Orbit Diagram link. For example, here is the orbit diagram for comet 1P/Halley. Orbital elements and related parameters are also available for any comet (or asteroid) using our small-body browser. In addition, custom tables of orbital elements and/or physical parameters are available using our small body database search engine. We also provide fixed-format ASCII tables of elements. Warning: If you intend to use cometary orbital elements in a two-body propagation to compute future/past position (ephemerides), your results will be inaccurate and in some cases, completely incorrect. The motion of comets is affected by their so-called non-gravitational forces (the rocket-like force from outgassing of material from the comet while close to the sun). Thus, it is especially important to use HORIZONS to compute comet ephemerides. Physical parameters for comets are not well known primarily because these bodies are too small for ground-based observing when the comet is far enough from the sun that its coma does not shroud its surface. The only parameters determined for nearly all comets are their magnitude parameters (M1,K1 and/or M2,K2). However, a few comets have other parameters determined including and geometric albedo. Known physical parameters for any given small body are are available from our small-body browser. Comet ephemerides are available using JPL's HORIZONS system. Discovery circumstances for many comets are also available using our small-body browser. Discovery data include the date of discovery, who discovery the comet, and where it was discovered. Spacecraft missions to small-bodies provide valuable scientific data ultimately improving our understanding of these primitive solar system bodies. A list of asteroids and comets targeted by spacecraft missions (past, present, and future) is presented on this page. Radar astrometry for selected comets is available in tabular format. A table showing data for only comets is presented on this page.

http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?comets

- Soil-transmitted helminth infections are caused by different species of parasitic worms. - They are transmitted by eggs present in human faeces, which contaminate the soil in areas where sanitation is poor. - Approximately two billion people are infected with soil-transmitted helminths worldwide. - Infected children are physically, nutritionally and cognitively impaired. - Control is based on: - periodical deworming to eliminate infecting worms - health education to prevent reinfection - improved sanitation to reduce soil contamination with infective eggs. - Safe and effective medicines are available to control infection. Soil-transmitted helminth infections are among the most common infections worldwide and affect the poorest and most deprived communities. They are caused by parasitic worms (helminths) that are transmitted to people through contaminated soil. The main species of soil-transmitted helminths that infect people are the roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), the whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) and the hookworms (Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale). Global distribution and prevalence Approximately two billion people, or almost 29% of the world’s population are infected with soil-transmitted helminth infections worldwide. Soil-transmitted helminth infections are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas, with the greatest numbers occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, China and east Asia. Over 270 million preschool-age children and over 600 million school-age children live in areas where these parasites are intensively transmitted, and are in need of treatment and preventive interventions. Soil-transmitted helminths are transmitted by eggs that are passed in the faeces of infected people. Adult worms live in the intestine where they produce thousands of eggs each day. In areas that lack adequate sanitation, these eggs contaminate the soil. People become infected with A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura by ingesting infective parasite eggs. This can happen in several ways. - Eggs that are attached to vegetables are ingested when the vegetables are not carefully cooked, washed or peeled. - Eggs are ingested from contaminated water sources. - Eggs are ingested by children who play in soil and then put their hands in their mouths without washing them. Hookworm eggs hatch in the soil, releasing larvae that mature into a form that can actively penetrate the skin. People become infected with hookworm primarily by walking barefoot on the contaminated soil. There is no direct person-to-person transmission, or infection from fresh faeces, because eggs passed in faeces need about three weeks to mature in the soil before they become infective. Since these worms do not multiply in the human host, reinfection occurs only as a result of contact with infective stages in the environment. Signs and symptoms Morbidity is related to the number of worms harboured. People with light infections usually have no symptoms. Heavier infections can cause a range of symptoms including intestinal manifestations (diarrhoea, abdominal pain), general malaise and weakness, and impaired cognitive and physical development. Hookworms cause chronic intestinal blood loss that can result in anaemia. Soil-transmitted helminths impair the nutritional status of the people they infect in multiple ways. - The worms feed on host tissues, including blood, which leads to a loss of iron and protein. - The worms increase malabsorption of nutrients. In addition, roundworm may possibly compete for vitamin A in the intestine. - Some soil-transmitted helminths also cause loss of appetite and therefore a reduction of nutritional intake and physical fitness. In particular, T. trichiura can cause diarrhoea and dysentery. The nutritional impairment caused by soil-transmitted helminths is recognized to have a significant impact on growth and physical development. WHO strategy for control The strategy for control of soil-transmitted helminth infections is to control morbidity through the periodic treatment of at-risk people living in endemic areas. People at risk are: - preschool children; - school-age children; - women of childbearing age (including pregnant women in the second and third trimesters and breastfeeding women); and - adults in certain high-risk occupations, such as tea-pickers or miners. WHO recommends periodic drug treatment (deworming) without previous individual diagnosis to all at-risk people living in endemic areas. Treatment should be given once a year when the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth infections in the community is over 20%, and twice a year when the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth infections in the community is over 50%. This intervention reduces morbidity by reducing the worm burden. In addition: - health and hygiene education reduces transmission and reinfection by encouraging healthy behaviours; - provision of adequate sanitation is also important but not always possible in resource-poor settings. The aim of control activities is morbidity control: periodic treatment of at-risk populations will reduce the intensity of infection and protect infected individuals from morbidity. Periodic deworming can be easily integrated with child health days or supplementation programmes for preschool children, or integrated with school health programmes. In 2009, over 300 million preschool and school-age children were dewormed in endemic countries, corresponding to 35% of the children at risk. Schools provide a particularly good entry point for deworming activities, as they allow easy provision of the health and hygiene education component such as the promotion of hand washing and improved sanitation.

http://indiacurrentaffairs.org/parasitic-worms-in-contaminated-soil-affect-the-world%E2%80%99s-poorest-communities/

High blood pressure (HBP), also known as hypertension, happens when your heart uses too much pressure to pump blood through your body. It also can happen when your arteries are too tightly constricted. High blood pressure is serious because it can often lead to heart disease, kidney failure, stroke and other health problems. A blood pressure check is performed by wrapping a cuff around your arm, inflating it and measuring when the blood flows. The test can be done by a person (using a stethoscope), or by machines. The test measures the amount of force your heart uses to pump blood through your body. Testing your blood pressure regularly is important because HBP is painless and shows no symptoms. You can have it for years and not know it until you have serious damage to your heart, kidneys or eyes. When you get your blood pressure checked, your results will include two numbers. The "top number" is your systolic pressure, or the pressure your heart exerts while pumping blood. The "bottom number" is your diastolic pressure, or the pressure your heart exerts when it is at rest between beats. Results for adults fall into the following groups: |Systolic (mmHg)||Diastolic (mmHg)| |Normal||Less than 120 mmHg||And||Less than 80 mmHg| |Prehypertension||120-139 mmHg||Or||80-89 mmHg| |High Blood Pressure| |Stage 1||140-159 mmHg||Or||90-99 mmHg| |Stage 2||160 mmHg or higher||Or||100 mmHg or higher| Your systolic and diastolic pressures can fall into different groups. In this case you would fall into the more serious group of the two. If you have diabetes or chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure is defined as 130/80 millimeters (mm) of mercury or higher. HBP numbers also differ for children and teens.

http://www.bcbsil.com/health/preventive_care/blood_pressure.html

Geocentricity and Creation by Gerald A. Aardsma, Ph.D. 1. What is geocentricity? Geocentricity is a conceptual model of the form of the universe which makes three basic assertions about the nature of the earth and its relationship to the rest of the universe. These are: a. the earth is the center of the universe, b. the earth is fixed (i.e., immobile) in space, and c. the earth is unique and special compared to all other heavenly bodies. 2. What is the History of geocentricity? The teaching of geocentricity can be traced in western thought at least back to Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). Aristotle argued, for example, that the reason why all bodies fall to the ground is because they seek their natural place at the center of the universe which coincides with the center of the earth. A geocentric model of the universe seems first to have been formalized by Ptolemy, the famous Greek astronomer who lived in Alexandria around A.D. 130. Ptolemy's model envisioned each planet moving in a small circle, the center of which moved along a large circular orbit about the earth. This model was generally accepted until Copernicus published his heliocentric model in 1543. The heliocentric view pictures the sun as motionless at the center of the solar system with all the planets, including the earth, in motion around it. Copernicus' heliocentric model, because it used circles to describe the orbits of the planets about the sun instead of ellipses, was as clumsy and inaccurate as Ptolemy's geocentric model. However, it was conceptually simpler. It quickly gained acceptance, though not without considerable controversy. The conflict between these two views came to a head in the well-known trial of Galileo by the Inquisition in 1632. Starting from a heliocentric viewpoint, Kepler (1571-1630) was able to formulate laws of planetary motion which accurately described the orbits of the planets for the first time. Newton (1643-1727) was then able to explain why Kepler's laws worked based upon his famous law of gravity. This tremendous progress in understanding resulted in almost universal acceptance of heliocentricity and rejection of geocentricity. 3. What does modern science say about geocentricity? Many attempts were made to prove that heliocentricity was true and geocentricity was false, right up until the early 1900's. All such attempts were unsuccessful. The most well-known of these is the Michelson-Morley experiment which was designed to measure the change in the speed of light, due to the assumed motion of the earth through space, when measured in different directions on the earth's surface. The failure of this experiment to detect any significant change played an important role in the acceptance of Einstein's theory of special relativity. The theory of special relativity holds as a basic assumption that the speed of light will always be the same everywhere in the universe irrespective of the relative motion of the source of the light and the observer. The ability of special relativity to successfully explain many non-intuitive physical phenomena which are manifested by atomic particles when moving at speeds greater than about one-tenth the speed of light seems to corroborate this assumption. Thus, the failure of the Michelson-Morley experiment (and all other experiments of similar intent) to detect any motion of the earth through space is understood by modern science in terms of relativity rather than geocentricity. Einstein's theory of general relativity adds further to the debate. It asserts that it is impossible for a human observer to determine whether any material body is in a state of absolute rest (i.e., immobile in space). It claims that only motion of two material bodies relative to one another can be physically detected. According to this theory the geocentric and heliocentric viewpoints are equally valid representations of reality, and it makes no sense whatsoever scientifically to speak of one as being true and the other false. This shift in emphasis from an either-or argument to a synthesis and acceptance of both viewpoints is summed up by the well-known astronomer, Fred Hoyle, as follows: The relation of the two pictures [geocentricity and heliocentricity] is reduced to a mere coordinate transformation and it is the main tenet of the Einstein theory that any two ways of looking at the world which are related to each other by a coordinate transformation are entirely equivalent from a physical point of view.... Today we cannot say that the Copernican theory is 'right' and the Ptolemaic theory 'wrong' in any meaningful physical sense. Relativity is the theory which is accepted as the correct one by the great majority of scientists at present. However, many science teachers and textbooks are not aware of this, and it is not uncommon to find heliocentricity taught as the progressive and "obviously true" theory even today. 4. What does the Bible teach about geocentricity? To learn what the Bible teaches regarding geocentricity, it is necessary to consider separately the three basic assertions of uniqueness, centrality, and fixity mentioned above since the composite "theory of geocentricity" is nowhere mentioned in the Bible. The assertion that the earth is unique and special (item "c" above) is clearly and unequivocally taught in the first chapter of Genesis. The plain sense of the creation account is that all other heavenly bodies were not even brought into existence until the fourth day of creation. Thus, God had already created the earth, separated the waters above and below the atmosphere, formed the earth into continents and oceans, and brought forth vegetation upon the earth before He paused to create the solar system, the Milky Way, and all of the other material bodies in the universe. It is very clear that the creation of the earth was distinct from that of any other heavenly body. The Biblical doctrine of the uniqueness of the earth is strongly supported by modern space exploration. In particular, every effort by scientists to demonstrate that life does or possibly could exist on other planets in our solar system has so far failed. Such efforts have only served to underscore how different the earth is in this regard from all other heavenly bodies which we have been able to study. While the earth teems with life, elsewhere space appears to be only barren and incredibly hostile to life. The earth gives every indication that it was specially designed for life, and it is unique in this regard. In contrast to the bountiful evidence in the Bible which teaches that the earth is special, nowhere is it taught that the earth is the center of the universe (item "a" above). In fact, the Bible provides no explicit teaching on any questions relating to the form of the universe. We are not told, for example, whether the universe is finite or infinite, and no explicit statement can be found to help us know whether space is flat or curved. This is the type of information we would need to deduce whether the earth is at the center of the universe or if it even makes sense to say that the universe has a center. On matters relating to the physical form of the universe, the Bible is mute. This leaves the more controversial assertion (item "b" above) that the earth is motionless in space to be discussed. In fact, the Bible contains no explicit teaching on this matter either. Nowhere does the Bible set about to deal explicitly with the question of whether the earth is moving through space or not. To be sure, one can fashion implicit arguments for an immobile earth from the Bible, but in no instance do the Bible verses used to accomplish this goal rest in a context of an overall discussion of the physical form of the universe. Evidently, while the physical form of the universe is an interesting scientific issue, it is not of very great importance Biblically. The lack of explicit Biblical teaching on this whole matter makes it impossible to call any conceptual model of the form of the universe "the Biblical view." 5. What is the role of geocentricity in creationism? The Biblical status of the doctrine of creation contrasts sharply with that of geocentricity. The Bible opens with the explicit declaration: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," and Genesis 1 goes on to outline in detail the doctrine of creation. While it is impossible to find any definitive teaching in the Bible on the physical form of the universe, it is impossible to miss the explicit teaching in the Bible that the world was supernaturally created by God, for it permeates Scripture. Geocentricity and creationism are really separate matters. Because of the contrast in the way the Bible deals with these two issues, I believe that attempts to link geocentricity and creationism are ill-founded. 6. What can we learn of general importance from the geocentricity-helio-centricity relativity debate? Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned from the history of geocentricity is in connection with the question, "What role should scientific discovery play in the interpretation of the Bible?" It is surely ironic to see the incident of Galileo's trial before the Inquisition paraded as a supposedly unarguable illustration of the "mistake" recent-creationists make when they insist on a literal, supernatural, six-day creation and fail to yield to modern scientific views of how the universe came to be. "After all," we hear, "the theologians said that Galileo's heliocentric viewpoint was heresy, but now everybody knows that the theologians were wrong and Galileo was right." In actual fact, as we have seen above, the current scientific consensus is that "Today we cannot say that the Copernican theory [which Galileo held] is 'right' and the Ptolemaic theory [which the theologians held] 'wrong' in any meaningful physical sense." The generally overlooked lesson here is that scientific theories do not provide a very secure basis from which to interpret Scripture. In the course of the last five hundred years the weight of scientific consensus has rested in turn with each of three different theories about the form of the universe: first geocentricity, then helio-centricity, and now relativity. This is the way it is with scientific theories—they come and go. But the Word of God endures forever. Let us be immovable in upholding what the Bible clearly teaches. Fred Hoyle, Nicolaus Copernicus (London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., 1973), p. 78. * Dr. Aardsma is Assistant Professor of Astro Geophyics at ICR Bouw, D. "The Bible and Geocentricity." Bulletin of the Tychonian Society, no. 41 (January, 1987), 22-25. (A more recent work by Bouw is: Geocentricity [Cleveland: Association for Biblical Astronomy, 1992].) Hoyle, Fred. Nicolaus Copernicus. London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., 1973. Reichenbach, Hans. From Copernicus to Einstein. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1980. Ronan, Colin Alistair. "Copernicus" The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed. XVI, 814-815.

http://www.icr.org/article/382/

was fought between the British Empire and the Boers (aka Afrikaners) of the Transvaal and Orange Free State. Boers had always resented the Anglicization of (British held) South Africa, and Britain's antislavery policies. From 1833 the Boers had migrated away from South Africa and into the African tribal lands. There they set up the republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. and gold were found in these new regions, which led to conflict between the Boers and Britain over the find. between the two sides began as early as 1890. Britain won military control of the main cities and annexed all the land. But the Boer's fought back with a guerrilla campaign. The British army countered by searching and arresting those guerilla units they could find, holding them, and their families, in concentration war ended with the signing of the Peace of Vereeniging, on May 31, 1902. The British Empire prevailed, annexing both the Transvaal and the Orange Free State which would later become provinces of South Africa.

http://www.thevoiceofreason.com/OnThisDay/October/11.htm

Addition (Chain-growth) Polymers Unlike condensation (step-growth) polymers, which release small molecules, like water, as they form, the reactions that lead to addition, or chain-growth, polymers incorporate all of the reactants atoms into the final product. Addition polymers are usually made from molecules that have the following general structure: Different W, X, Y, and Z groups distinguish one addition polymer from another. The image below shows one way that addition polymers can be made. This process has three stages: initiation, propagation, and termination. In the first stage, a substance is split into two identical parts, each with an unpaired electron. (Peroxides, which contain an O-O bond, are often used in this role.) A molecule with an unpaired electron is called a free radical. The free radical then initiates the reaction sequence by forming a bond to one of the carbon atoms in the double bond of the monomer. One electron for this new bond comes from the free radical, and the second electron for the new bond comes from one of the two bonds between the carbon atoms. The remaining electron from the broken bond shifts to the carbon atom on the far side of the molecule, away from the newly formed bond, forming a new free radical. Each half-headed arrow indicates the shift of one electron. The chain begins to grow--propagate, stage two--when the new free radical formed in the initiation stage reacts with another monomer to add two more carbon atoms. This process repeats over and over again to form chains containing thousands to millions carbon atoms. It can be terminated--stage three--when any two free radicals combine, thus pairing their unpaired electrons and forming a covalent bond that links two chains together. If all of the atoms attached to the carbons of the monomers double bond are hydrogen atoms, the initial reactant is ethylene, and the polymer it forms is polyethylene. Polyethylene molecules made with the free radical initiation process tend to form branches that keep the molecules from fitting closely together. Techniques have been developed that use catalysts, like Cr2O3, to make polyethylene molecules with very few branches. These straight-chain molecules fit together more efficiently, yielding a high-density polyethylene, HDPE, that is more opaque, harder, and stronger than the low-density polyethylene, LDPE, made with free radical initiation. HDPE is used for containers, like milk bottles, and LDPE is used for filmier products, like sandwich bags. If one of the four atoms connected to the carbons in the monomers double bond is chlorine and the others are hydrogen, the monomer is vinyl chloride, and the polymer it forms is poly(vinyl chloride) or PVC.

http://www.mpcfaculty.net/mark_bishop/addition_polymers.htm

Upon arriving in Canada, many newly freed Blacks settled in what is now Ontario in Amherstburg, Chatham, London, Oro, Woolwich and Windsor. Others crossed the Great Lakes to freedom and made their homes in Owen Sound and Toronto. Here in Ontario, along with Black Loyalists who had arrived in the province following the American Revolution, they established new lives and enduring communities throughout the 19th century, and contributed to the overall defence and development of the province. During the War of 1812, Black volunteers fought under the British flag to defend their home in Canada and to prevent a return to slavery under an American regime. A separate Black unit called the "Colored Corps" was formed and fought again during the Rebellion of 1837 to defend the government and support the rights of Black people in the province. In 1815, Black veterans of the War of 1812 received grants of land in Oro Township from Lieutenant Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland. Much of the land in the area, however, was not suited to agriculture, so many who received grants were forced to move elsewhere to find employment. In 1830, near Lucan, Ontario, a sizeable Black community called the Wilberforce Settlement was founded by former residents of Cincinnati escaping the oppressive Black Codes in Ohio. The settlement disbanded six years later due to poor financial decisions on the part of its managers. That same year, Josiah Henson escaped to freedom with his wife and four children. A significant Black abolitionist and community leader, Henson was instrumental in founding the Dawn Settlement in 1841 near present-day Dresden, Ontario – and its vocational school, the British American Institute, the following year. The Dawn Settlement was a rural community where Blacks could pool their labour, resources and skills to help each other and incoming settlers. It contained farm land, a saw mill, gristmill, brick yard, rope manufactory and school. The British American Institute was a key element of the settlement. As a vocational school, it taught a variety of scholastic and practical skills to its students who had access to the community's resources in order to hone their trades. In 1849, Reverend William King purchased lands near Chatham, Ontario through the Elgin Association and, with 15 former slaves, founded the Elgin Settlement of Buxton. Reverend King had been placed in the area by the Presbyterian Church. Because he was coming from the United States, he did not want to leave his former slaves behind to face certain capture and re-enslavement. So, King and his former slaves came to Canada together and built a successful agricultural settlement at Buxton. By the 1860s, at least 2,000 people lived there and the settlement had gained a reputation for the superior education provided to its students at the local school. In the early 1850s, two important abolitionist newspapers were founded in what was then Canada West. The first, called The Voice of the Fugitive, was established in 1851 by Henry and Mary Bibb in Windsor, Ontario and reported on the Underground Railroad. The second was founded by Mary Ann and Isaac Shadd in 1853 and was called The Provincial Freeman. By 1854, the Shadds were publishing the newspaper on a weekly basis out of Toronto, making Mary Ann Shadd the first Black female in North America to own and publish a newspaper. The newspaper was later published out of Chatham, Ontario. The Anti-Slavery Society of Canada was also founded in Toronto in 1851 by Blacks and whites together to "aid in the extinction of slavery all over the world." The Society helped those seeking freedom in Canada and worked to influence public opinion on the topic of slavery. Branches of the Society were later formed in other areas of the province. The American Civil War began in 1861. By 1862, the ban on Black soldiers was lifted and nearly 1,000 Black Canadian men joined the Union Army in various regiments. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln ordered the Emancipation Proclamation declaring slaves to be free. At the end of the Civil War, in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution officially abolished slavery in the United States. This led to a period of reconstruction in the country. During this time, a number of Blacks returned to the United States from Canada to live freely.

http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/Slavery-to-Freedom/History/Black-settlement-in-Ontario.aspx

Teaching Tips: Writing Radio Plays This site provides engaging activities to instruct students on writing radio plays. One of the links provides online tools for students to use to record information while researching various examples of radio plays from the 1930s and 1940s. Using a mobile device can be used to record a completed radio play using accounts from Blogger or Audioboo.fm. An eThemes resource on Performing Arts is included. Alter Egos and More with Avi's "Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?" In the novel, "Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?", the main characters constantly listen to radio shows. This activity ties the novel with researching radio shows and writing original scripts using an online tool. Audio Broadcasts and Podcasts: Oral Storytelling and Dramatization Students discuss what makes a good story and create a list of necessary points for an intriguing story. Next they read the script, War of the Worlds, and then listen to the radio broadcast to compare the two versions. Last of all, they create their own radio script for broadcast. Great Radio Mystery Theater Project This lesson provides detailed directions for students to write a 1940s style radio mystery. Objectives and standards for Missouri schools are provided. Collaboratively Crafting a Radio Drama Mystery This unit provides a step-by-step project for writing a radio mystery drama. Rationale, objectives, and strategies are provided. Links for additional resources and a reading list are given. Podcasts on the Go Using Blogger or Audioboo.fm, students work in groups to create a radio show or podcast using their cell phones. An assessment/grading rubric is included. Radio Days: A Webquest Teams of students are cast as workers at a modern radio station. Their task is to create a radio drama similar to those from the 1930s and 1940s. Team members research radio history and use their findings to develop a script. Lastly, they record their play. eThemes Resource: Performing Arts: Drama These sites explore the theater and acting. There are several ideas for using plays and acting in the classroom. Learn about the history of the theater and common theater terminology. Includes warm-up activities and scripts to use in the classroom. An eThemes Resource on Readers Theater and Shakespeare is linked.

http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/1990?locale=zh

The shells of pulmonate land snails must offer some protection against their predators. After all, the shell is a hard solid structure that in most cases envelopes the entire snail and the aperture could be blocked by an epiphragm or by various folds and lamellae (here is an example). However, large predators of snails, for example, mammals and birds, can easily break snail shells. The picture above shows some shells of Eobania vermiculata from Istanbul, Turkey. I found all of these shells at one location. All, except the one on the lower right hand corner, had similar breakage patterns indicating that the cause of breakage was the same in each case. The most likely predator was probably some rodent, a mouse or a rat. Smaller predators, on the other hand, including carnivorous snails, enter the shell either through the aperture or by drilling thru it. The exact function of the folds and lamellae that commonly block the apertures of many species is actually not clear. The picture below is of a shell of Albinaria caerulea (from near Ephesus, Turkey) with 2 bore holes that had been made by a larva of a Drilus beetle. Drilus larvae are common predators of land snails in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. But only in Greece, Turkey and the Middle East do they bore thru snail shells.

http://snailstales.blogspot.com/2006/03/do-their-shells-protect-land-snails.html

|acceleration||The acceleration of an object measures the rate of change in its velocity. We use the second derivative [ f ''(t)] to calculate this.| An angle between 0o and 90o. |addition rule (probability)|| P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) – P(A and B) We can use this for all types of events. However, if the events are mutually exclusive, we do not need the “ – P(A and B)” part. This is because P(A and B) = 0 for mutually exclusive events. When a number is added to its additive inverse the answer is zero. Two angles are adjacent if they share the same vertex and have one side in common between them. An expression made up of any number of terms seperated from each other by + an -. A fraction which contains variables. When lines are parallel, we have equal alternate angles. Look for a Z or a N. This is a series in which every term has the opposite sign from the preceding term. e.g. 1 - 3 + 5 - 4 + 9 . . . Perpendicular height of a shape. A triangle has three altitudes. |analitical geometry||This is the branch of mathematics that uses algebra to help in the study of geometry.| |angle of depression|| Measured from the horizontal downwards. |angle of elevation|| Measured from the horizontal upwards. This is the pointed tip of a cone or pyramid. |arc of a circle|| An arc is part of the circumference of a circle. The amount of surface or the size of a surface, measured in square units. Sequences with a constant first difference i.e. you need to add or subtract the same amount to get the next term. (e.g. 5 ; 1 ; -3 ; -7 ; . . . ) You get this when you add the terms of an arithmetic sequence. (e.g. 5 + 1 - 3 - 7 - . . .) |ascending order||From smallest to biggest.| A straight line which a graph approaches, but never reaches. In the example below, we have a horizontal asymptote. A mathematical fact that is accepted to be true without needing to prove it. e.g. a tangent to a circle is perpendicular to a radius of that circle, at the point of contact |axis of symmetry|| The line which divides a shape (or graph) so that one half is the mirror image of the other half.

http://www.youcandomaths.co.za/eng/dictionary/

Mercury's elliptical orbit takes the small planet as close as 29 million miles (47 million kilometers) and as far as 43 million miles (70 million kilometers) from the sun. If one could stand on the scorching surface of Mercury when it is at its closest point to the sun, the sun would appear almost three times as large as it does when viewed from Earth. Temperatures on Mercury's surface can reach 800 degrees Fahrenheit (430 degrees Celsius). Because the planet has no atmosphere to retain that heat, nighttime temperatures on the surface can drop to -280 degrees Fahrenheit (-170 degrees Celsius). Because Mercury is so close to the sun, it is hard to directly observe from Earth except during twilight. Mercury makes an appearance indirectly, however, 13 times each century. Earth observers can watch Mercury pass across the face of the sun, an event called a transit. These rare transits fall within several days of May 8 and November 10. Scientists used to think that the same side of Mercury always faces the sun, but in 1965 astronomers discovered that the planet rotates three times during every two orbits. Mercury speeds around the sun every 88 days, traveling through space at nearly 31 miles (50 kilometers) per second faster than any other planet. The length of one Mercury day (sidereal rotation) is equal to 58.646 Earth days. Rather than an atmosphere, Mercury possesses a thin exosphere made up of atoms blasted off its surface by solar wind and striking micrometeoroids. Because of the planet's extreme surface temperature, the atoms quickly escape into space. With the thin exosphere, there has been no wind erosion of the surface and meteorites do not burn up due to friction as they do in other planetary atmospheres. Mercury's surface resembles that of Earth's moon, scarred by many impact craters resulting from collisions with meteoroids and comets. While there are areas of smooth terrain, there are also lobe-shaped scarps or cliffs, some hundreds of miles long and soaring up to a mile (1.6 kilometers) high, formed by early contraction of the crust. The Caloris Basin, one of the largest features on Mercury, is about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) in diameter. It was the result of an asteroid impact on the planet's surface early in the solar system's history. Over the next half-billion years, Mercury shrank in radius about 0.6 to 1.2 miles (1 to 2 kilometers) as the planet cooled after its formation. The outer crust contracted and grew strong enough to prevent magma from reaching the surface, ending the period of geologic activity. Mercury is the second smallest planet in the solar system, larger only than previously measured planets, such as Pluto. Mercury is the second densest planet after Earth, with a large iron core having a radius of 1,100 to 1,200 miles (1,800 to 1,900 kilometers), about 75 percent of the planet's radius. Mercury's outer shell, comparable to Earth's outer shell (called the mantle), is only 300 to 400 miles (500 to 600 kilometers) thick. Mercury's magnetic field is thought to be a miniature version of Earth's, but scientists are uncertain of the strength of the field. Missions to Mercury Only one spacecraft has ever visited Mercury: Mariner 10, which imaged about 45 percent of the surface. In 1991, astronomers using radar observations showed that Mercury may have water ice at its north and south poles inside deep craters that are perpetually cold. Falling comets or meteorites might have brought ice to these regions of Mercury, or water vapor might have outgassed from the interior and frozen out at the poles. A new NASA mission to Mercury called MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) will begin orbiting Mercury in March 2011 to investigate key scientific areas such as the planet's composition, the structure of the core, the magnetic field, and the materials at the poles. —Text courtesy NASA/JPL Phenomena: A Science Salon National Geographic Magazine Our genes harbor many secrets to a long and healthy life. And now scientists are beginning to uncover them All the elements found in nature—the different kinds of atoms—were found long ago. To bag a new one these days, and push the frontiers of matter, you have to create it first. Burn natural gas and it warms your house. But let it leak, from fracked wells or the melting Arctic, and it warms the whole planet.

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/mercury-article/

COMBUSTION FUNDAMENTALS: CHARACTERISTICS OF COMBUSTION PROCESSES Referring to the reaction rate equation, there are two factors which dictate whether combustion takes place. That is for the system to be transformed from a stable mixture to a rapidly reacting combustion process. The first is that there should be sufficient energy to allow initiation of the reaction. This may be supplied by any of a number of methods: electrical spark, heat addition, radical addition. The propensity of a system to burn is dependent on many factors: fuel type, calorific value, mixture, pressure, velocity, turbulence, enclosure geometry. SIT may be characterised in some way by the Spontaneous Ignition temperature. This is defined as the temperature above which combustion, once initiated, will maintain itself and below which active combustion cannot occur. This is tabulated in table I for some common fuels. If heat is conducted away sufficiently rapidly, the temperature may be reduced below the ignition point and combustion ceases. Even rapidly burning explosive mixtures may be quenched by sufficient cooling. The ignition temperature of gas varies with its concentration and is reduced by pressure increase. Substitution of oxygen for air has little effect implying the process is more governed by the Arhennius expression than concentration. Figure 1 shows the effect of pressure and temperature on SIT. Once ignition is achieved, the next requirement is that combustion is sustained. A mixture of fuel and oxidant is not necessarily able to sustain combustion. Combustion may only be sustained if the heat released due to combustion is greater than that absorbed by the surroundings. Requirements for a flame in gas / air mixture: This range depends on These also depend on: The Flammability range will be higher if: Flammability limits for some common fuels are given in table II. The following rough formula to estimate the weak limit value to within approx. 20% may also be used as a first estimate. Weak limit (% fuel) ´ Calorific Value (MJ / kmol) = 4605 The formula below is also useful to estimate the effect of temperature on the lower limit based on the Burgess-Wheeler law (Lefebvre). LT = Weak limit at temperature, T, (percent fuel by volume) LCV = lower CV of fuel (MJ / kmol) FLAMMABILITY OF MIXTURES We often have the situation where the gas is composed of a number of species, not just one. In this case, the flammability limit of the new mixtures may be calculated using LeChatellier’s formula. x are the volume percentages of combustibles in the mixture. l is the limit (upper or lower) of flammability of the individual components in air (%) L is the limit of flammability (upper or lower as the case may be) of the mixture in air (%) If one of the components in the mixture is not combustible then a different formula must be used. For the weak (lower) limit we use: For the rich (upper) limit we use: - If the diluent is air - If the diluent contains no oxygen If the diluent (other than air) contains oxygen. Where L1 and L2 are the lower and upper limits of flammability L1’ and L2’ are the limits of the combustible containing the diluent. xdil, xcomb and xO2 are the percentages of diluent, combustible and oxygen respectively in the mixture . When calculating the flammability limits of a mixture with a number of combustibles and diluents then first calculate the flammability of the pure combustible mixture (minus diluent). Then calculate the effect of the diluent afterwards. Flammability is VERY important in the explosions field. Flash point is an important property of liquid or solid fuels. Defineed as the temperature at which the vapour just above the fuel surface is flammable. 1) Calculate the flammability limits of a mixture of 25%CO, 40% H2 and 35%CH4. 2) Calculate the flammability limits of a mixture of 25%CH4, 45%H2, 10% CO, 10% CO2 and 10.0% N2. What are they if the N2 is replaced with oxygen. Another vital characteristic of combustion of a fuel is the flame speed. The speed at which a laminar flame propagates through a premixture of fuel and air in theory is completely dominated by combustion chemistry (in particular the activation energy of reaction). In practice this is not entirely true since surfaces have a profound effect acting as heat sinks but also soaking up radicals and terminating the reaction. Davy’s work in the 1800’s. It is possible to measure laminar flame speed using three methods: laminar burning velocity, Su, gives a good indication of the combustion charactreristics of a fuel. Itis very sensitive to mixture. The maximum is normally well on the rich side of stoichiometric. fig 2. Maximum burning velocity is tabulated in table III for a variety of fuels at NTP. H2 has the highest flame speed of all. It is important to realise that the flame speed for most hydrocarbon fuels is very similar (around 0.4m/s). This is because all hydrocarbons are quickly pyrolysed to smaller sized molecules before combustion and hence behave in a similar manner. NB The velocities involved (circa 1m/s) are far smaller than the velocity in any practical device. No easy way of calculating the burning velocity of a mixture because of internal effects. A dimensionless number, the Weaver flame speed number is used to charadterise flame speed. It is simply calculated as Su / Su (H2). This guarantees a value less than 100%. Turbulence has a profound effect on flame speed increasing it significantly. Early work by Damkohler postulated that this was due to flame wrinkling increasing the flame surface area and hence flame spread. Much work since has shown this is only true in certain regimes depending on the level of turbulence (or turbulent length scale). Early work by Davy revealed that combustion cannot occur in tubes below a certain radius. This is due to local cooling of the flame (below SIT) but also due to radical termination. He defined the quenching distance and made great use in coal mining lamps. dq is a complex function of chemistry and geometry. It is related to SIT and for most HC fuels it is around 1 - 4mm. It is strongly dependent on mixture and is minimised close to stoichiometric. See fig. 4.

http://eyrie.shef.ac.uk/eee/cpe630/comfun8.html

A helium-filled balloon shows that helium is less dense than air. How do we know this? We can see that there is tension on the string. Actually, we should really have a scale to measure this tension, but we know from experience, and we can show by removing the mass holding the string to the table, that if it is released the helium-filled balloon will rise. We also know from Archimedes’ principle that a body immersed in fluid experiences a buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces. Since the balloon would rise if released, this buoyant force must be greater than the weight of the helium-filled balloon. In other words, the weight of the helium-filled balloon is less than the weight of the volume of air it displaces, which means that it is less dense than the air it displaces. So there is a net force upwards on the balloon, equal to the difference in weight between the balloon and the volume of air that it displaces. That the helium-filled balloon experiences a net upward force means that it can lift an object whose weight does not exceed this net force. Knowing the volume of air displaced by the helium balloon, we can calculate the maximum mass the balloon can lift. The ideal gas law, PV = nRT, gives the relationship among pressure, volume, temperature and number of moles (n) for a gas. (Because gas molecules interact with each other in ways different from purely elastic collision, gases do not really behave ideally. For most gases, though, unless the pressure exceeds tens of atmospheres, this equation yields reasonably accurate results.) If we rearrange this equation, we get n/V = P/RT, where R is the universal gas constant, whose value in SI units is 0.08206 l·atm/(mol·K). At 1 atm and 300 K, this gives n/V = 0.0406 mol/l. For air, which has a molar mass of 29.0 g/mol, this gives a density of 1.18 g/l. Helium, which has a mass of 4.00 g/mol, has a density of 0.164 g/l. Thus, a one-liter balloon of helium can lift a mass of (1.18-0.164) = 1.02 g. Of course, this would include the mass of the balloon skin itself, and we are assuming that the pressure inside the balloon is not significantly greater than the surrounding pressure of 1 atm. This phenomenon is wonderful for those who enjoy helium-filled balloons at parties or like to give them to send greetings, or for those who use them for advertising. Helium balloons in the form of favorite cartoon characters have been a staple of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade -- Wikipedia entry here (and the balloon storage facility was the scene of a hillarious sequence in Woody Allen’s Broadway Danny Rose). Helium balloons also have scientific use. Scientists who perform atmospheric research use helium-filled weather balloons to carry various measuring instruments into the atmosphere. One group who does this is NASA. You are probably familiar with the Goodyear blimp, which uses helium to stay afloat. The Goodyear blimp website contains technical information about the blimps, including their volumes and maximum gross weights. If you use the ideal gas law, the molecular weights shown above and the appropriate unit conversions, you should calculate gross weights close to those stated on the web site. There is, of course, one gas that is even less dense than helium, and that is hydrogen, whose molecular weight is 2.016 g/mol. One liter of hydrogen would thus lift 1.10 g, an increase of about eight percent over what helium could lift. Hydrogen was indeed used in the early days of dirigibles, the most (in)famous of which was the Hindenburg. While it is still not known for certain whether the hydrogen itself was responsible for the disaster of the Hindenburg, the eight percent increase in weight capacity over that of helium is not worth the risk of using such an inflammable gas. Of course, for unmanned flight, the risk is not as important, and since hydrogen is much less expensive than helium, people sometimes use hydrogen to fill balloons that carry instruments into the atmosphere. You can find examples here and here. Helium balloons have also played a role in at least one amusing story of air travel, in particular that of a man who piloted a lawn chair over the Los Angeles area.

http://web.physics.ucsb.edu/~lecturedemonstrations/Composer/Pages/36.39.html

Circumference Of a Circle When Radius is Given Video Tutorial circles video, circumference video, curves video, plane figures video, radius video, shapes video. Watch Our Video Tutorials At Full Length At TuLyn, we have over 2000 math video clips. While our guests can view a short preview of each video clip, our members enjoy watching them at full length. Become a member to gain access to all of our video tutorials, worksheets and word problems. Circumference Of a Circle When Radius is Given This tutorial will show you how to find the circumference when given the radius. You will learn the relationship between the diameter and the radius. It is important to take note that we need to replace the diameter in the formula and not the radius, so we need to take the measurement for the radius and figure out the diameter in order to solve for the circumference. Circumference of a circle when radius is given video involves circles, circumference, curves, plane figures, radius, shapes. The video tutorial is recommended for 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, and/or 10th Grade Math students studying Algebra, Geometry, Basic Math, and/or Pre-Algebra. Circles are simple shapes of Euclidean geometry. A circle consists of those points in a plane which are at a constant distance, called the radius, from a fixed point, called the center. A chord of a circle is a line segment whose both endpoints lie on the circle. A diameter is a chord passing through the center. The length of a diameter is twice the radius. A diameter is the largest chord in a circle. Circles are simple closed curves which divide the plane into an interior and an exterior. The circumference of a circle is the perimeter of the circle, and the interior of the circle is called a disk. An arc is any connected part of a circle. A circle is a special ellipse in which the two foci are coincident. Circles are conic sections attained when a right circular cone is intersected with a plane perpendicular to the axis of the cone. The circumference is the distance around a closed curve. Circumference is a kind of perimeter.

http://tulyn.com/4th-grade-math/radius/videotutorials/circumference-of-a-circle-when-radius-is-given_by_polly.html

Science Fair Project Encyclopedia Style guides generally give guidance on language use. Some style guides consider or focus on elements of graphic design, such as typography and white space. Web site style guides often focus on visual or technical aspects. Traditionally, a style guide (often called a style manual or stylebook) dictates what form of language should be used. These style guides are principally used by academia and publishers. In such works, style can have two meanings: - Publication conventions for markup style, such as whether book and movie titles should be written in italics; expression of dates and numbers; how references should be cited. - Literary considerations of prose style, such as best usage, common errors in grammar, punctuation and spelling; and suggestions for precision, fairness and the most forceful expression of ideas. Some modern style guides are designed for use by the general public. These tend to focus on language over presentation. Style guides don’t directly address writers’ individual style, or “voice,” although writers sometimes say style guides are too restrictive. Like language itself, many style guides change with the times, to varying degrees. For example, the Associated Press stylebook is updated every year. Academia and publishing Style guides used by publishers set out rules for language use, such as for spelling, italics and punctuation. A major purpose of these style guides is consistency. They are rulebooks for writers to ensure language is used consistently. Authors are often asked or required to use a style guide in preparing their work for publication. Copy editors are charged with enforcing the style. Style guides used by universities are particularly rigorous in their preferred style for citing sources. Their use is required of scholars submitting research articles to academic journals. Other style guides have as their audience the general public. Some of these adopt a similar approach to style guides for publishing houses and newspapers. Others, such as Fowler's Modern English Usage (3rd edition) report how language is used in practice in a given area, outline how phrases, punctuation and grammar are actually used. Since they are for the general public, they cannot require one form of a word or phrase to be preferred over another, though they may make recommendations, and sometimes strong recommendations at that. These guides can be used by anyone interested in writing in a standard form of a language. To give an idea of how this approach, it is useful to consider what Burchfield and observers have stated about Fowler's. On one hand, Burchfield notes: 'Linguistic correctness is perhaps the dominant theme of this book'. But he also writes: 'I believe that "stark preachments" belong to an earlier age of comment on English usage'. Indeed, John Updike, writing in The New Yorker commented: 'To Burchfield, the English language is a battlefield upon which he functions as a non-combatant observer'. Some organizations other than those above also produce style guides, either for internal or external use. For example, some communications or public relations departments of business and nonprofit organizations have guides for their publications, such as newsletters, news releases and Web sites. Also, organizations that advocate for minorities may set out what they believe to be more fair and correct language treatment. Examples of style guides - R.W. Burchfield; Fowler's Modern English Usage (Third edition); Clarendon Press; ISBN 0-19-861021-1 (revised 3rd edition, hardcover, 2004) (original Fowler's Modern English Usage by Fowler) - The King's English by the Fowler brothers, Henry Watson Fowler and Francis George Fowler - Oxford Style Manual : The 2003 work combines The Oxford Guide to Style and The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors with the latter concentrating on common problems. - Plain Words by Sir Ernest Gowers - Usage and Abusage by Eric Partridge - PDF version of the BBC News Style Guide: from the British Broadcasting Corporation - The Economist's style guide, (United Kingdom) - The Guardian Style Guide: from The Guardian (United Kingdom) - The Times Style and Usage Guide: from The Times (United Kingdom) Two of the most widely used style guides in the United States are The Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press stylebook. Most American newspapers base their style on that of The Associated Press, but also have their own style guides for local terms and individual preferences. The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White, is considered a classic. Bill Walsh, in "Lapsing into a Comma" and at his Web site, The Slot, addresses contemporary conundrums such as nonstandard orthography in names, as in "Yahoo!" for the Internet portal. - The Chicago Manual of Style: mostly publishing conventions; ranks high in sales figures by Amazon - The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, United States - Bryson's Dictionary Of Troublesome Words by Bill Bryson Books and general interest - The Chicago Manual of Style; University of Chicago Press; ISBN 0-226-10403-6 (15th edition, hardcover, 2003). Margaret Mahan wrote the preface, but is not credited as editor. - Janice Walker and Todd Taylor The Columbia Guide to Online Style; Columbia University Press ISBN 0231107897 (paperback, 1998) and ISBN 0231107889 (hardback, 1998) - Associated Press Stylebook: self-indexed; the foremost guide to newspaper style in the United States. - The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, revised edition. Allan M. Siegal and William G. Connolly. New York: Times Books, 1999. ISBN 0812963881. Self-indexed. - Wall Street Journal style guide - ACS Style Guide : style for scientific papers published in journals of the American Chemical Society - American Medical Association Manual of Style: style for medical papers published in journals of the American Medical Association - APA style: academic style for the social sciences by the American Psychological Association - American Sociological Association Style Guide : academic style for the social sciences by the American Sociological Association - Scientific Style and Format : The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers: style for scientific papers published by the Council of Science Editors, a group formerly known as the Council of Biology Editors - The Lancet: Formatting guidelines for electronic submission of revised manuscripts Formatting requirements for The Lancet; academic styl for research and other articles for submission. - MHRA Style Guide: academic style for the arts and humanities published by the Modern Humanities Research Association; available for free download (see article); based in the United Kingdom - MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers: academic style for the arts and humanities by the Modern Language Association of America - "Turabian": popular name for a widely used academic style guide based on the Chicago Manual - Words into Type : publishing conventions, less scholarly, more accessible than the Chicago Manual - English writing style - Disputed usage - Grammar from a linguistic perspective. - House style - Prescription and description - Wikipedia:Manual of Style Style guides for American English: - Government Printing Office Style Manual - The University of Memphis list of Style Manuals & Guides - The Slot, by Bill Walsh - Bartleby Searchable Usage Guides Style guide for Australian English: Style guides for British English: - The Economist's style guide - The Guardian's style guide - The Times's style guide - European Union English style guide Style guide for Canadian English: - York University Style Guide (based on the Canadian Press Stylebook) Style guides for international organizations - European Union English Style Guide (based on British English) - International Telecommunications Union English-language style guide, Microsoft Word document - International Red Cross English Style Guide - Design style guide tips, by Ron Reason, United States - Stylebook advice: Tips on creating, revising and using style guides; report from a conference session by the American Copy Editors Society - Style Matters: What the AP Isn't Telling You, research on style guides by Beth Hughes, United States - Web style guide, by Patrick J. Lynch and Sarah Horton, United States The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details

http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Style_guide

Lowland beech and yew woodland spans a variety of distinctive vegetation types reflecting differences in soil and topographical conditions. Beech can grow on both acidic and calcareous soils, although its association with yew tends to be most abundant on the calcareous sites. These woods have been managed historically as coppice, coppice with standards, wood-pasture, high forest and minimum intervention. They are often found as intricate mosaics with other woodland communities. Yellow-ringed comb-horn (Ctenophora flaveolata) © Roger Key Beech and yew woodland is of particular value to saproxylic invertebrates, that is, those that require dead wood for all or part of their life cycle. BAP Priority species include the Violet click beetle (Limoniscus violaceus). Beech woodland can also be of importance for fungi. The fungal fruiting bodies in turn are the living quarters of the larvae of a large fauna of fungus gnats, other flies, and beetles. Felling of old broad-leaved woodland and old beech trees for agriculture or intensive forestry. Deer and squirrel damage Damage to younger trees (10-40 yrs old) and saplings by grey squirrels, rabbits and deer can result in tree death, disruption of normal age structure, lack of regeneration and shifts in species composition. Alien tree species Introduced trees replace native beech and yew woodland species such as conifers, sycamore, rhododendron, Turkey oak and cherry laurel. These support fewer British invertebrates. Uniformity Uniformity of age class structure in much beech high forest increases the susceptibility of the beech population to damage from droughts and storms. Lack of appropriate management Allowing trees to become so crowded that ground flora and its invertebrates are completely shaded out over substantial areas. Development This can lead to fragmentation of the habitat. Pollution Air pollution may cause ‘decline’ in beech trees (increasing their susceptibility to disease), and damage to epiphyte populations. Climate change This may potentially result in changes in the vegetation communities. Destructive or drastic modification of any site which is likely to have had a long and relatively stable history should be avoided and the ‘naturalness’ of woods should be maintained. However, poor habitat structure can result from non-intervention management in many woodlands. A return to traditional methods of woodland management may be of benefit to many species, but this should be considered carefully and stands of old growth beech and yew should be retained. Maintain structural diversity As in most woodlands, structural diversity is very important. A good mix of mature woodland and scrub of varying age and structure will provide a greater range of habitat niches for invertebrates. It is important to ensure that there is a continuity of habitat types, so ensuring that there is continued recruitment of new trees is essential. Maintain a range of dead wood One of the most important resources for rare invertebrates in lowland beech and yew woodland is dead wood. The more dead wood a tree contains, the more valuable the habitat it provides in the form of a variety of different niches for a range of invertebrates. Continuity of supply of dead wood in all conditions and situations is vital because many saproxylic invertebrates such as the comb-horn cranefly Ctenpohora pecticornis need very specific conditions - moisture content can be a critical factor. Removal of fallen timber for firewood or for aesthetic or public safety perceptions is extremely damaging to saproxylic populations. Plentiful dead timber and freshly produced off-cuts should ideally be left where it falls or stacked in piles, preferably in shaded locations, although a range of both shaded and sun-baked dead wood should be encouraged. The assemblages associated with shaded or damp dead wood can vary from those associated with dry, sun-baked dead wood. Placing rotting wood in the full heat of the sun will cause it to dry out and become hard, fungal decay within the wood will cease, and the wood becomes unsuitable for all but the special invertebrates of such timber. Long-term planning may be necessary to ensure that new veteran trees come of age as existing ones die. Pollarding can be important for extending the lifespan of old beech trees, but some forms of tree surgery, such as the unnecessary felling of limbs, removal of dead fallen wood or wholesale felling of living veteran trees can be very damaging. Trees with top-heavy limbs should be pruned rather than removed and any fungus-infected trees or those with sap runs should be retained, as they are a valuable resource to many invertebrates. Rot-holes should not be drained or filled; they provide essential breeding habitat for species such as the Yellow-ringed comb-horn cranefly (Ctenophora flaveolata) In areas where there is little deadwood it may be beneficial to increase this by ring barking limbs. Fungi should also be encouraged since they are important hosts for species such as the cranefly Achyrolimonia decemmaculata, and the presence of fungal hyphae within dead wood prepares it for the diet of many saproxylic invertebrates. The gathering of fungi for cooking, and including the restaurant trade, can substantially deplete the essential breeding conditions required for the survival of the fauna. Post-mature beech trees in open situations or at forest margins are likely to provide more potential saproxylic niches for species such as the Violet click beetle (Limoniscus violaceus) than closely-spaced timber. The creation of artificial larval habitat such as re-erecting hollow trunks (or placing bins) filled with composting sawdust may extend the life of such habitat. The removal of beech for the furniture industry harvests timber before the trees reach over-maturity, reducing the availability of saproxylic habitat; wherever possible, a tolerance of veteran beech trees within a wood will enrich the invertebrate habitat. Tree Preservation Orders can be a valuable tool for protecting old trees and the Ancient Tree Forum and local tree officers can provide advice and support. Maintain open spaces Open areas such as rides and clearings provide sunny sheltered places for flowering plants and shrubs that provide nectar and pollen for a wide range of insects. Well-structured rides should show a gradation from low vegetation or bare ground in the centre through tall grass and herb communities to scrub and finally to trees. Curved or irregular rides will be more sheltered from wind than straight ones. Similarly, shrubby woodland margins should be encouraged, grading down to lower vegetation. Edge habitats are exploited by a number of invertebrates, notably many spider species. The shading out of rides and clearings through neglect can be detrimental. However, rides should be managed in rotation a small fraction at a time, not mown or cut all at once. Consideration should also be given to their use; regular use of rides by heavy machinery or horses churns the ground and is very damaging to invertebrates. Consider light grazing Grazing can be beneficial to species like the Violet click beetle, as it manages tree development and can help to maintain open spaces within the woodland and keep bracken in check. However, excessive grazing by mammals in woodland can eliminate the ground flora and the shelter and humidity this provides. Inputs of dung from grazing animals can benefit species such as the scarce woodland muscid fly Hydrotaea borussica and the dung beetle Aphodius zenkeri, which requires dung in moist shady sites. Beech supports a wide variety of species, and many saproxylic invertebrates favour the wood of ancient beech trees. Most of the very few confirmed British records for the rove beetle Atheta fussi are from beech-dominated woodland sites. The beetles Atheta benickiella and Oxypoda amoena are also more frequently found in beech woodland than any other habitat type. The RDB snail Helicodonta obvoluta is typically and most abundantly found in stands of old beech/yew forest on the steep, north-facing scarp slopes of W Sussex and E Hampshire. Conversion of old beech/yew woodland to conifers has caused the loss of some invertebrate populations. The dense leaf litter created by beech is also of importance for a number of species such as the harvestman Nemobius sylvestris. Disturbance to accumulated moss, ground litter and ground surfaces should be minimised. Yew is also required by species such as the Maned balloon-head money spider (Hybocoptus decollatus), which inhabits large yew woodlands that occur alongside chalk grasslands. The rare Triangle spider (Hyptiotes paradoxus) lives among yew foliage. If tree species other than beech and yew are present they should be retained, but may need management. A few woods contain under-storey box scrub as an ancient feature; such sites are important for a special invertebrate fauna of rare species confined to box. Shrubby species such as hawthorn produce flowers that are a good nectar and pollen source for adult hoverflies and other insects. Other plants supporting rare invertebrates include stands of wood spurge(Euphorbia amygdaloides), the food plant of the notable lacebug Oncochila simplex and Bugle(Ajuga reptans), host plant of the notable bug Tingus reticulata . This prefers plants growing in the open and has also been associated with mullein (Verbascum spp). The fly Chyliza vittata requires populations of orchids, in particular in shaded conditions. The loss of good orchid sites through change of land use could be detrimental to this species. Mosses on trees, rocks and along streams support species such as Helina vicina, a muscid fly, and trees supporting moss and other epiphytic growth should be retained. Leave wet areas undisturbed Excessive woodland disturbance resulting from tree clearance, for example, can damage stream courses and areas of seepages. Wetter areas should be left as undisturbed as possible, as they are fragile and easily damaged. Where the Roman snail (Helix pomatia) is found in calcareous woods, the greatest threat to its survival is the collection of the snails by amateur cooks or for commercial use in restaurants. This practice has already caused local extinction of known colonies. BAP species associated with lowland beech and yew: Violet click beetle (Limoniscus violaceus) For a more comprehensive list of species associated with this habitat, please click here. For more detailed habitat management advice, Buglife has produced a series of handbooks on 32 BAP priority habitats, written by leading national experts. For further details please contact Buglife on 01733 201 210 or email@example.com. The ‘Managing Priority Habitats for Invertebrates’ series has been funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as a resource for land managers and advisors. Details of Defra's schemes can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/erdp/schemes/es/default.htm Return to top of page

http://www.buglife.org.uk/conservation/adviceonmanagingbaphabitats/lowlandbeechandyewwoodland

Putting It All Together The following activities will help students understand the importance of Rancho Los Alamitos as a historic resource and learn how to evaluate historic resources in their own community. Activity 1: The Ranch House Consulting the drawings and photos in the lesson, have the students construct a model of the Rancho Los Alamitos, using cardboard or any other practical material. The students should be sure to make the walls of the original house thicker that those of the additions. Some may choose to draw their conception of what the house looked like during the various stages of its construction. Either of these activities will help students visualize more clearly the changes that occurred in Rancho Los Alamitos from 1850 to the early 1900s. Activity 2: Imagining Life at Rancho Los Alamitos Have the students write journal or diary entries or short papers in which they imagine they are living in the ranch house during each of the first four stages of its construction. They should try to describe what daily life was like and how it changed. Encourage them to think about the problems of daily life each phase of construction attempted to solve. What were the advantages of the changes? What were the disadvantages? Another variation of this activity would be for students to role-play the same situations. Activity 3: Determining National Register Eligibility The nomination form documenting Rancho Los Alamitos for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) provides a brief history of the site, describes its significance, and presents an argument for designating it as a place of historical importance. Ask the students to discuss whether they agree that this rancho has enough historical importance to be included in the Register. They should select at least two of the areas of significance listed below that typically are applied by the NRHP in deciding whether or not inclusion in the Register is justified. The students should cite specific facts to support their conclusions and defend their selections. Note that some of the following areas may not be applicable or the evidence presented may be insufficient. *Archeology HistoricNon-Aboriginal: archeological study of non-aboriginal cultures after the advent of written records. *Architecture: the practical art of designing and constructing buildings to serve human needs. *Economics: the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth; the management of monetary and other assets. *Ethnic HeritageEuropean: the history of persons having origins in Europe. *Ethnic HeritageHispanic: the history of persons having origins in the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and South America. *Exploration/Settlement: the investigations of unknown or little-known regions; the establishment and earliest development of new settlements or communities. *Industry: the technology and process of managing materials, labor, and equipment to produce goods and services. Activity 4: Locating Significant Local Properties Using the criteria found in Activity 3, have the students examine a property in their own community that is listed in the National Register or that students believe should be listed. Have them discuss which areas of significance they would use if they were preparing a nomination for that property, and how they would justify their decisions. Students and teachers who are interested in finding out what properties in their area are listed in the National Register should consult the National Register's NRIS, a searchable on-line database. The on-line versions of Bulletin 15, How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation and Bulletin 16a, Guidelines for Completing National Register of Historic Places Forms may also be of interest. If a property is not listed, consider contacting the local preservation or historical organization, or the state historic preservation office, for information about preparing a nomination. Students could research information for and prepare a nomination for the property.

http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/8californio/8putting.htm

period is the time it takes for a celestial body in the solar to complete a return to an appearance it started from, as it is seen from an observer such as the Earth and is affected by a third body such as the Sun For example, the Moon's synodic period is seen from Earth as the time period between the appearances of two full moons. The sidereal period of the Moon is 27.3 days, but it takes 29.5 days for the moon to complete a synodic period as a result of the Earth's move around the sun. If the Earth stood still, the synodic period would have matched the sidereal period. It is possible to approximately calculate the synodic period from the sideral period. Let's take variable sy as the synodic period we would like to calculate. The Earth travels 360/366.25 = ~0.983 degrees/day around the Sun, so during the synodic period, it will pass sy*0.985 degrees. The Moon's sidereal period is 360/27.321 = ~13.176 degrees/day. If we divide the two we get the difference in days between the synodic and the sidereal, because it will be the time needed for the Moon to compensate for its appeareance as a result of Earth's orbit around the Sun. So sy = 27.321 + sy*0.983/13.176. If we isolate sy we get sy = ~29.523. After isolation and assigning variables instead of numbers, we get the formula: synodic = sidereal/(1 - sidereal/observer_sidereal) And checking with our data: synodic = 27.321/(1 - 27.321/366.25) = ~29.523 Note that these calculations do not take into account the elliptical orbits of the objects. Plus, calculating the synodic period of another planet like Mars as seen from Earth, requires a different formula because Mars doesn't orbit the Earth like the Moon does.

http://everything2.com/title/synodic+period

Endocarditis (EN-do-kar-DI-tis) is an infection of the inner lining of your heart chambers and valves. This lining is called the endocardium. The condition also is called infective endocarditis (IE). The term "endocarditis" also is used to describe an inflammation of the endocardium due to other conditions. This article only discusses endocarditis related to infection. IE occurs if bacteria, fungi, or other germs invade your bloodstream and attach to abnormal areas of your heart. The infection can damage the heart and cause serious and sometimes fatal complications. IE can develop quickly or slowly. How the infection develops depends on what type of germ is causing it and whether you have an underlying heart problem. When IE develops quickly, it's called acute infective endocarditis. When it develops slowly, it's called subacute infective endocarditis. IE mainly affects people who have: - Damaged or artificial heart valves - Congenital heart defects (defects present at birth) - Implanted medical devices in the heart or blood vessels People who have normal heart valves also can get IE. However, the condition is much more common in people who have abnormal hearts. Certain factors make it easier for bacteria to enter your bloodstream. These factors also put you at higher risk for the infection. For example, if you've had IE before, you're at higher risk for the infection. Other risk factors include having poor dental hygiene and unhealthy teeth and gums, using intravenous (IV) drugs, and having catheters or other medical devices in your body for long periods. Common symptoms of IE are fever and other flu-like symptoms. Because the infection can affect people in different ways, the signs and symptoms vary. IE also can cause complications in many other parts of the body besides the heart. If you're at high risk for IE, seek medical care if you have signs or symptoms of the infection, especially a fever that persists or unexplained fatigue (tiredness). IE is treated with antibiotics for several weeks. You also may need heart surgery to repair or replace heart valves or remove infected heart tissue. Most people who are treated with the proper antibiotics recover. But if the infection isn't treated, or if it persists despite treatment (for example, if the bacteria are resistant to antibiotics), it's usually fatal. If you have signs or symptoms of IE, you should see your doctor as soon as you can, especially if you have abnormal heart valves. What Causes Endocarditis? Infective endocarditis (IE) occurs when bacteria, fungi, or other germs invade your bloodstream and attach to abnormal areas of your heart. Certain factors increase the risk of germs attaching to a heart valve or chamber and causing an infection. A common underlying factor in IE is a structural heart defect, especially faulty heart valves. Usually your immune system will kill germs in your bloodstream. However, if your heart has a rough lining or abnormal valves, the invading germs can attach and multiply in the heart. Other factors, such as those that allow germs to build up in your bloodstream, also can play a role in causing IE. Common activities, such as brushing your teeth or having certain dental procedures, can allow bacteria to enter your bloodstream. This is even more likely to happen if your teeth and gums are in poor condition. Having a catheter or other medical devices inserted through your skin, especially for long periods, also can allow bacteria to enter your bloodstream. People who use intravenous (IV) drugs also are at risk for infections due to germs on needles and syringes. Bacteria also may spread to the blood and heart from infections in other parts of the body, such as the gut, skin, or genitals. As the bacteria or other germs multiply in your heart, they form clumps with other cells and matter found in the blood. These clumps are called vegetations (vej-eh-TA-shuns). As IE worsens, pieces of the vegetations can break off and travel to almost any other organ or tissue in the body. There, the pieces can block blood flow or cause a new infection. As a result, IE can cause a wide range of complications. Heart problems are the most common complication of IE. They occur in one-third to one-half of all people who have the infection. These problems may include a new heart murmur, heart failure, heart valve damage, heart block, or, rarely, a heart attack. Central Nervous System Complications These complications occur in as many as 20 to 40 percent of people who have IE. Central nervous system complications most often occur when bits of the vegetation, called emboli (EM-bo-li), break away and lodge in the brain. There, they can cause local infections (called brain abscesses) or a more widespread brain infection (called meningitis). Emboli also can cause a stroke or seizures. This happens if they block blood vessels or affect the brain's electrical signals. These complications can cause long-lasting damage to the brain and may even be fatal. Complications in Other Organs IE also can affect other organs in the body, such as the lungs, kidneys, and spleen. Lungs. The lungs are especially at risk when IE affects the right side of the heart. This is called right-sided infective endocarditis. Kidneys. IE can cause kidney abscesses and kidney damage. IE also can cause inflammation of the internal filtering structures of the kidneys. Signs and symptoms of kidney complications include back or side pain, blood in the urine, or a change in the color or amount of urine. In a small number of people, IE can cause kidney failure. Spleen. The spleen is an organ located in the left upper part of the abdomen near the stomach. In as many as 25 to 60 percent of people who have IE, the spleen enlarges (especially in people who have long-term IE). Sometimes, emboli also can damage the spleen. Signs and symptoms of spleen problems include pain or discomfort in the upper left abdomen and/or left shoulder, a feeling of fullness or the inability to eat large meals, and hiccups. Who Is At Risk for Endocarditis? Infective endocarditis (IE) is an uncommon condition that can affect both children and adults. It's more common in men than women. IE typically affects people who have abnormal hearts or other conditions that make them more likely to get the infection. In some cases, IE does affect people who were healthy before the infection. Major Risk Factors The germs that cause IE tend to attach and multiply on damaged, malformed, or artificial heart valves and implanted medical devices. Certain conditions put you at higher risk for IE. These include: - Congenital heart defects (defects that are present at birth). Examples include a malformed heart or abnormal heart valves. - Artificial heart valves; an implanted medical device in the heart, such as a pacemaker wire; or an intravenous (IV) catheter in a blood vessel for a long time. - Heart valves damaged by rheumatic fever or calcium deposits that cause age-related valve thickening. Scars in the heart from a previous case of IE also can damage heart valves. - IV drug use, especially if needles are shared or reused, contaminated substances are injected, or the skin isn't properly cleaned before injection. What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Endocarditis? Infective endocarditis (IE) can cause a range of signs and symptoms that can vary from person to person. Signs and symptoms also can vary over time in the same person. Signs and symptoms differ depending on whether you have an underlying heart problem, the type of germ causing the infection, and whether you have acute or subacute IE. Signs and symptoms of IE may include: - Flu-like symptoms, such as fever, chills, fatigue (tiredness), aching muscles and joints, night sweats, and headache. - Shortness of breath or a cough that won't go away. - A new heart murmur or a change in an existing heart murmur. - Skin changes such as: - Overall paleness. - Small, painful, red or purplish bumps under the skin on the fingers or toes. - Small, dark, painless, flat spots on the palms of the hands or the soles of the feet. - Tiny spots under the fingernails, on the whites of the eyes, on the roof of the mouth and inside of the cheeks, or on the chest. These spots are from broken blood vessels. - Nausea (feeling sick to your stomach), vomiting, a decrease in appetite, a sense of fullness with discomfort on the upper left side of the abdomen, or weight loss with or without a change in appetite. - Blood in the urine. - Swelling in the feet, legs, or abdomen. How Is Endocarditis Diagnosed? Your doctor will diagnose infective endocarditis (IE) based on your risk factors, your medical history and signs and symptoms, and the results from tests. Diagnosis of the infection often is based on a number of factors, rather than a single positive test result, sign, or symptom. Blood cultures are the most important blood tests used to diagnose IE. Blood is drawn several times over a 24-hour period. It's put in special culture bottles that allow bacteria to grow. Doctors then identify and test the bacteria to see which antibiotics will kill them. Sometimes the blood cultures don't grow any bacteria, but the person still has IE. This is called culture-negative endocarditis, and it requires antibiotic treatment. More standard blood tests also are used to diagnose IE. For example, a complete blood count may be used to check the number of red and white blood cells in your blood. Blood tests also may be used to check your immune system and to check for inflammation. Echocardiography is a painless test that uses sound waves to create pictures of your heart. Two types of echocardiography are useful in diagnosing IE. Transthoracic (tranz-thor-AS-ik) echocardiogram. For this painless test, gel is applied to the skin on your chest. A device called a transducer is moved around on the outside of your chest. This device sends sound waves called ultrasound through your chest. As the ultrasound waves bounce off the structures of your heart, a computer converts them into pictures on a screen. Your doctor uses the pictures to look for vegetations, areas of infected tissue (such as an abscess), and signs of heart damage. Because the sound waves have to pass through skin, muscle, tissue, bone, and lungs, the pictures may not have enough detail. Thus, your doctor may recommend a transesophageal (tranz-ih-sof-uh-JEE-ul) echocardiogram (TEE). Transesophageal echocardiogram. For this test, a much smaller transducer is attached to the end of a long, narrow, flexible tube. The tube is passed down your throat. Before the procedure, you're given medicine to help you relax, and your throat is sprayed with numbing medicine. The doctor then passes the transducer down your esophagus (the passage from your mouth to your stomach). Because this passage is right behind the heart, the transducer can get clear pictures of the heart's structures. An EKG is a simple, painless test that detects heart's electrical activity. It shows how fast your heart is beating, whether your heart rhythm is steady or irregular, and the strength and timing of electrical signals as they pass through your heart. An EKG typically isn't used to diagnose IE. However, it may be done to see whether IE is affecting your heart's electrical activity. For this test, soft, sticky patches called electrodes are attached to your chest, arms, and legs. You lie still while the electrodes detect your heart's electrical signals. A machine records these signals on graph paper or shows them on a computer screen. The entire test usually takes about 10 minutes. How Is Endocarditis Treated? Infective endocarditis (IE) is treated with antibiotics and sometimes with heart surgery. Antibiotics usually are given for 2 to 6 weeks through an intravenous (IV) line inserted into a vein. You're often hospitalized for at least the first week or more of treatment. This allows your doctor to make sure your infection is responding to the antibiotics. If you're allowed to go home before the treatment is done, the antibiotics are almost always continued by vein at home. You'll need special care if you get IV antibiotic treatment at home. Before you leave the hospital, your medical team will arrange for you to receive home-based care so you can continue your treatment. You also will need close medical followup, usually by a team of doctors. This team often includes a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases, a cardiologist (heart specialist), and a heart surgeon. In some cases, surgery is needed to repair or replace a damaged heart valve or to help clear up the infection. IE due to an infection with fungi often requires surgery. This is because this type of IE is harder to treat than IE due to bacteria. How Can Endocarditis Be Prevented? If you're at risk for infective endocarditis (IE), you can take steps to prevent the infection and its complications. - Be alert to the signs and symptoms of IE. Contact your doctor right away if you have any of these signs or symptoms, especially a persistent fever or unexplained fatigue. - Brush and floss your teeth regularly, and have regular dental checkups. Germs from a gum infection can enter your bloodstream. - Avoid body piercing, tattoos, or other procedures that may allow germs to enter your bloodstream. New research shows that not everyone at risk for IE needs to take antibiotics before routine dental exams and certain other dental or medical procedures. Let your health care providers, including your dentist, know if you're at risk for IE. They can tell you whether you need such antibiotics before exams and procedures. - Endocarditis is an infection of the inner lining of your heart chambers and valves. The condition also is called infective endocarditis (IE). - IE occurs if bacteria, fungi, or other germs invade your bloodstream and attach to abnormal areas of your heart. The infection can damage the heart and cause serious and sometimes fatal complications. - IE can develop quickly or slowly depending on what type of germ is causing it and whether you have an underlying heart problem. - IE mainly affects people who have damaged or artificial heart valves, congenital heart defects (defects that are present at birth), or implanted medical devices in the heart or blood vessels. - IE is an uncommon condition that can affect both children and adults. It's more common in men than women. - IE can cause a range of signs and symptoms that can vary from person to person. Signs and symptoms also can vary over time. Common symptoms are fever and other flu-like symptoms. - Your doctor will diagnose IE based on your risk factors, your medical history and signs and symptoms, and the results from tests. Diagnosis of the infection often is based on a number of factors, rather than a single positive test result, sign, or symptom. - IE is treated with antibiotics and sometimes with heart surgery. Antibiotics usually are given for 2 to 6 weeks through an intravenous (IV) line inserted into a vein. You're often hospitalized for at least the first week or more of treatment. In some cases, surgery is needed to repair or replace a damaged heart valve or to help clear up the infection. - If you're at risk for IE, you can take steps to prevent the infection and its complications. Be alert to the signs and symptoms of IE. Contact your doctor right away if you have any of these signs and symptoms. Brush and floss your teeth regularly, and have regular dental checkups. Avoid body piercing, tattoos, or other procedures that may allow germs to enter your bloodstream. - Let your health care providers, including your dentist, know if you're at risk for IE. They can tell you whether you need antibiotics before routine dental exams and certain other dental or medical procedures that can let germs into your bloodstream.

http://surgery.ucsf.edu/conditions--procedures/endocarditis.aspx

VII : Numbers and dates Whole numbers and fractions. Ancient Egyptian numeric system consisted of a sign for units, and special signs for the various powers of ten. numbers were written by using as many of these signs as needed to make up the total number, starting with the highest. Thus the number 5 was written by repeating the unit-sign 5 times: ; 50 by repeating the sign for "tens" 5 times: ; and 55 by repeating the sign for "tens" 5 times, followed by 5 times the unit-sign: . The latter could be interpreted as (5 times 10) + (5 times 1) = 55. must be taken not to confuse the number 1 with the determinative stroke mentioned in Lesson IV. sign for million, which also means "many" and "infinity", early fell into disuse. Higher numbers and values were sometimes written in a different way: means 4 times 100,000 = 400,000. numeric system did not include a decimal point. Decimal numbers were written as fractions. With the exception of 1/2, 2/3 and 3/4, fractions were always written using the sign , combined with a whole number, to convey the meaning 1/x. E.g. means 1/5. This example can be transcribed both as r-5 and as 1/5. with numerators bigger than 1 were written as a sum of fractions with numerators equal to 1. Thus 2/5 was written as . Complex fractions were always broken down to the simplest sum of 1/x type fractions. 3/8 was written as , 1/4 + 1/8 and not by repeating the group for 1/8 three times. already mentioned exceptions to this rule are 1/2, which is written as , 2/3 and 3/4 . The use of numbers to indicate amounts. were written after the word of which they render the amount. The word to which the number is added, is normally written in singular. Some examples follow: ds 2, "two jugs" HfAw 75, "75 snakes" s 2, "two men"... Ancient Egyptians used three different kinds of calendars: an agricultural, a lunar and an astronomical. The latter two were mainly used for liturgical purposes and were mostly limited to temples. Thus the lunar calendar was used to make specific rituals for lunar gods, such as Khonsu, coincide with specific agricultural calendar, on the other hand, was used to date all kinds of events, documents, It divided the year into 3 seasons of 4 months: Ax.t, the season of inundation pr.t, the season of sowing Smw, the season of harvesting (summer). months had names they were only rarely used in dates. Most often, months numbered from the start of each season on; e.g. ibd 3 (n) Ax.t, "the third month of Akhet" or "the third month of inundation". The word for month is transcribed ibd or Abd and was written using a sign that represents a part of the moon. month was divided into 30 days. Days were counted from the beginning of each month on. E.g. ibd 3 (n) Smw ssw 25, "the 3rd month of Shemu, the 25th day". The word for "day" in dates can be either ssw or hrw. When it is only written using the sign that represents the solar disk, one can chose between either two of them. Egyptian year thus counted 12 months of 30 days, or 360 days in total, to which 5 so-called "epagomenal" days were added to make the year correspond more or less to the theory, the first day of the first month of Ax.t was supposed to coincide with the start of the annual inundation of the Nile. There were no leap years, so the agricultural calendar lacked one day every four years. For this reason, the 1st day of the 1st month of Ax.t could fall on any day of our calendar. the Middle Kingdom on, years were numbered starting the accession to the throne of a new king. A regnal year was written as followed by the number of that year; e.g. , HA.t-sp 15. The regnal year can be followed by a more precise date, following the agricultural calendar, and the name of a king. The name of the king could simply be his prenomen or his nomen, but it could also be his full 2, ibd 3 (n) Ax.t, ssw 1 xr Hm n (n-mAa.t-ra), Year 2, the 3rd month (of) Akhet, the first day under the Majesty

http://www.egyptvoyager.com/hieroglyph_lesson7.htm

During the first two years of primary education children can learn to do arithmetic faster and better with the help of a more systematically structured educational programme. For older children, teaching arithmetic with the systematic use of visual aids, such as blocks and strings of beads, has many advantages. This is apparent from the review study by NWO researchers Egbert Harskamp and Annemieke Jacobse from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. Harskamp and Jacobse investigated the effect of new forms of instruction in arithmetic education. They examined the outcomes of 40 experimental studies aimed at improving arithmetic skills. Their findings revealed, for example, that a standardised and clearly structured programme that employs a variety of methods enables young children to learn arithmetic quicker and better than they do under the methods commonly used now, most of which do not offer a structured programme. Good methods include the use of picture books about arithmetic, group discussions, arithmetic games and songs. Short, focused board games or computer games also contribute to an improved development of young pupils counting skills and number comprehension. 'Visualisation is a good method for slightly older children,' says Egbert Harskamp, endowed professor of effective learning environments at the University of Groningen. 'For addition and subtraction up to 100 it was found, for example, that offering rows of blocks or a string of beads in a ten structure considerably improved the arithmetic performances, as long as the teaching method used had a clear structure. The teaching methods for arithmetic currently used in Dutch schools contain some visual models for addition and subtraction but these are not usually presented in a coherent manner. This unstructured use can be confusing for pupils.' The use of the computer in arithmetic education was also found to be effective. Dutch arithmetic teaching methods do not treat different types of calculation in a structured manner and various subjects are offered in a single lesson. Educational computer programs, however, have the advantage of a consistent structure that offers the material subject by subject. Moreover, well-designed computer programs provide instruction, testing and feedback components for pupils, and allow teachers to register how the pupils are progressing and where additional guidance is needed. The studies were done in English-speaking countries. They covered number comprehension, basic operations, measurement and geometry, ratio calculations (percentages, fractions and ratios) or the solving of applied problems. A total of more than 6800 pupils from primary education were involved. The review of these studies has been presented in two publications: A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Instructional Interventions on Students' Mathematics Achievement and Effective arithmetic instruction with the help of computers. The second publication is mainly aimed at teachers. Explore further: Evolution of lying

http://phys.org/news/2012-02-children-arithmetic-faster.html

(Domain Name System) A system for converting host names and domain names into IP addresses on the Internet or on local networks that use the TCP/IP protocol. For example, when a Web site address is given to the DNS either by typing a URL in a browser or behind the scenes from one application to another, DNS servers return the IP address of the server associated with that name. In this hypothetical example, WWW.COMPANY.COM would be converted into the IP address 126.96.36.199. Without DNS, you would have to type the four numbers and dots into your browser to retrieve the Web site, which of course, you can do. Try finding the IP of a favorite Web site and type in the dotted number instead of the domain name! The DNS system is a hierarchy of database servers that start with the root servers for all the top level domains (.com, .net, etc.). The root servers point to authoritative servers residing within ISPs and companies that resolve the host names to complete the name resolution. Using the example WWW.COMPANY.COM, COMPANY.COM is the domain name, and WWW is the host name. The domain name is the organization's identity on the Web, and the host name is the name of the actual Web server within that domain (see WWW ). See DNS records , reverse DNS , HOSTS file , root server Getting a Web Page Turning a URL in a Web browser into an IP address can take numerous queries. This is a simplified diagram because the original requester actually talks to each name server in turn, and there can be more name servers in between. A request can also be satisfied from a DNS cache along the way and not need to reach the authoritative server.

http://computer.yourdictionary.com/dns

Transmission Across Synapses Transmission across synapses. Certain chemicals, called neurotransmitters, transmit nerve impulses across synapses. When an impulse reaches the end of an axon, a neurotransmitter is released into the synaptic cleft. The neurotransmitter moves to the dendrites of the next nerve cell and causes certain pores of the nerve membrane to open. Ions move through these pores, and a voltage change, called a postsynaptic potential, results. The postsynaptic potential is either excitatory or inhibitory. An excitatory postsynaptic potential spreads to the axon of a nerve cell and tends to produce another action potential. An inhibitory postsynaptic potential tends to prevent the axon from producing another action potential. Not every impulse that reaches a synapse is transmitted to the next neuron. The synapses thus help regulate and route the constant flow of nerve impulses throughout the nervous system.

http://library.thinkquest.org/28807/data/nervous53.htm

1) Latin is of the Indo-European family of languages, a group which spread rapidly across Europe and south into India some time after the last glaciation, retreated some 15,000 years ago. Indic, Iranian, Greek, Celtic, Germanic, Baltic and Slavonic as the major groups, and a number of other branches such as Armenian and Hittite, stem from the original, now lost, parent speech which we call Indo-European. In Europe only Basque, Etruscan, Hungarian and Finnish are of non-Indo European origin. For a full statement of this remarkable linguistic/historical event, I recommend the article Indo-European in the 11 th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (this classic edition from l910 is found in almost any good library collection) which states the evidence in some detail and with reasonable accuracy overall. 2) Latin is one of the numerous Indo-European dialects which had penetrated into Italy before 1200 B.C. It attained widespread use slowly with the spread of Roman military supremacy, and by 250 B.C. was the dominant tongue in Italy; by the time of Christ it was the lingua franca of the Western part of Europe, while the Near East, Greece and southern Italy with Sicily retained Greek as the primary language. Latin continued as the common language of Feudal Europe, and became the scholarly means of communication for most purposes through the 18 th century, after which the various European tongues asserted themselves. Writing in Latin has a long range, from early plays of Roman Comedy in rustic style about 200 B.C., through the Augustan period's great Classical artists, into the Church Fathers of the 4/ 5 th c. A.D., on to becomeing the lingua franca of the Renaissance, and even into a curious academic dialect called "Modern Latinity" in the post-Renaissance world. By the 8 th c. A.D. Latin was becoming a "dead language", as the nascent forms of the Romanic (or Romance) Languages started to develop throughout Charlemagne's Empire. Latin remained then as the lingua franca for all legal, theological, scientific and international writing, and it was an important means of communication in written and spoken form for another thousand years, so the terms dead and alive don't seem particularly pertinent. In the 20 th. C. Latin is clearly "dead", but its literature in the original, and even in its weakened form in translation, is clearly alive and flourishing. Latin Descrptive Grammar Main Page Language Main Page Orbis Latinus Main Page This page is part of Orbis © Zdravko Batzarov

http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/Latin/Alternative_Grammars/Harris_Grammar/Latin-Harris_02.html