Sports in Popular Culture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sports in Popular Culture - Research Paper Example From warring tribes to states, humans have always been placed in a situation where we are forced to compete. Sports have been increasingly organized and regulated from the time of the ancient Olympics up to the present century. Industrialization has brought increased leisure time to the citizens of developed and developing countries, leading to more time for citizens to attend and follow spectator sports, greater participation in athletic activities, and increased accessibility. The creation of sports activities is merely a means of allowing individuals to externalize their need for competition. This paper focuses on the competition, the social impact, and the economic value that sports have on society. Competition is at the very core of humanity. This is visible at various levels of the individual life style. Capitalism as an economic structure identifies the fact that resources are finite, and individuals must compete to accumulate as much as possible. While history has shown that other ideas on how the economy should function exist, the market place of ideas crowned capitalism the king. Beyond the economic infrastructure is the educational system. Students strive to be at the top of their class which is indicative of how competition penetrated the educational system. Competition seems to creative an incentive to become perfect. In terms of sports, individuals who compete on sports teams strive to perfect their skills in attempts to be the league leaders. Fans recognize this and rally behind individuals and teams that perform close to perfection. Fans seem to disassociate their identities from their normative lives and self identify with the team that they represent. Whether because of their hometown loyalty or because of a player, fans involve themselves in the competition and immediate choose sides. The ability to exercise choice within the sports community allows individuals to capitalize on their innate compulsion for competition. At the heart of the comp etition between fans is the loyalty to a certain team. This makes the competitive nature more volatile. This is due to the fact that some teams are better than others and fans continue to jump bandwagons. While each individual possesses the innate compulsion to compete, they have an even harder drive to be a winner. In fact, this lies at the heart of the competitive spirit. Success has been psychologically attached to winning. The more successful a team, the better their fans feel. Individuals tend to make emotional investments into sporting events, whereby the outcome typically draws an emotional reaction from the fan. Beyond the competitive nature of sporting events lies the social component. While some individuals feel the obsessive need to be competitive, others attend events and watch games because it involves a social component. When attending stadium events with tens of thousands of other individuals in attendance it makes the actual experience more involved for the individua ls. These events typically involve drinking and cheering which makes a great time for the fans. As Jean Jacques Rousseau explains, â€Å"man is a social animal.† This means that individuals are inclined to involve themselves in activities that allow them to socialize with their peers. This means that sporting events provide the perfect context. While this does position individuals to collaborate with their peers in cheering for the team of their choice, this does not always turn out to be so

How Personal Can Ethics Get Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

How Personal Can Ethics Get - Essay Example 953). Two very different individuals may carry with them two entirely different perspectives of the world. These perspectives possess a viable potential to influence the individuals’ preferences concerning a variety of considerations in the organizational workplace. One area of an organization which is undoubtedly influenced by personal differences and (related differing preferences) is ethics. S.J. Reynolds (2006) finds that â€Å"individual differences can interact with issue characteristics to shape moral awareness† (qtd. Trevino, Weaver, & Reynolds, 2006, p. 954). As such, two different people may perceive an ethical dilemma differently. For example, one person may perceive the existence of nepotism in the workplace as a coincidence in which an employer’s relatives happened to be best suited for a job. Another person may perceive the existence of nepotism in the workplace as a breach of ethics in which fair hiring principles are abandoned in favor of personal interest. Whereas the former may derive their opinion from a personal experience in which a family business proved fruitful, another may harbor grievances concerning high levels of unemployment effecting his or her family, community, or self. The former maintains an ethical preference for directly helping one’s friends and family, while the latter maintains an ethical preference for indirectly helping one’s friends and family by maintaining fair and equal hiring practices. An organization containing both hypothetical individuals is subsequently shaped and form by the shifting dynamic of their conflicting ideals. Discuss how organizational policies and procedures can impact ethics. The ethical preferences of members of an organization are shaped by individuals’ predisposed positions on varying issues as well as externally imposed policy and procedure. As such, an organization’s policies and procedures can impact criterion for ethical dilemmas as well as e thical results substantially. Wotruba, Chonko, and Lo (2001) identify three primary functions executed by codes of ethics in an organization. First, codes of ethics can demonstrate a concern for ethics by the organization. In this manner, an organization may elect to create a code of ethics in an attempt to convey a general awareness and reverence for ethical observation and conduct in the workplace. For example, a company might create a code of ethics which is read and understood by its newly hired employees during their training in an effort to effectively communicate that the company is aware of ethics and embraces ethics as a high priority in the workplace. Second, codes of ethics can â€Å"transmit ethical values of the organization to its members† (Wotruba, Chonko, and Lo, 2001, p. 59). This function is substantially more specific than the former function, which seeks to convey a simple, general awareness of ethics as an existent priority within the workplace. Instead, ethical values transmitted to members of an organization by the organization are designed to create a better understanding of what an organization is and what values it holds most dear. For example, a service-oriented organization might include â€Å"putting the customer first† as an ethical priority in the w

Effect of Microhardness on Chemical Degradation

Effect of Microhardness on Chemical Degradation Abstract Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of chemical degradation media associated with brushing on surface roughness (Ra) and Knoop microhardness (KHN) analyses of different composites. Material and Methods: Eighty specimens were prepared for each composite: Grandio SO (Voco), Amaris (Voco), Filtek Supreme (3M/ESPE), Filtek LS (3M/ESPE). The specimens were divided into four groups according to the immersion in chemical degradation media for 7 days: artificial saliva (control), heptane, 0.02M citric acid, 70% ethanol. The surface of specimens was submitted to 10950 brushing cycles (200g load) in an automatic tooth-brushing machine with abrasive slurry. Surface roughness and microhardness measurements were obtained at baseline, after immersion in chemical degradation media and after brushing. Data were submitted to three-way repeated measures ANOVA and Tukey’s test (pResults: The KHN means for composites were: Grandio (153.5 ±35.9)a, Filtek Supreme (87.0 ± 24.9)b, Amaris (64.5 ±24.5)c, LS (69.0 ±15.3)c; for storage media: artificial saliva (97.3 ±46.7)a, ethanol (93.3 ±49.9)a, citric acid (95.8 ±42.1)a, heptane (87.6 ±36.7)b; and after treatments: after chemical degradation (104.8 ±49.7)a, baseline (93.8 ±42.5)b, after brushing (81.9 ±36.5)c. The Ra results for composites were: LS (0.15 ±0.25)a, Grandio SO (0.19 ±0.24)ab, Filtek Supreme (0.20 ±0.22)ab, Amaris (0.23 ±0.37)b; for storage media: artificial saliva (0.18 ±0.31)a, heptane (0.18 ±0.25)a, ethanol (0.20 ±0.26)a, citric acid (0.21 ±0.28)a; and after treatments: brushing (0.11 ±0.14)a, after chemical degradation (0.23 ±0.32)b, baseline (0.24 ±0.32)b. Conclusions: Brushing after chemical degradation reduced surface roughness values. In general, chemical degradation did not affect composites roughness, but microhardness was significantly reduced. Heptane produced the biggest reduction in composites microhardness. Clinical Relevance: The food-simulating solutions and brushing simulating alter the composites properties, and these alterations are material-dependent. Keywords: composites, chemical degradation, brushing, Knoop microhardness, surface roughness. Introduction Improvements on the composition and mechanical properties of resin-based materials along with increased esthetic demands have resulted in the enlarged use of direct composite restorations in anterior and posterior teeth [1,2]. These improvements provided more strength and durability to the composite restorations under the conditions of the oral environment. Most of the available composites contain a polymer matrix of dimethacrylate monomers, such as Bis-GMA, UDMA, and TEGDMA (organic phase), inorganic filler particles (dispersed phase) coated with a methyl methacrylate-functional silane coupling agent to bond the filler to the organic matrix, a photoinitiator system to allow photoactivation by light units and other minor additions including polymerization initiators, stabilizers and coloring pigments [3-5]. However, the critical oral environment conditions (pH changes or humidity) may increase the composite biodegradation over time [6]. Under oral conditions, dental materials may be exposed either intermittently or continuously to chemical agents present in saliva, food and beverages [1]. Previous studies have shown that some dietary foods and beverages can cause surface degradation of restorative materials [7-14]. Their constituents can soften the organic phase and promotes disintegration of the dispersed phase, altering the surface hardness [1,15]. Besides of chemical environment, the toothbrushing is another condition that influences the longevity of composites restorations in vivo. Although toothbrushing plays an important role in oral hygiene, the effects of abrasion constitutes another important issue on dental materials wear processes, which can result in alterations in surface roughness, loss of contour, staining and plaque retention [16]. There are several types of composites nowadays, such as nanohybrid, nanofill and microhybrid, which have the similar polymer matrix composition. However, the inorganic phase (size, type and distribution of filler particles) are different. Therefore, the effects of chemical degradation liquids and toothbrushing on surface roughness and microhardness of these types of composites must be reported. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of chemical degradation associated with toothbrushing on surface roughness and microhardness of different composites. The null hypothesis tested was that the immersion in chemical degradation media and brushing are not able to modify the surface roughness and microhardness of the tested materials. Material and Methods Specimens preparation Eighty cylindrical specimens of each composite were fabricated (shade A3) using a metallic matrix with 2 mm in height and 3 mm in diameter. A mylar strip was placed over the composite and pressed with a glass plate to provide a flat surface, being removed after curing. The composites were applied in increments of 2 mm and cured on the top surface using LED photocuring unit (Elipar Freelight 2, 3M/ESPE, St. Paul, MN, USA) at 1200 mW/cm2 power density, activated for 40 s. After curing, they were stored in individual containers with deionized water for 24 h. Then, they were polished using a sequence of 1200, 2400 and 4000 grit aluminum oxide abrasive disks (Extec, Enfield, CT, USA) in a polishing device (DP-10, Panambra, Sà £o Paulo, Brazil). After polishing, all the specimens were immersed in deionized water at 37  ºC for 24 h. Four direct restorative materials were tested, as described in Table 1. Knoop microhardness measurements The microhardness measurement was performed with a microhardness tester (FM-700, Future-Tech, Tokyo, Japan), Knoop tip, under 25 g load for 10 s. Three indentations were performed 100  µm apart from each other, at the surface of the specimens. The means were determined as Knoop Hardness Number (KHN). Surface roughness analysis The mean surface roughness (Ra) was evaluated using a profilometer (MaxSurf XT 20, Mahr, Goettingen, Germany). The diamond stylus moved 2.5 mm long starting the first measurement 0.2 mm from the lower area of specimen. Three profile measurements were performed for each specimen at intervals of 0.25 mm and a final average was used. The mean Ra values were determined with a cut-off value of 0.8 mm, a transverse length of 0.8 mm, and a stylus speed of 0.1 mm/s. Chemical degradation media immersion The specimens of each composite were randomly divided according to the food-simulated substances tested (n=20). The solutions tested are mediums recommended by FDA (1976) to be used as food-simulating liquids [17]. Heptane P.A. (Synth – Labsynth, Diadema, Sà £o Paulo, Brazil) was used to simulate butter, fat meals and vegetable oils. Citric acid 0.02M (Synth) simulated beverages, vegetables, fruits and candies. Ethanol 70% (Zulu Hospitalar 70% Companhia Nacional de à lcool, Piracicaba, Sà £o Paulo, Brazil) simulated alcoholic beverages and mouthrinses. Artificial saliva was used as control and prepared according to Gohring et al. [18] using 22.1 mmol/l hydrogen carbonate, 16.1 mmol/l of potassium, 14.5 mmol/l sodium, 2.6 mmol/l hydrogen phosphate, 0.8 mmol/l boric acid, 0.7 mmol/l calcium, 0.4 mmol/l thiocyanate and 0.2 mmol/l magnesium. The specimens were kept in individual vials with 2 ml of each solution for 7 days at 37  ºC. After this period, the specimens were washed thoroughly, and stored in deionized water at 37  ºC, for 24 h. The microhardness and surface roughness were evaluated. Brushing protocols Subsequently, the experimental units were subjected to brushing abrasion in an automatic toothbrushing (TB) machine (ODEME Biotechnology – Joaà §aba, Santa Catarina, Brazil) which imparted reciprocating motion to 6 soft bristle toothbrush heads (Sanifill Ultraprofissional, Hypermarcas – Sà £o Paulo, Brazil). This apparatus provides linear brushing movements across the specimens at a speed of 120 cycles per min at 37 °C, with a double pass of the brush head over the surface. The top surface of resin composites cylinders were submitted to 10950 brushing stokes under a vertical load of 200 g with abrasive slurry, simulating one year of clinical situation [19]. The abrasive slurry consisted of fluoridated dentifrice (Colgate Tripla Aà §Ãƒ £o, Colgate-Palmolive, Sà £o Paulo, Brazil) and artificial saliva, in a ratio of 1:3, by weight [20]. Toothbrushes were replaced after the completion of each brushing cycles. After brushing, the specimens were kept in deionized water at 37 ºC, for 24 h. At the end of this protocol, the microhardness and surface roughness was obtained. Statistical analysis This experiment followed a factorial scheme of the 4x3x4 type. The experimental variables under study were composites [Grandio, Amaris, Filtek LS, Filtek Supreme], time [baseline, after chemical degradation (CD) and after brushing (TB)] and the food-simulating media [artificial saliva (AS), heptane (H), citric acid (CA) and ethanol (E)]. The variable responses were the mean roughness measurement value obtained in profilometer, and the average of three microhardness readings. Data were submitted to statistical analysis using the computer software Statistica for Windows (Statsoft, Tulsa, OK, USA). The inferential statistics consisted of three-way repeated measures ANOVA (composites, time, and chemical degradation media), in which the variable time was considered as a repeated factor, followed by Tukey’s test. The level of significance was the conventional value of 5%. Results Microhardness evaluation The mean KHN values of the composites after chemical degradation media are shown in Figure 1. The application of RM-ANOVA showed significant differences for the factors composites (p=0.0001), time (p=0.0001) and chemical degradation (p=0.0001). Grandio SO composite presented the highest KHN values for all times tested. Amaris and Filtek LS exhibited values significantly lower than Filtek Supreme and Grandio SO (Table 2). For the chemical degradation media factor, the immersion in heptane produced the lowest microhardness means, compared to the other tested media (Table 3). Regarding the different times, the microhardness (KHN) values significantly increased after immersion in chemical degradation media and decreased after brushing, compared to baseline means (Table 4). Surface roughness analysis The means of roughness surface (Ra) for the composites are shown in Figure 2. The application of RM-ANOVA showed no significant differences for composite (p=0.034) and time (p=0.626) factors. The roughness means obtained for Amaris composite were significantly higher than Filtek LS. Grandio SO and Supreme exhibited intermediate means (Table 2). For the chemical degradation media, no significant differences were obtained for surface roughness (Table 3). The Ra means after brushing were lower than at baseline and after chemical degradation CD (Table 4). Discussion The chemical environment is one aspect of the oral conditions which has an appreciable influence on the in vivo degradation of composites [21]. Some chemicals substances from food and drinks can lead to surface degradation of composite restorations, resulting in unaesthetic appearance and increased surface roughness, accelerating the wear of dental materials [22,23]. This degradation is mainly due to the softness of composite matrices with exposure to organic acids and various food and liquid constituents [24,25,12]. Previously published studies have reported that acidic conditions show a tendency to degrade glass ionomer cements, polyacid modified composite resins, and composite resins [9,26,10,27,11]. The present study was performed to investigate the Knoop microhardness and surface roughness of four composites, before and after simulating oral conditions. Hardness is defined as the resistance to permanent indentation or penetration [28,1]. It is used to predict the wear resistance of a material and its ability to cause abrasion opposing tooth structure [28]. The composites exposed in food-simulating media can suffer chemical softening, reducing their physico-mechanical properties. Changes in the composite hardness usually occur within the first 7 days after exposure to chemical solutions [21]. Therefore, this study conducted the initial readings of the hardness in the specimens after post-cure [1], and another reading after the exposure period of immersion. In the present study, specimens stored in heptane showed significantly reduction in microhardness, as also observed previously [14,28]. Heptane simulates butter, fatty meals and vegetables oil [14,1] and may damage the resin matrix,[12,28] producing cracks in the interface, and consequently, weakening the material.[14] It is questioned if alcohol-containing beverages may compromise the longevity of composites restorations [29], since it presents the potential of damaging polymers [1,12], by fully penetrating the resin matrix and promoting the release of unreacted monomers [13]. The partial dissolving of the resin matrix may result in the degradation of the filler-matrix interface, thereby impairing the flexural strength and hardness [14]. In this study, the concentration of ethanol solution (70%) was used according to previous [28] but it showed no significant effect in the microhardness of composites. The differences in hardness values compared to previous studies could be related to the surface characteristics of the composites, filler distribution and conversion rate [30]. Furthermore, the period of 24 h of storage before immersion in ethanol may lead to complete polymerization of the composites, reducing the presence of unreacted monomers on the surface [1,14]. The effects of intraoral organic acids, as citric acid, besides producing tooth erosion, can cause surface degradation of composites [9], favoring the breaking of bonds in Bis-GMA molecules of composites [24,11]. Despite of others studies that citric acid reduced the hardness of composites [7,9], in this study no differences were observed in the microhardness of the composites when immersed in citric acid for 7 days. Nevertheless, the period of storage may have been insufficient to promote differences in the mechanical properties of the specimens’ surface [7,14]. Differences in microhardness means among the composites exposed to the tested solutions were found and are related to their composition and particle content [14,29]. Grandio SO, Filtek Supreme and Amaris have similar matrix composition (Bis-GMA, UDMA, TEGDMA), however, differ in size and amount of filler particles (Table 1). The higher resistance of Bis-GMA to the degradation effects of immersion media can be explained by the fact that bis-acryl resin composite materials contain bifunctional acrylates, which cross-link to provide increased mechanical strength and resistance to weakening in the presence of solvents [28,31]. Grandio SO and Filtek Supreme present nanoscale particles, which provide better mechanical resistance compared to hybrid resins, superior polishing than microfilled resins, higher strength and reduced polymerization shrinkage [32]. Due to their nanoscale, these materials showed the highest microhardness values in this study. By the other hand, Filtek LS is constituted of silorane, with quartz and yttrium fluoride as inorganic filler, which increased hydrophobicity and reduced water sorption [33]. Differences in microhardness among Filtek LS and others composite could be attributed to the lower filler content (76% w/w), as observed by Yesilyurt et al. [14]. Therefore, the differences in composites compositions could have contributed to the differences in hardness. After simulated toothbrushing, there was a reduction in microhardness values. This fact may be due to changes on the surface of the resin matrix when immersed in the solutions before brushing. According to a previous study [2], the immersion in food-simulating media increased the exposure of filler particles by softening the matrix. Additionally, toothbrushing can change the surface of composites [2,34,35]. In clinical situation, the consumption of food or beverages occurs before brushing habits, making this association clinically relevant. Although an increase of the composite surface roughness and degradation after brushing have been previously reported,[2] significantly lower roughness means were obtained after brushing in this study. Likewise, previous studies showed that most of composites did not present significant changes by the immersion on chemical degradation media in surface roughness over time [2,9,15]. This study found differences on surface roughness of mycrohybid, nanofill and nanohybrid composites, as results of their differences in their compositions. Filtek LS, myycrohybrid composite, had the lowest surface roughness, probably due to low filler content. Filtek Supreme e Grandio SO had an intermediate smoother texture, whereas Amaris showed the roughest surface. Nevertheless, despite of these initial differences, the immersion in chemical solutions did not interfere in the final surface roughness. However, interaction between immersion in food-simulating media and simulated brushing decreased surface roughness, as observed by Turssi et al. [20] This may be attributed to the reaction of the solutions with the polymer matrix. Toothbrushing after the immersion on food-simulating media resulted in the removal of part of the organic matrix around the loosen fillers [2]. Then, the softened matrix have become mixed with the abrasive slurry, decreasing its abrasive potential [20]. Roughness surfaces of composite favors the accumulation of plaque, gingival inflammation, superficial staining and secondary caries. It is noteworthy that the effect of brushing on the composites depends on several factors, such as the type of toothpaste, type and shape of the brush bristles, the proportion of deionized-water solution, as well as speed and weight applied during simulation process. As these parameters were standardized for all groups, it can be suggested that the surface roughness varies with the size, hardness and percentage of composite particles, as reported previously [20,36]. The different treatments tested resulted in alteration of composite properties, and these alterations were material-dependent; thus, the null hypothesis tested was rejected. The present study is important for guiding the improvements of the present composite resins against the challenges they will face during clinical service. It is also relevant to state that esthetics represents only one of the reasons for composite resin restorations failure. Improvements in other areas such as bonding degradation, material deterioration and ability to prevent caries progression/activity should be also considered. Conclusion According to the limitations of this study, it can be concluded that: The microhardness means of the tested composites were influenced by the material; Toothbrushing reduced Ra values of the materials tested, but the solutions used for chemical degradation did not affect the results. Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Heal The World: Exploring Palmers the Case For Human Beings :: essays research papers

Human beings. We are an exclusive species. Humans are able to achieve abstract thought, while most of the creatures in the animal kingdon have an attention span of only minutes. We are able to extract the purest elements from the most barren lands. We are also able to destroy the fragile biodiversity that has taken the earth millions of years to create. Should humankind, however, be punished for pushing so many different species into extinction by becoming extinct itself? In Thomas Palmer's essay, "The Case For Human Beings", Palmer explores the topics of human accomplishment, the diversity of humankind, and the havoc that said diversity has caused on the environment. Using irony and sarcasm, with the occasional clever analogy, he burdens the reader with his cynical outlook on humankind in regards to its brutish treatment of the earth's delicate ecosystem. In one paragraph, Palmer states, "The only way to...restore biodiversity to its greatest possible richness, would be to arrange for every human being on earth to drop dead tomorrow" (323-24). Palmer's combative literary form, however, is not entirely lacking its own beauty and grace. When he uses human acheivements such as a Bach chorale, man's first journey to the moon, and three-masted schooners, he is bringing glory back to humankind. Although he explains the splendor of the Bach chorale, he still states, "Human consciousness...cannot, in this view, contribute to bio diversity, except by staying as far out of the picture as possible, so as to avoid tainting still-intact landscapes with unnatural influences" (324). No Bach chorale, no three-masted schooner, no Apollo landing, Palmer reveals, contributes to the ecosystem. Palmer isn't a misanthrope. He isn't out for the destruction of the human species. His writing strategies, such as comparisons, distortion of the opposition, and smokescreening the obvious issue at hand, which is the destruction of the ecosystem, indeed tell the reader of his belief in his writing. Palmer writes this to Everyman--an average person of average intelligence with only an average curiosity about the destruction of the species.

Creating a Positive Classroom Environment

Creating a Positive Classroom Environment A classroom should be one of inquiry and open-mindedness. In order to foster a classroom of students who feel comfortable asking questions and are open to other students’ ideas it is imperative to create a positive, safe environment and learning community. I believe that students should feel like their classroom has high expectations, in how everyone treated each other, and in how learning took place. Creating a classroom environment where all students feel emotionally and physically safe enough to take risks is a real challenge and one that is worthy of the time it requires. The key to an inquiry-based curriculum is a safe, positive learning environment, therefore, it is foundational that the teacher work to provide, establish, and maintain that throughout the year. In the classroom, the teacher should be working on ways to develop a positive learning community by finding out more about my students. For example, each student should fill out a Who Am I questionnaire so that the teacher can get to know their student's personalities, hobbies, likes and dislikes and therefore include them in lectures, discussions and explanations through out the year. The teacher should also engage in differentiated instruction in my classroom so that he/she can tailor specific lessons to fit different viewpoints, and abilities of students. This is also a demonstration of care and respect for students as they see their teacher notice certain aspects about their learning or personalities and tailors their instruction to meet their needs. One of the ways I would engage in differentiated instruction is by walking around the room and constantly being available to assist students. By offering them one-on-one assistance I can better gauge where their personal understanding and misconceptions are and tailor my teaching to them differently than I would to the class as a whole. In order to maintain a positive classroom environment, a teacher must use the ability to make quick decisions and to be flexible in the classroom. The teacher needs to make decisions and adjustments to enhance the student motivation, engagement, and productive work. One way I would make adjustments when there are issues in the classroom hindering the productive learning community is to create a new seating chart. I find that this act is often used enough to nip any potential social problems in the bud and sends a message to students that if they want to sit with their friends, they need to earn the privilege. You would be surprised with how a new seating chart for the class can increase productivity and engagement in core subject content instead of social life information. In a science classroom, experiments and lab work are an important way for students to engage in the content. All students in the class should work on labs at the same time with minimal supervision. The teacher must also be cognizant of how the resources of time, space, activities and attention are allocated to students throughout the short hour that they are in class. However, there are more traditional strategy for lab work. The difference comes in how many materials you have for certain labs, how much time it takes for each group of students to complete the experiment, and how tricky the directions are. Deciding which method to employ for a given lab and analyzing the classroom environment to decide which will work best in a given situation. In the Collier County School District it is acceptable to have up to 30 students in each classroom. It is difficult in this type of environment for students to feel that they are an important member of the learning community. I found that it was easy for certain students to disengage from activities and it was hard for the teacher to pick up on their lack of involvement because of the sheer number of other students in the room. Therefore, I thought up of an activity that would give the teacher time to walk around to individual students and check their understanding of the material. This lesson was an ACT preparation lesson where the students would be working on writing organized essays by finding a thesis statement, supporting it and including evidence from newspaper articles. I found that students would initially be hesitant to show their work to the teacher, but when they saw that the teacher would be going around to everyone at their table they became less nervous and more open to share their problems with understanding. When observing a classroom, one student even remarked as the teacher came to her, â€Å"I don’t know what I’m doing. She was a student that has never raised her hand to ask for help, but with the teachers inevitable arrival she was open to telling her teacher she did not understand. This showed me that if the teacher had not gone around to individual students she would not have told her teacher she did not understand. In order for a classroom to become a learning community it is important that it is organized, and meets clear standards of conduct. An environment in which students are assuming responsibility, participating in ecision-making, working collaboratively and independently, and engaging in purposeful learning activities that use higher order thinking skills and are all pieces of smoothly functioning learning communities. The first lesson that I would present to the class in the fall would be attempting to engage students in a purposeful learning activity that asked them to think deeply about the issues of a the subject that they are in class for. The students would first work together as a class and then the students work individually to show understanding. They were active members of the activity so they had a hand in the decision-making and therefore could assume some ownership and responsibility for the success of the activity. A strategy for engaging students in purposeful activities that promote higher order thinking that is often used in classrooms is asking students to work in pairs to create a concept map from a list of content words. By working in pairs students are collaboratively building understanding and taking responsibility for their own learning plus their partner’s. As mentioned above, in order to have a smoothly functioning learning environment, clear standards of conduct must be established and enforced within the classroom. In order for students to feel safe enough to ask questions, engage in inquiry activities and take risks in their learning. They must feel secure and know that their teacher has clear standards of conduct that will be enforced. The first day of school is a very important day for establishing the standards of conduct that all students are expected to follow. It is also important that student behavior is monitored in a preventative way. One way is by asking a student who is very high-energy and can become disruptive to do small tasks during the hour to keep him engaged, such as feeding the class fish, or putting up the class grade sheet. This particular student can be disruptive and cause problems with other classmates, but with the teacher keeping him engaged when she sees him getting off-task, she is signaling to him that she notices him and has her eyes on his actions. This has been a successful strategy in keeping him out of trouble. However, all issues in a classroom cannot be prevented. Things do sometimes happen despite the best efforts of the teacher to create a safe learning environment. For example, say that you, the teacher had an incident in your classroom where two female students got very angry with each other and yelled loudly and violently at each other and refused to stop. This behavior is very upsetting to the teacher and to the class. And to be successful in resolving the situation, you just have to remove the two students from the class and separate them. In this situation it was important to thoroughly pick up the pieces after the incident was over. This is a very helpful way for a teachers peace of mind and further ability to create a safe learning environment. The teacher should also have individual talks with the students that created the problem. One student in particular would most likely have a very changed attitude about the class after the incident. In order to bring her back to being her enthusiastic self, the teacher should have a one-on-one talk with her, which greatly improved her attitude towards the class. One of the things that would help you to act appropriately when the incident happened in the classroom was the established standards of conduct and consequences that occur if students do not follow the standards. One way to foster students’ ability to engage in dialogue and argumentation and develop the language of thinking is to participate in Socratic seminars in class. Socratic seminars offer a tangible, engaging way for students to develop both ethics and critical thinking, actively and cooperatively. A discussion technique that I would use in my classroom would be an ethical discussion based on the merits and problems with new genetic testing that is available. Students engaged in small groups, then in the large session to discuss their opinions about genetic testing, based on a text they had all read. In order to help the discussion remain civil and productive, I used an ethical discussion framework that was very helpful. In a large classroom of 30 students it is often difficult to make time to meet with students individually to discuss their progress, but it is an important part of teaching that time must be allocated for. Therefore, a lesson plan that can allow the teacher to talk with students individually about an essay they had written. Lets just say that while students were in the Library Center working on ACT preparation tests the teacher then would be able to make time to talk with students individually about the strengths and weaknesses of their essays and what specific things to keep in mind when writing their next essay. This lesson shows a good allocation of time and attention so that students could take away concrete information from the lesson about what they need to work on with their writing and they also saw that their teacher cared about their progress enough to plan a special meeting with them. This one-on-one discussion time between teacher and student is something I do not see a lot of in school and I feel it is very important to include meaningful time talking with each student. In a science classroom it is very important that resources be used appropriately to help promote in-depth, inquiry-based understandings of content. I include it here to demonstrate how helpful it is for teachers to keep up-to-date on literature that is being written on the topics they are teaching. Through reading academic literature they can gain new ideas and insights on how to use technology effectively in their classroom in order to enhance learning and the classroom environment. Creating a positive classroom environment is a very important aspect of effective teaching. In a teachers student teaching placement it has been a priority for to establish and maintain a safe and positive environment where all students can grow, inquire, and learn. I feel strongly that a classroom should always be a safe one for students physically. At times there are going to be things said between students that cannot make it emotionally safe, but you, the teacher can always deal with the issues to send a strong message that your classroom is not a place to come down on peers. I do feel I have more to learn about enacting a true inquiry-based classroom, however. And I know that there are going to be times and lessons where I believe students should be actively involved in inquiry-based projects and if so, I would be very proud of them for their efforts. However, I would like to increase the times that this occurs and make my classroom into a place where students know they are going to question, explore and learn, and not just another stop on their school day schedule.

Briefly Describe The Long March and explain why it is an important event in Chinese History

In the summer of 1934, after suffering a string of defeats, the communist party and the Read Army decided to flee their southern bases and retreat. This retreat became known as the Long march. On the march the group endured 368 days of extreme hardship before they finally reached the caves of Yenan in Northern China. The Long March is recalled fondly with great idealism as a time when thousands of Chinese peasants selflessly volunteered to join the fight. The Long March is considered an important event in Chinese history for many reasons. It was very important for the CCP and Red army because communism survived and they found a new base.This new base was remote enough for the GMD to be unable to attack it, and was also safe from attack by the Japanese. This helped to increase the CCP’s standing in China even further. Another key impact of the Long March was that Moa Zedong was re-established as the unchallenged leader of the CCP. The cowardliness of his guerrilla tactics durin g the extermination campaigns had meant that he was replaced for a short time by Otto Braun. However Braun allowed the communists to carry too much equipment, and led the retreat in a straight line, making them slower and easier to attack.He was blamed for their huge losses, and leadership was soon handed back to Mao. After the success of the march, his tactics were forgotten and he was hailed as a great hero. The march also allowed many Chinese people to see the CCP as great heroes, and therefore increased support for them. The long march became part of Chinese Communist mythology. Many paintings were produced showing Mao marching at the head of the column over the mountains of Western China. This opinion really boosted support for communism and many people began to agree with their policies over those of Chaing’s and the GMD’s.During the Long March, Support for Communism was also increased by the good behaviour of the Red Army in the provinces they crossed. Their pos itive attitudes and fair morals impressed many local people, especially peasants, who were more inclined to support the CCP. Their rules to speak politely, pay fairly, not to hit or swear, not to take liberties with woman and not to ill-treat prisoners greatly contrasted with the brutal and cruel treatment of the locals by the GMD armies, who captured, starved and murdered anyone who had any connection to communism.The Long march was not at all as idealistic as it seemed in reality, thousands of communists were wounded, killed, starved or froze to death. However, today it is not seen as a failure for the CCP, but is instead hailed as an important event in the survival and establishment of the communist government, leadership and support in China and a key event in Chinese History.