Igneous Rock and Yosemite National Park Essay Example for Free

Igneous Rock and Yosemite National Park Essay Yosemite National Park is without a doubt, one of America’s most beautiful and well-known parks. Due to the diversity of attractions the park offers, including high Sierra Peaks, the highest highway pass in California called the Tioga Pass, the Yosemite Valley, the Merced River, acres of high altitude backcountry, waterfalls, and some of the largest living things on earth in the sequoia groves tourists from all over the world visit. The most famous section in the park is Yosemite Valley, where El Capitan, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and other places to explore nature’s beauty lie. Yosemite Geography Yosemite National Park is located in the Central of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range in California. The park is 1,189 square miles, comparable to the size of the United State’s state of Rhode Island. Lakes, ponds, streams, hiking trails, and roads are some of the many features that attract tourists. Nearly all the landforms in the Yosemite area are cut from a mass of intrusive igneous rock that formed below the surface of the earth. Some of the park’s landforms are metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Erosion that acted upon different types of uplift is responsible for creating the valleys, canyons, domes and other features found in this national park. Some of the popular features Yosemite possess’ are Yosemite Valley—where the majority of visitors stay, the Tunnel View—which is the first view of the valley when visitors enter the park, El Capitan—a major granite cliff that oversees Yosemite Valley, and Sentinel Dome and Half Dome that offer a diverse range of climbing routes. Also found within the park are the breath-taking giant sequoia trees. Perhaps the most remarkable sequoia in the park is the Grizzly Giant, believed to be more than 2,700 years old and the oldest known sequoia tree. Yosemite is known for its high concentration of waterfalls. Hanging valleys in the park offer a place for waterfalls to exist. During the snowmelt season, April, May, and June, waterfalls are able to flourish. Yosemite has a Mediterranean climate, which means most of the precipitation falls during the mild winter and the other seasons are considerably dry. Snow doesn’t stay on the ground until November, and then accumulates until March, when it begins to melt. There is a large temperature range due to elevation diversity and global warming. History of Yosemite The Yosemite National Park is located in Sierra Nevada in the east-central part of California. The Park is widely spread area of 750,000 acre, with streams that are 1,600 miles long, hiking trails that are 800 miles and the roads that extend up to 350 miles. Yosemite Fall is the highest waterfall in North America, it is considered as the third of the highest waterfall on planet Earth. Another important factor of Yosemite Park would be the numerous of species it contains. Over 300 species of animals can be found in the park. Yosemite is known for its spectacular attractions such as high Sierra Peaks, the highest highway pass in California, the Yosemite Valley, Merced River, and many acres of high altitude backcountry, some of the highest waterfall in the world. Plants are also really high at the Park. Some reaching altitudes from 2,000 feet to the peak of Mr. Lyell. 94. 5% of the park’s 747,956 acres is officially classified as wilderness. Moreover, that is one of the main reasons why the park is now protected by the state. One of the very first people to live in Yosemite would be the Paiute and the Sierra Miwok people. They were in the area for a long time before the first white explorations were done in the region. This people were a band of Native Americans called the Ahwahneechee. During the mid 19th century, The California Gold Rush radically increased travel in the area. While the major Jim Savage of the United States Army led the Mariposa Battalion into the west end of Yosemite Park, Chief Tenaya gathered around 200 ahwahneechees as part of the Mariposa Wars. The discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada brought many gold seekers to the area. In 1855, James Mason Hutchings and Thomas Ayres along with two others were the first tourists in the area. Much of the publicity about Yosemite Park was due to Hutchings and Ayers’s articles and magazine issues about the valley. Many of Ayres artwork was exhibited in New York City where many people were able to see it and admire it. During the years of 1855 and 1860, tourism increased dramatically in the valley. The Yosemite National Park has 3. 5 million tourists every year. According to the readings, tourists prefer to visit during the summer. In the early years, most visitors went to Yosemite via horseback and stagecoach. In addition, more trails were built creating more publicity to the park. As tourist explore and visited the park, word spread around about how beautiful the park was therefore more tourist would go visit. Wawona was an Indian encampment what is now the southwestern part of the park. The Mariposa Grove of Gian Sequoia was discovered by the settler Galen Clark in 1857. In 1879, the Wawona Hotel was built for the tourists visiting. As the number of tourists increased, more trails and hotels were built to accommodate those visitors. The Yosemite Park has a great history behind it as to how it came to be what it is now. Also, it contains many species within which has been hard to conserve of not going extinct. As more toursist came to the park, more problems aroused within the valley debating who would get to keep what or whose property it was. Since Yosemite had plenty of gold which meant a better way of life for those who were able to obtain some of it, the competition increased and therefore more visitors came to the land. Yosemite National Park is a beautiful place to visit with the family or friends since it has such a great history within of struggles and fights put up to conserve the land as it is. Biology of Yosemite The biology of Yosemite is very diverse. During a trip to Yosemite, it is interesting to learn how many different species of animals choose Yosemite as their habitat. Encounters are likely because Yosemite National Park supports more than 400 species of animals counting reptiles, amphibians, fish, mammals, and birds. The high diversity of species is because of diverse habitats in Yosemite that are very much intact. The park’s rich habitats range from thick foothill chaparral to expanses of alpine rock to conifer forests. (Kaiser 81) Animals feel very much at home; the Sierra Nevada red fox, for instance, hunts in open alpine habitat and hides at night into the forest for safety. In Yosemite meadows; Animals come to feed on the green grasses and use the flowing and standing water found in the many meadows. Predators evidently are attracted to these areas. The surface between meadow and forest is also favored by many animal species because of the closeness of open areas for gathering food, and cover for protection. Overall, the parks widespread coniferous forests, with a relatively mild climate and a mixture of plant species provide a great habitat for animals to live. Wildlife species typically found include: bobcat, gray fox, mountain king snake, Gilberts skink, white-headed woodpecker, brown creeper, spotted owl, and a wide variety of bat species. At higher elevations, fewer wildlife species tend to be found due, in part, to the lower complexity of the forest. Species likely to be found include golden-mantled ground squirrel, chickaree, marten, Stiller’s jay, hermit thrush, and northern goshawk. Reptiles are not common but include rubber boa, western fence lizard, and alligator lizard. Above tree line, the climate becomes harsh with a short growing season. Species such as pika, yellow-bellied marmot, white-tailed hare, Clarks nutcracker, and rosy finch are adapted to these conditions. Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep are found in the Yosemite area only around Tioga Pass. (Kaiser 97) With development and an increase in domestic travel after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, visits to the Park are increasing. The Park sees 3. 5 million visitors annually. Thirty years ago, 80 percent of Yosemites visitors stayed overnight; now, its 80 percent day-use. Roads and facilities have been increased to keep pace with growing amount of visitors. Development continues to intrude on park boundaries, bringing new housing projects and commercial construction and thousands more people. The newly opened Chukchansi Casino, one of the states largest, is just 30 miles down the road, advertising with billboards throughout the area: Now, Yosemite has a night life. And with the recently approved Silvertip Resort Village, a 47-acre commercial and residential complex slated to go up in the tiny park border town of Fish Camp. (Kaiser 90) Noise pollution from vehicles and campsites compete with the Parks natural noises. Buildings, roads, and parking lots have marred the aesthetic beauty of the Valley, while visitors are often stuck in traffic hoping to find a parking spot. Visitors, destroying natural habitats, have eroded areas of riverbanks close to campsites. The importance of tourism to the local economy can be illustrated by the impact of the catastrophic 1997 floods that temporarily closed the Park. This caused Eroded riverbanks near campsites locally severe economic losses to the areas around the Park. In the most heavily impacted area, Mariposa County, 1997 personal income was reduced by an estimated US$1,159 per capita, a 6. % decline. The county was also estimated to have lost US$1. 67 million in county occupancy and sales tax revenues, and 956 jobs, a significant number in a county of fewer than 16,000 residents. Also, The Ahwahneechee indigenous Indians have not received any compensation in the form of money or land for their loss of the Yosemite area in 1851. (Kaiser 105) Geology of Yosemite The geology of Yosemite National Park is a very beautiful place that been evolving for many of years. The geology of Yosemite is mainly consisting of rocks and waterfalls. The main rocks are granitic rocks and metamorphic rocks. Ice Ages were the main causes for Yosemite Park or should I say California because the Ice Ages brought glaciers that carved out California. In Yosemite Park, it shows how the glacial have move and creating Yosemite Lake too. It created a lot of homes for the animals that are living in the park and became big attractions for visitors all around the world. The volcano in Yosemite Park erupted and the lava cause to make igneous rocks because of the cooling and solidification of the lava. Also the lava formed other rocks like granite and tonality are all form of plutonic rock, but also referred to as granitic rocks (Yosemite National Park). Plutonic rocks are compress with five minerals (Yosemite National Park). The plutonic rocks were formed by magma and are form deep within the Earth. When a volcano erupts, some lava reaches the Earth surface and the lava starts to cool or solidify, but there are a few volcanic igneous rocks in Yosemite. The volcanic rocks in Yosemite Park include basalt and latte lava flows and outside has the same, but some called ash-flow and more (Yosemite National Park). The tectonic in North America cause the ocean to decrease lowers forming California. It was change in plate motion, the oceanic plate was sub ducted beneath the Sierra Nevada and was consumed into the seduction zone (Huber). The Pacific plate became a fault, which made the San Andreas Fault. It is when a tectonic plate slide past each other along a strike-slip faults (Huber). So, when seduction happen, California land start to rise up from the ocean forming island, then finally connect to North America. As water started to decrease in California, volcanoes again became active. Yosemite was buried by lava creating more land for California. The Earth is made up of 20 massive plates that float on the surface of the planet and the Pacific plate is the largest. Activities The sculpture of the Yosemite Park was by glaciers because the northern hemisphere was covered in ice. The glacier made a u-shaped valley and a lot of lakes. For California final shaping and sculpting was during the Pleistocene Epoch time. The glaciers melt and the water moved across the land and started to make how California looks today. A lot of environment was getting destroyed and use for resource. People didn’t want everything destroy, so they manage to save some environment and made them national parks. One of them is Yosemite National Park. People come and visit or camp to go site seeing in the park. There are many activities the park offer. One of them is hiking in the park. They offer tour guides that take you on hiking trips that can last a full day. People can stay overnight and continue they’re hiking and see great sites. Also you can bring your bike and take a trail and then a short hike (Yosemite National Park Vacation). More activities are offer in Yosemite Park like is rock climbing. They have trainers that teach you how to rock climb and teach you about all the gears you need. They also offer classes for beginners and train you. The trainers can take you, where you want to go and guide you to climb the rocks. There is a lot of winter activities, you can ski or snowboard (Yosemite National Park Vacation). They also offer school for skiing and have shuttle that take you up the mountain and go downhill schilling. They have cross-country, snow tubing, and back country ski tours. Yosemite Park has about 13 campgrounds and you can do the traditional and camp outside in a RV camping area. You can stay in the wilderness and camp outside in a tent or stay in a cabin. They also offer a lot of place to stay like a hotel, village, and lodge. You can even camp out on the High Sierra camping ground (Yosemite National Park Vacation). Conclusion Yosemite Park is a beautiful and wonderful place to visit. You can plan your visit, by visiting the website and also letting you know about the parks and some facts. There are many things to see like the park attractions, natural features, plants, and animals (Yosemite National Park Vacation). It is fun for the family and the waterfalls draw most of the visitors. One of the awareness in the park is the black bear. The weather tends to vary depending on where you are in the park.

Reflecting On Ones Practice Nursing Essay

Reflecting On Ones Practice Nursing Essay Striving to become better at what one does entails reflecting on both the positive things that one has achieved and the mistakes committed in the process of performing ones duties and responsibilities. Reflective practice focuses on the learning that has evolved and correcting what has been done wrong. This essay assesses my professional, clinical development through an analytical reflection from a patient seen in the Emergency Care Centre (ECC), as part of the holistic health assessment module. The assessment model used in the consultation will be examined, together with theoretical and evidence based practice, and how this has helped developed my approach, linking decision-making and best practice outcomes. Following Gibbs (1988) model of reflection, I shall establish the integration between theory and practice. This model identified six stages involved in reflective practice where at each stage the I would ask myself a number of questions leading to the final stage of an action plan. It begins with selecting a critical incident to reflect upon followed by keen observing and describing of the incident, then analyzing my experience. This is followed by interpreting the experience and exploring alternatives leading up to an action plan. This is is a cyclical process which enables continual retrospective reflection. II. Reflective Practice Reflective practice has been a key underpinning of qualified nurses since the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) (1992) required them to keep a professional portfolio. As professionals, we are accountable for our ongoing learning and self development, providing the best care to our patients. To ensure this, we need to focus on our actions and skills to be able to meet the demands of patients, colleagues and professional bodies. In order to be reflective practitioners, we need to be reflective thinkers. Reflective thinking is thinking that is aware of its own assumptions and implications as well as being conscious of the reasons and evidence that support the conclusion (Lipman, 2003, p.26). John Dewey defined reflective thinking as an active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusion to which it tends (cited in Martin, 1995, p.167) . Reflective thinking leads one to be more self-aware so he can develop new knowledge about professional practice. Reflective practice has been recognised to be an important tool for professional development. Rowls and Swick (2000) agree and observed that practitioners who regularly reflected enabled them to develop their skills and the way they deal with patients. Schunk and Zimmerman (1998) describe how a self- reflective practice allows us to monitor, evaluate and adjust our performance during learning. Adjusting strategies based on assessment on our learning helps to achieve the goal of learning and identifying the activities well suited to our situations (Schunk Zimmerman, 1998). However, practitioners often found the process quite time consuming and there was a greater fear of becoming introspective or being critical of oneself too much in practice. It is likely that one can be too engrossed in his reflection that he gets to neglect the delivery of a great work performance. Schons theory outlines two different types of reflection that occur at different time phases: reflection on action (Schon 1983) and reflection in action (Schon 1983). Reflection in action is often referred to the colloquial phrase as thinking on your feet a term used to being able to assess ourselves within a situation, making appropriate changes and still keeping a steady flow in the process. Reflection on action is when reflection occurs after the event. This is where the practitioner makes a deliberate and conscious attempt to act and reflect upon a situation and how it should be handled in the future (Loughran 1996). This means while performing a professional task, and one keeps thinking if what he is doing is right, he is doing reflection-on-action. After the task, he gets to evaluate what he has done right or wrong, and at that point, he is engaging in reflection-in-action. I am aware that I practice both kinds in my profession. However ,Fry, Ketteridge and Marshall (2003) seem to take a balanced view and define reflection to be an integration of existing knowledge and new knowledge. This implies that as a reflective practitioner, I should always evaluate if my current knowledge is still applicable, and in updating myself, should be able to incorporate my new learning with what I already know. My Own Practice I have been an Emergency Nurse Practitioner for the past 6 years. My task was mostly seeing patients in the emergency setting with minor injuries. I took this course to gain further knowledge and revise what needs to be improved in what I previously learnt during my 15 years as a nurse. Basically, I assess patients with localized problems (i.e, sprained ankles, lacerations, painful joints, minor head injuries etc.). I found it very daunting having to deal with the person as a whole again and investigate multiple systems (respiratory, cardiac, muscular, etc). Having attended tutorials regarding the assessment of these systems using the inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation (IPPA) methods, I was eager to practice what I have learned and felt ready to assess a patient. Reflecting on Ones Practice In the tradition of Gibbs (1988) reflective practice, the first step is concentrating on one particular example from my own work experience. One incident that is worth reflecting on was my encounter with a patient with left-sided chest pain. I immediately thought that the patient was suffering from cardiac chest pain, but upon further examination, I found out that the patient actually had a recent chest infection which was treated by a GP with antibiotics. The chest infection was resolved, but the patient was left with residual chest pain. It turns out that it was mild pleuritic chest pain after all. In this incident, I initially felt confident in my diagnosis of cardiac chest pain due to my years of experience as an emergency nurse. Such vast experience exposed me to a variety of symptoms and its diagnosed illnesses. My confidence also came from having attended enough tutorials regarding the assessment of symptoms manifested by different body systems. Upon reading the patients notes, the symptom of left-sided chest pain immediately made me conclude that it was cardiac chest pain. I know that merely reading the patients notes is not enough in coming up with conclusive diagnosis. The clinical evaluation may include the basic inspection, palpation (feeling with the hands), percussion (tapping with the fingers), and auscultation (listening) (IPPA) (The Free Dictionary, 2013); CURB 65, which is a simple well-validated tool for the assessment of severity in community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is another essential evaluative method in checking the presence of a deadly respiratory diseas e. The Ohio State University College of Medicine (2012) shares its guideline in the use of this approach. CURB is short for checking the patients confusion, blood urea nitrogen, respiratory rate, and systolic blood pressure. If the patient seems to be delirious or confused, then he is given a score of 1 on the confusion item. If his blood urea nitrogen value is greater or equal to 20 mg/dL, then it also garners a score of 1. A respiratory rate that is more or equal to 30 breaths/minute is also credited for 1 point. The same is true for the systolic blood pressure if it is less than 90 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure less than or equal to 60. If the patient is 65 years old and above, then it also gains 1 point. Computing all the points, if the patients score is 0 or 1, then he can safely be treated as an outpatient. However, a score of 2 may indicate that he needs closer supervision when receiving outpatient treatment, or he may be recommended for inpatient observation admission. Most of the time if the collated score of the patient is 3, 4 or 5, then this usually means the patient needs to be confined to inpatient treatment (Ohio State University College of Medicine, 2013). Clinical judgment of the professional is necessary for a decision to be made for the patient. (Karmakar Wilsher, 2010). Still another evaluative method in examining the patient is the Pulmonary Embolism rule-out Criteria (PERC) (Hugli et al., 2011). The thorough process it entails determines if there is a potentially life-threatening cause of chest pain which may include pulmonary embolus, acute coronary syndrome, aortic dissection or tension penumothorax (King et al., 2012, para.3). If the patients chest pain becomes worse when he is applied deep inspiration and recumbency, then it is likely that it is due to a pleuritic cause. With Gibbs reflection model, so far, the first three steps of identifying a critical incident, observing and describing of the incident have already been done. Now comes analyzing my experience. Triage notes stated a 57 year old female who was suffering from left sided chest pain. Observations were blood pressure ; 184/78, pulse ; 74, respiratory rate; 16, saturations on O2; 98%. I had decided to take this patient and perform an assessment on her. The immediate thoughts were of cardiac chest pain as it was stated to be left sided in nature. Since starting the health assessment module the cardiac patient was the system I was least confident in, in the assessment process. I was anxious before seeing the patient. I had concluded that she was suffering from a cardiac chest pain, and imagined her to be requiring some form of intervention from the cardiac team. However, when meeting the patient and gaining further medical history it was clear that she was in fact a stable patient with a different complaint from my first impression. She had recently been treated for a chest infection by her GP, she had undergone a course of anitbiotics, amoxicillin 500mg for 1 week, after which she had felt much better, but over the following week had been left with a residual left sided chest pain which was worse on deep inspiration. She had initially had an expectorating cough, which had now resolved to an occasional dry cough. After a thorough assessment including IPPA, baseline observations, chest x ray, bloods including D Dimer, full blood count, UEs, cardiac enzymes, and a Wells score to rule out PE, the patient was diagnosed with pleuritic chest pain or pleurisy by the Doctor. (see appendix 1) Initially, I was uncomfortable evaluating the patients condition because it was my first patient with a cardiac problem.Throughout the assessment process I felt uneasy with the knowledge that I had initially made a judgement about the patient without even meeting her. It made me revise my approach to patients as a whole and not jump to conclusions before all avenues had been investigated. I was humble enough to accept my mistake when it was confirmed that it was a mild pleuritic chest pain, garnering from the information from further examination and history taking. I felt the need to read up on cardiac chest pain and push myself into seeing patients with that particular problem so that I can overcome my apprehensions. Next in Gibbs model is the interpretation of my experience. The interpretation of the patients condition from the initial triage notes made me aware of myself making a judgement before setting eyes on the patient. This concerned me and made me question my actions. I understood that I was nervous and uneasy at the thought of assessing a patient unaccompanied, and with hindsight put too much pressure on myself regarding responsibility and duty of care. I recognised the need for me to understand that I was gaining knowledge and skills as part of the degree module that I was completing, this didnt require me to diagnose the clinical conditions of the patients, but facilitated in the learning process of assessment skills and putting into place ideas of diagnosis / differential diagnosis. It also made me reflect on my thought processes regarding making snap judgements without gaining further information. The last stage in Gibbs model entails creating an action plan. The experience I have just analyzed made me realize that the current knowledge and experience I currently have are not enough. I need to learn to be more open in my evaluation of the patients symptoms, and hold my judgment until I have completed the necessary information derived from both examination tests and consulting the medical history of the patient. The fast rate of change in the medical field necessitates health practitioners like me to constantly update myself of current trends and the latest methodologies in nursing care. I should also remind myself all the time that the patients welfare comes way before my own ego in terms of priority. Conclusion Through reflective evaluation I was able to adjust the way I assessed patients with chest pain. I relaxed considerably more and let myself enjoy the assessment process. I was able to consolidate the new skills I had learnt and put in place a methodical process of evaluating differential diagnosis. I understood that the official diagnosis was going to be made by the Doctors mentoring my practice which considerably lessened the pressure I put on myself. Through this reflective process it became evident that good and bad working practice can be monitored and evaluated. Mistakes can be avoided and good working practice can be upheld. Although the feelings initially were disheartening, support from colleagues and my own learning outcomes have helped me progress and develop my skills of assessment. As Atkins and Murphy (2003) suggest that reflection should be made in times of uncomfortable feelings and thoughts surrounding a situation.

Galileo Galilei Essay -- The Tower of Pisa, On Motion

Galileo Galilei Galileo Galilei was born in the City of Pisa on February 15, 1564. Sir Galileo is the oldest out of his seven siblings (Hightower 10-11). The father of his, is a musician and a wool trader ("Galileo Galilei" par 1-3). As a boy he enjoyed music and painting. He was very intelligent for this age and he constructed mechanical toys for his own merriment (Hightower 10-11). His studies started at a Jesuit Monastery about at age eleven. By the time of age seven-teen he told his father that he wanted to be a monk. Due to his father's wishes he went to medical school, taken out because he didn't want Galileo as a monk ("Galileo Galilei" par 1-3). While in medical school he did poorly and thought his classes were boring. Later he dropped out and studied science and math with many people (Lauber par 3-4). Then he studied much more objects in his lifetime and loved to learn (Hightower 10-14). Soon he achieved this college education but didn’t get a degree (â€Å"Galileo Galilei† p ar 1-3). In the time when he was studying medicine, he made a very important science discovery that started his career. One day at church service on Sunday he looked up at a lamp and the lamp was swinging on a long cord back and forth. Its swing was very regular and he used his own pulse to measure the sing. He noticed even as the swing grew shorter the amount of time for a single was the same. Later he went home and conducted many experiments with different lengths and weights. Then he concluded that the string length affected the swing. Soon he created the pendulum and used the same principle to make a pulsilogia which is a device that measures your pulse (Hightower 17-20). Galileo's success didn't stop there. Just as like many other people Gal... ...o studied magnetism and perfected the compound microscope (Lauber 9-14). Galileo Galilei didn't stop with astronomy after the Pope made him stop and later he was put under house arrest for this. While under house arrest he died and was forgiven much later about this astronomy work by another Pope in the future which was emend. As a lifetime being a scientist he linked physics and astronomy with math, made a book of freedom of the scientific inquiry called Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences, and correctly defined uniform acceleration. He also set forth laws of falling bodies, devolved the mathematical theory of projectile motion, expressed numerous ideas about sound, heat, and light, the relation of mathematics to physics, role of experiment, and the problems of infinite signals in analysis of matter and motion (Drake par 1).

When Modernist Tools Go PoMo Essay -- Internet Style Essays

When Modernist Tools Go PoMo Since the internet is a tool largely founded in modernist thought it possesses the ability to eradicate social and historical diversity of style in composition. However, due to the shift of thought entailed in Postmodernism, and the fact that making a website grows easier every day, the shift towards global uniformity of style might be slowing or even reversing. A variety of examples support the argument that the internet is, in fact, not restricting or reducing the development of diversity within composition, but rather is promoting diversity and enforcing the Postmodernist concept of a convoluted reality that defies attempts at classification. To fully understand the assertions made it is important to understand the differences between Modernist and Postmodernist thought, and to know what is meant by cultural and historical diversity of style in composition. Simply put, Modernist theory states that the ideal form is that of a machine. To Modernists, everything is seen in terms of the machine; everything can be observed within the extent of means for conversion of an input or stimulus to an output or reaction. Once viewed this way, the essence of all objects lies in their utilitarian function, and once utilitarianism is the standard by which all things are measured the need for diversity is non-existent. Then, when the assertion is made and substantiated that the internet is in essence a product of this mindset , it can be seen how it can be considered a tool facilitating standardization and the formation of a single universal style for composition. The purpose of this destruction of diversity is for utilitarian efficiency and common understanding. Postmodernism is best understood as ... ...ons. The goal of these sites is stated to be the opposite of what is considered the correct or standard style of composition, and so they fall under the concept of taboo sites that do not conform to standards. Ultimately, the internet is different from the previous forms of mass communication because it exists in a different social context. Thus, it is evident that the internet is considerably more Postmodernist in nature, despite the fact that it is steeped in Modernist foundations of organization and intent. Due to the internet’s origins in Modernist thought it definitely possesses the capabilities to further the Modernist concept of an absolute standardization of style in composition. But as long as the internet remains easily accessible to the general public and open as a forum for international interaction the possibilities for diversity of style are endless.

Biological And Physical Process Of Aging Essay -- essays research pape

The aging process is difficult to analyze because of the way that the body’s organ systems work together. The breakdown of one structure will ultimately affect the function of others. The medical field of gerontology deals with examining the biological changes of aging, both passive and active, that occur at the molecular and cellular levels. This paper will seek to explore those changes, and the affect that they have on the process of aging. Aging as a passive process involves the breakdown of structures and the resulting slowing of functions. At the molecular level, passive aging is seen as the degeneration of the elastin and collagen proteins of connective tissues. These proteins are primarily responsible for the smoothness and firmness of young skin. Consequently, when these proteins breakdown, the skin will sag, and the muscle will lose its firmness. Another sign of passive aging is the breakdown of lipids at the biochemical level. As aging membranes leak during this lipid degeneration, a fatty, brown pigment known as lipofuscin accumulates. As this happens, the mitochondria, or the â€Å"powerhouse of the cell† begins to break down, thereby decreasing the amount of energy that is being supplied to the cell. This cellular degeneration may be set into action by highly reactive chemicals known as free radicals. These molecules have an unpaired electron in the outermost valence shell. This causes the molecule to grab electrons from other molecules, setting into motion a chai...

Play Observation Essay

Kiahi a boy of about 3 years old was playing alone stood on a small hill of dirt , at first it looked like her was just looking at the other kids play. When I kept looking at him to see if he was just going to continue to doing nothing, but watch the other children I noticed that he was standing there like a solider tall and with determination on his face. With his hand to his forehead looking about as the other children ran around. After a while I see that he is pointing to his class mates at random and looks to be giving directions, more like orders, of some sort, although no one is paying attention. After giving off orders in a solider like manner he nods his head, as though satisfied with himself and his team though it was just him playing, and pulls out some kind of black/sliver rectangular key chain object out of his shirt pocket. He clicks on it, as if it had buttons, brings it up to his ear and talks and nods, he’s using it as a cell phone. After he is done he clicks i t again to end the call and puts it back to his pocket. Then he just runs off the hill and goes plays at the play structure, as if what he just did never happened. At first I thought Kiahi was engaging in unoccupied play, because to me it looked as if he was doing nothing at all but just looking at what everyone else was doing. As I kept observing him it looked to him that his was doing solitary play. Playing out a role of someone with authorization giving out orders, and taking calls. It was solitary because no one else was engaging with him in is play even though he pointed out to other kids when giving off orders no one paid him attention. Sophia a girl of about 4 years old with a temperament of a being shy and quite, wasn’t playing with anybody else. She was reluctant to join anybody for play. After a while Sophia looks to have acquired a play mate Elena a soft spoken 3 years old, though in some occasions I did hear her be a little louder towards other kids, they are playing in the sand box. It looks like they are playing kitchen; cooking, serving, cutting and cleaning. Throughout the play not a word was spoken, but they seemed to communicate in their own silent way. After a while Sophia and Elena moved to play with the balls, when Sophia would turn her back on the ball and it rolled away from her instead of calling out to Sophia to get the ball Elena runs after the ball and gives it back to Sophia in her hands and points to the baskets behind her. In a silent gesture to throw the ball at the basket. I found these  girls interesting because I’ve observed them for a while during the morning time when dropped off up until free play outside. I know for a fact that both girls speak Elena even yells at times when kids don’t pay attention for following the rules. Sophia is new to the pre-school program at Head Start and cries when her Mom, as Ms.Perla informed me, leaves her but just for a few minutes. It takes Sophia a few hours to get into play with actual words being spoken. Elena is a sweet little that separated from her little group of friends to play with Sophia and to me it looked as if Elena understood Sophia not wanting to speak, seeing as Elena ever attempted to say a single word to her. At first Sophia was engaging in solitary play, playing on her own on the play structure. In the sand box Sophia and Elena cooperative playing, even though they didn’t say a word, the worked together to prepare, cook and serve a meal and clean up after they were done. They had a common goal in playing kitchen. After that they played with the balls which turned to associative play still playing together but without a common goal because Sophia wasn’t as engaged as Elena in trying to play basketball.

Behavioral Theories of Learning

Skinner’s terminology provides that positive reinforcers are any form of encouragement like rewards, awards and goals and positive reinforcement is the act itself of receiving the reward or achieving the goal (Skinner B. F. , 1969). The definitions of operant conditioning provide that negative reinforcement is a mode of behavioral theory that as a result of experiencing a negative condition, a particular behavior is enhanced, strengthened or emphasized. (http://www. mcli. dist. maricopa. edu/proj/nru/opcond. html, 1999).A good example of positive reinforcement inside a classroom would be a teacher giving extra credits for students who would achieve a certain high average. How is this positive reinforcement? Students will become motivated to excel and give extra effort to achieve the award and in the process they get to learn more ultimately benefiting them in the end. A pre-school teacher giving candy to the brave little girl who will not cry and back out of her first day in s chool is also an instance of positive reinforcement.The school board giving an award or an additional benefit for the teacher of the month, this is another example of a positive reinforcement. Why is that? By promising to give a little extra something, the school encourages the teachers to improve their over-all teaching performance and by doing so, they are encouraging a little friendly competition among fellow educators. The learning curve is sure to climb the charts if all the teachers and students are motivated. How will that be achieved? It is simple.The teachers will be inspired to think of innovative teaching methods that will be effective on students and in turn the students learn more. Some teachers are not as approachable as others that is the reason why students don’t ask questions even though they did not fully understand the subject matter, as a solution, they can make themselves available to students for consultation. As a result, the school’s educational framework benefits because of cooperation and communication. Everybody gets a special kind of something in the end.The key word in positive reinforcement is benefit. One way or another, everyone receives something beneficial to himself and to others as well. An example of negative reinforcement inside the four corners of the classroom would be a teacher who warns students that if they fail the exam they would get an automatic failing grade. This is negative reinforcement because if a student wants to avoid getting a failing grade, he would study. His studying habits will be strengthened as a consequence of being threatened of getting a failing grade.The application of negative reinforcement can be most usually seen in the fields of education and reform. The use of fines, imprisonment is one such example of the use of negative reinforcement to warn of the negative consequences of associating with social ills (Skinner,1953). Negative Reinforcement as compared to punishment strengthen s a behavior because a negative condition is stopped or avoided as a result of such behavior while the latter weakens a behavior because of the introduction of a negative condition as a result of the behavior (mcli. dist.maricopa. edu, 1999). An example of punishment is when a student is caught cheating by his professor, the consequence would be detention or suspension. Another demeanor of a student which is very suitable for punishment is bribing a teacher in order for him to get an â€Å"A†. This offense should be dealt with seriously because it can affect the educational system not to mention the character and reputation of the school. Punishment endeavors to make the person realize the intensity of the offense that was committed and for him to reflect on his actions.All these will be in vain if an important goal of punishment is not achieved, which goal is for the person not to repeat the same offense ever again. The application of these kinds of reinforcement depends upo n the situation and the individual upon whom these will be enforced. Imagine expelling a student for being caught littering inside the school grounds. The use of these types of reinforcements would vary not only because of a particular scenario but the attitude and intent of the person involved would have to be taken into consideration as well. In positive and negative reinforcement, the responses and effects are unpredictable.The effect would be of course either positive or negative as well. Positive outcome results when the desired response or behavior is achieved by using a certain kind of reinforcement, however, this desired outcome is not always achieved. For instance, in positive reinforcement, the aim is improvement and encouragement but the psyche of the person being motivated or encouraged does not depend on the positive reinforcer. For instance, no matter what benefit the teacher promises the student but the latter is not moved by it, there would be no positive result.The results in negative reinforcement, the aim of which is education or reform, will not be accomplished when the expected reaction or behavior is not achieved. As in the example given above, when a teacher suspends or sends a student in detention for cheating but the latter does it again, negative outcome results. In the field of education, positive or negative enforcement or even punishment may be associated with each other not only because they are modes to elicit a certain response from a student but because of the result they so aspire.The means may be different but the desired end to be achieved is the same; to maximize the learning potential and more importantly to mold the student’s behavior for the better. References Skinner B. F. , 1969, Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. Retrieved 04/03/09 from http://www. freeonlineresearchpapers. com/ Macopa Center for Learning and Instruction Retrieved 04/03/09 from http://www. mcli. dist. maricopa. edu/proj/nru/opcond. html Skinner B. F. , 1953, Science and Human Behaviour, New York: Macmillan. Retrieved 04/03/09 from http://www. freeonlineresearchpapers. com/