Role of Education in 21st Century

Role of education in 21st  century Long, long ago, Newton had said that he was ‘like a child, who is  picking pebbles at sea-shore while the great ocean of knowledge lies before me’. Since then, knowledge has grown enormously at  a much faster speed than human ability to cope with it. Technological advancements of twentieth century, especially during post 1970? s due to revolution in the field of information technology, have changed the whole scenario. Entering into world of knowledge is like going into a dense forest. Only way out is to develop clarity of thought/mind, as to what one wants to know  and make sincere efforts to  pursue relevant knowledge in that specific area. Also it is equally important to upgrade knowledge continuously. As  Alvin Toffler, renowned writer has said, â€Å"The illiterate of twenty-first century will not be those who can not read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. † Purpose of education Unfortunately, meaning and purpose of literacy and education is misunderstood. Literacy does not merely mean the knowledge of three ‘R’s, nor does it  mean only academic or theoretical studies/knowledge leading to award of degrees. Increasing knowledge-base through available information is also  not the purpose of learning. Bookish-knowledge and award of degrees through formal education without effective training-systems neither serves  any purpose  nor led the people to get employed gainfully. As Khalil Gibran has said – knowledge, the object of knowledge and application of the knowledge – all the three are equally important for motivating to take a wise action. A little knowledge that acts is worth more than much knowledge that is inactive. One, whose knowledge is confined to books, cannot use his wealth of knowledge, whenever required. The scope of education – The scope of education is much broader. It is a continuous process. It means complete up-bringing of the individual starting from the childhood till end. In its wider sense, literacy and education embraces within itself reading, observation, thought and its application in real life situations. Within its jurisdiction, also comes formation of habits, manners, character, attitude and aptitude along with imparting knowledge. Learning at each and every stage of life increases knowledge-base, understanding and attitudes of a person. A well-planned and sound system of education inspires human beings to control their senses, mind and intellect, so that they could be adjusted better in real life’s environment. It guides people to achieve their goals within time and cost parameters and to channelize their efforts towards desired direction. In short, a sound education system imparts knowledge, shapes attitudes, cultivates skills and builds work habits of the people. Distinction between action, forbidden action, and in-action – Knowledge has  been considered essential for the purpose of giving activities, their due meaning and value. According to Hindu philosophy even a wise man may get puzzled without knowledge about do’s and don’ts. It is only after the acquisition of knowledge, that a person  understands the real nature of work and could distinguish correctly between action, forbidden action and in-action. India and its Education system High regard for knowledge- India has always given importance to and showed a high regards for knowledge, wisdom, virtues, characters and will power. According to Indian philosophy, ‘Wealth of knowledge is supreme among all forms of wealth’. (Vidya dhanam sarvadhana pradhanam). Therefore, knowledge is the greatest thing to be sought after. A human being is human because he has the organic capacity to think and seek knowledge. More importance to knowledge than wealth – Unlike India, in Western countries, more importance is being given to creation of wealth. Wealth is the ultimate aim of the people, yardstick of success and a status symbol. Traditional India was not so materialistic. Its systems had separated pursuit and achievement in knowledge from temptations of worldly comforts, wealth or power-politics. According to Indian philosophy, when a person runs blindly after money and forgets about the real purpose of knowledge, both wealth and knowledge vanishes from their lives. The only judicious way to generate wealth and gain power goes via the path of true knowledge. Knowledge as the base of ranking – Earlier the greatness of a person, institution or a nation was judged on the basis of the degree of righteousness and justice. Greatness of a nation was judged  with which its administration governed lives of the common men or their character. It was not on the basis of the size of a state, its military power  or its treasury/bank-balance. Similarly, in the society, a person or a caste was ranked on the basis of knowledge, iscipline and moral standards, and not on the basis of material success, muscle or money power or of having controlling  power over the destiny of common man. Respect for knowledgeable persons – In ancient India, apart from Brahmins, others were also paid respect  by the society  for their learning, character, spirituality and ability to guide  general masses. The system was quite liberal in this matter. It grace fully accepted the right and opportunity to get to the top from the humblest origin and earn the respect of the whole society. For example, Vashishtha, the principal of the conservative school of Brahmanism, was the son of Uravshi, a prostitute. Vishwamitra, the maker of the very Gayatri Mantra, the quintessence of the Vedic Brahmanism, was a Kshatriya. Aitreya, after whom the sacramental part of Rig-Veda is named as Aitreya Brahamana, was the son from a non-Aryan wife of a Brahman sage. Vyasa of Mahabharata fame was the son of a fish-woman (belonging to Mahr community – Dalit according to present standards and to which Dr Ambedkar, the messiah of Dalits belonged). Balmiki, an untouchable according to present standards, the original author of Ramayana, is highly respected all over India. None of them were not ashamed of  their origin. They still hold a very high position in general public minds. Close connection between Knowledge and hard work -For acquiring knowledge, training mind in a scientific manner and concentrating energies of mind, one has to struggle, work hard, make sincere efforts and face many challenges in life. Now-a-days, courage  to struggle or work hard is missing except in a few students, who still keep the fire of seeking knowledge burning all the time. Without hard-work, search for knowledge remains incomplete and superficial. In ancient India sages (Rishi-Munies) had worked day and night to acquire true knowledge. The love for knowledge inspired many students to walk from different parts of the country to centers of learning at that time like Taxila or Nalanda. A powerful Emperor, like Ashoka the great, thought it his duty, to bow before the monks â€Å"as a mark of my deep respect for their learning, wisdom and sacrifice. What matters in life, are not a person’s status or position, but his virtues and wisdom. Only when you have raised yourself up from ignorance, can you recognize the greatness of a few in a sea of humanity. † For creating modern civilization, sincere knowledge seekers in Western world also did not care for inconveniences or challenges. They had sacrificed their time (for about two centuries), energies and comforts in search of knowledge. Then only they could develop great modern scientific knowledge, technique and wealth. Education  in modern India Sixty four years after independence and self-rule, lliteracy-rate has gone up to 74% from 65%. For males it has risen to 82% from 75%, for females to 65% from 54%. In absolute number, the figure is alarming. No nation can afford to have a large number of its population to remain illiterate, ignorant and unskilled. Constraints That all is not well in education system in India – has been noted by distinguished academicians, policy-makers, political leaders, other eminent persons, commissions and committees. Now and then, they have pointed out its failures in one area or another. It has always been felt that Modern education has become increasingly unrelated to national needs and aspirations, insufficient, wasteful and dysfunctional. In addition to what constraints that have already  been  existing in the education system, many more external and internal problems,  paradoxes and constraints have cropped up. Some defects in modern education based on colonised British Grammer School type education, were pointed out by  Gandhiji like – * It is based upon foreign culture to the almost entire exclusion of the indigenous culture. It ignores the culture of heart and hand and confines itself simply to head * Real education is impossible through foreign medium. External Constraints – Externally, socio-economic and political pressures have violated its identity and autonomy. Some changes have taken place in the recent past in the character, role and inter-relationship of these main constituent of the national elites – the political executiv e, the legislators, the businessmen, the media persons, the organized workers, the surplus farmers and the bureaucrats. It brought into the forefront some undesirable social changes and political turmoil. It has affected adversely the whole atmosphere in the field of education as well. Population explosion has put a heavy pressure on present education system and its available infrastructure. Narrow loyalties, sectional interests and sub-cultures like – favoritism, nepotism and corruption have fast become an accepted way of life. Result is that communal, regional and caste conflicts and unhealthy ompetition between different powerful lobbies are increasing every day to have their exclusive hold on scarce resources available in the field of education or for power and pelf. Few persons and groups, who have the power in their hands, control almost every walk of national life and are working to deny justice to common men. The reflection of all these social evils is found in the educational system as well. Internal Constraints – Internally the system has been fractured along the lines of disci pline deteriorating standard of education in general and student sub-culture. Slowly but steadily, the education system lost its capacity to equip the younger generation with relevant knowledge and skills for enabling them to get gainfully employed and to perform their jobs with a sense of responsibility. It has failed to produce much-needed dynamism in youth as well. Now people have started questioning the legitimacy of a modern education system itself. Disintegrate society – Instead of being an instrument of social integration, education system divides people into two groups – ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. There is government or government aided schools that give education to poor masses. It is economical, but do not maintain good standard. On the other hand there are private schools, which caters mainly the needs of ‘Haves’, because it is very costly. Deteriorating standards – After independence, India is facing a rapid deterioration in standards of education. In the past, though education was thinly spread, it had maintained some standard. Now in an attempt to do quantitative expansion of education, quality of education suffered a lot. The examination and evaluation system tests only a narrow range of skills, especially those of memory. Standard of general education has deteriorated considerably and suffers from grave errors. In addition to it, there is lot of  interference and control of the government at every stage of the educational process. Unfit for original work – Education system in advanced countries makes student a lively, inquisitive and original thinking person. There, it has been able to develop certain special qualities  like regards for laws of the nation, awareness, contempt  for hypocrisy,  sympathy for  underdog and courage to resist cruelty or misuse of power and authority. An educated youth in India generally fails to display genuine social conscience. Store-house of information – Importance of information in knowledge, which provides the basis of all the thinking, cannot be denied. However, present education system at all stages of education, from preliminary through secondary right up-to the college stage makes mind a store-house of information/knowledge and discourages original thinking. It lays emphasis on giving students ready-made knowledge, systematically and neatly organized in the form of lessons, units and text book. English medium – English medium puts extra strain upon the nerves of students and makes them crammers, imitators and unfit for original work and thought. Masses remains deprived. System is producing mostly the youth, who are unable to express clearly in any language, including their own and lack woefully the competence and confidence to assume responsibilities. Higher secondary, the weakest link in Indian education system – Higher secondaryeducation is considered  to be insufficient and a weakest link in Indian education system. It needs sincere efforts to improve the Academic standards, curricula and methods of teaching at higher secondary level. In western countries the standard of higher secondary education is sufficiently high to ensure recruits of higher intellectual attainment to join various jobs at this stage. Degree-oriented: The whole system of education and employment is degree oriented. Degree is the master-key to a nice and respectable career giving status, authority and final reprieve from manual work. Such a narrow mind-set has put tremendous pressure on higher education system. A large number of new substandard and superfluous institutions are being created every day to meet the demand. Government also encourages mass entry into universities and colleges. Rush in institutions are of such students as well, who want degree as a passport and are not interested in studies. Such students seize every opportunity to spoil the academic atmosphere and breed indiscipline. Indiscipline- There is a growing unrest in the student community. Youth of the day want to be absolutely free from all compulsions. For them, discipline and observance of rules are supposed to be unnecessary and irrational. They have no respect for rules/discipline/morality or for elders, teachers or authority. Their interests lie in all that is sensuous, in material gains and in enjoying pleasures in life. Indiscipline in student’s world leads to chaos and violence. It makes people slaves of their weaknesses. Employability – One of the major aims of education is to make youth employable. At present it is difficult to find out and recruit well qualified persons for various jobs in government, public or private sectors. At pre-employment stage, education needs to be comprehensive in scope and sound in nature for making youth acceptable in job-market. It needs to be supplemented by rigorous foundation training telling the fundamentals of their specific jobs and inculcating in them relevant knowledge and skills, otherwise effectiveness, efficiency and quality of work gets a setback. At present, all the basics about their jobs are told to employees after their join work-force, which requires a much more massive effort in order to make employees do their jobs well. Unrealistic Manpower Assessment – Assessment of manpower requirement for economic growth is not done rationally according to national needs. After Independence, the need for technical people was felt and in recent past for management experts. The Government created large number of professional institutions in these areas without assessing the needs of the nation. It resulted in educated unemployment. A large number of scientists, doctors, engineer’s technicians and management graduates have to go abroad in search of suitable jobs. Therefore, for streamlining the performance of people at work after employment, most essential and fundamental requirement is that the character and scope of pre-employment educational system should be redesigned in such a way, that it could continuously provide men and women of vitality, vigor, initiative and imagination with intellectual accomplishments, qualifications and soundness of character needed in different disciplines and at different levels at job market. Where the fault lies? – For all these lacunas, students blame teachers, teachers blame students. Both together try to blame educationists. They, in turn, attack social system. The present system of education  can not be changed or improved overnight. It needs concentrated efforts of all – students, teachers and the society. Then only  a larger base of skilled and trained manpower could be created. Conclusion Rational thinking needs to be done about the real problems and the role of education in modern life after understanding its basics, fundamentals and aims correctly. The requirement of a university degree as a Passport for starting nice and respectable career (white collard jobs) has made a mockery of higher education. Such an attitude has by-passed the need to â€Å"educate all†, resulted in negligence of primary and higher secondary education and in over-crowding the institutions of learning. The stress on quantitative increase has subverted all the attempts to improve the quality of teaching and learning. It has led to continuous fall in the academic standards and students’ discipline, regional imbalances in the growth of educational institutions and politics in the temples of learning. In the present times of neck to neck competition, one should continuously upgrade knowledge. It is the best way to create a larger base of skilled and trained manpower. Education should  instill in students problem-solving attitude and develop the courage to meet the challenges of real life bravely. Instead of offering excuses or blaming others for one’s failures and dissatisfaction,  it should inculcate in students the spirit to face the difficult situations in life and make efforts to change  their destiny themselves. Education must teach people always try to have control over ones life’s situations and to stand up on his own feet rather than depending on others for moving forward. Success  in life depends on developing capacity and courage to take right decisions at right time. Only sound system of education and training  can provide a lasting solution for various problems, people are facing today. It  can lead the youth towards rational, positive and creative thinking. It would make youth capable to make right decision at right time, plan rationally about their career that would suit to their attitude and aptitude and to shoulder their responsibilities properly. It would enable them to act judiciously and promptly, give them courage to avoid out-dated traditions and dogmatic ways of doing things, courage to face realities and challenges.

Alvin Ailey †Cry Essay

Select TWO contrasting movement phrases. For each phrase: Describe the main motif identified Discuss the purpose of the motif within the context of the work Describe how the motif is manipulated and varied to create the phrase with respect to the elements of composition (space, time and dynamics) Analyse how the phrase contributes to the context of the work and why the choreographer selected this phrase to portray the intent of the work. Alvin Ailey’s renowned choreography, Cry, has become an outstanding success as he represents the hardships of black women that have endured years of slavery and hardship. The piece is a solo performance by Judith Jamison, created for â€Å"all black women everywhere – especially our mothers†[1], and has impacted audiences worldwide as he takes them on a touching journey of desolate misery, violent oppression and prideful joy. Ailey uses a variety of dance techniques and elements of dance to portray the suffering of slavery in the African society, including core motifs, costume, music, space, time and dynamics. The motifs presented are manipulated with these elements of dance to create phrases and portray the intent of the work, distinguishing the changes in mood and tone throughout the sections. Ailey has used various manipulations of motif to present his perception of the African American women who have endured years of slavery. Divided into three sections, the piece introduces the dancer in white costuming as she holds the main motif of the phrase, the white shawl. The dancer begins holding the shawl above her head with her arms outstretched, and brings it forward in front of her in a slow and sustained manner as the music begins to play. Holding it carefully across her body, the shawl can be seen as representative of her life and her values, and her use of slow and sustained dynamics symbolises the worth of the scarf. As she places the white fabric carefully downstage centre, she throws both sides of the scarf in opposite directions and swipes her hand over the scarf gently on a sagittal plane across her body, repeating the movement on either sides. The swiping  movements across her body are manipulated through the dance are manipulated as the movement is performed faster and with increased torso generated movement. The arm movements are also changed in direction as she reaches her arms above her and on a frontal plane. The arm movements in context can be viewed as a pleading for help and escape from the suffering of slavery. The motif of th e scarf or shawl is consistent as she expresses her exasperation behind the scarf, dancing centre stage and across its length. This suggests she is confined by her own body as she lives a life of slavery because of her ethnic background. The phrase continues as she picks up the scarf off the floor and falls to her knees, using the scarf to wipe the floor in a quick and staccato dynamic. This movement reflects her daily routine of hard work and oppression, and the use of sharp dynamics suggests her exasperation and need to escape from her confinement. The repetition of throwing either side of the scarf in opposite directions is repeated, and now followed by the lifting of the scarf in a vigorous and erratic manner. The repetition of this movement followed by the reaching suggests a new stage in her life as she proceeds to wrap the scarf around her body, lifting her torso and head in the process as she projects to the audience. The projection signifies pride within herself and her heritage, as the scarf is representative of her life and her values. Ailey furthermore underlines the pride of her heritage as she wraps the scarf around her head, as if to ‘wear’ her dignity and honour. The motif of the scarf th roughout this phrase has been manipulated to represent different things, such as her value of life, her struggles with slavery and her pride and honour of her heritage. Ailey uses repetition of movement and abstraction to portray her journey, using slow and sustained movements to represent the worth of the scarf as she is careful and wary as she holds in it front of her, and quick, vigorous movements to symbolise the exasperation and struggle of being a slave. The movement representation of African American women’s struggles can be contrasted to the first phrase of Section Three, in which Ailey uses movement to symbolise the ecstatic joy of overcoming oppression. The phrase begins with the dancer in a deep plie with back and head hunched over. From this position, the dancer proceeds to lift herself by performing a full-body roll up. Once she is standing tall and projecting to the audience with her head and torso lifted, the R&B song; ‘Right On. Be Free’ begins to play, immediately introducing a sense of  freedom and liberty. The dancers’ dynamics reflect the beat of the music, moving her hips and torso in a fast and jerky manner. This release of energy symbolises the joy of overcoming the oppression of slavery, and is used throughout the phrase in different manipulations. The first manipulation of the strong release of energy in the hips and torso is seen as the dancer throws her arms and legs in the air in dif ferent directions. This symbolises the boiling sensation of joy and happiness has overcome the dancer entirely and is now moving freely without limitations. The pathways used in this phrase are unsystematic as she moves around the stage randomly and without any sense of order, although her use of levels is mostly high and projected above her as if to praise and cheer in her newfound freedom. The second manipulation of the torso generated movements can be seen in the circular leaps and turns across the stage. This, in conjunction with the continuous torso generated movements reinforces the liberty of movement as she excitedly turns and pirouettes around the stage. The repetition of the torso generated movements and reaching of the arms above her highlights the will to endure the years of slavery in order to achieve freedom, and the success in that particular endeavour. The dancer is once again dancing behind the scarf laid out in front of her, in which before symbolised the confinement of her own body, but with the contrasting music and overall tone of this phrase through her use of dynamics, it is now symbolising the acceptance of her turbulent history and the pride she has with overcoming it. This phrase is important as Ailey uses it to communicate the meaning it had within the African-American women and how the slavery has impacted them emotionally, using fast, jerky d ynamics in contrast with the slow and sustained burden and heaviness of the slavery. In conclusion, Alvin Ailey’s Cry successfully represents the hardships and struggles of the African-American slaves through his use of dance techniques and elements of dance, as he manipulates motif and dynamics to symbolise the journey of slavery and connect emotionally with his audiences. Ailey uses a variety of manipulations including changes in levels, the use of abstraction, the use of costume (the scarf) and dynamics such as a contrast in slow and sustained movement with fast and jerky release of energy. Through comparing and contrasting two different movement phrases, we are able to see the struggles and fights for freedom in the journey of black women who have endured years of slavery and  oppression.

Civil Engineering - Experinece Record Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Civil Engineering - Experinece Record - Essay Example Furthermore, calculations were performed for sizing and hydraulic gradient calculations in storm drain systems. Job title and brief description of responasabilities: Civil Engineer Designer- help civil engineers plan and oversee, wastewater treatment systems, and other structures as well as functionally participate in related research projects. Local codes were considered in each situation. The boundary site was provided, it was then necessary to begin with the site layout considering the Howard County Zoning regulations. Based on the RR-DEO zoning of the site, eleven lots were created, sized one acre or more. The Storm Water Management area is two acres, and the rest is for road, and forest conservation easement. The following report contains justification and proposed methodology to the stormwater management obligations that are associated with this site, in accordance with the â€Å"Maryland 2000 Stormwater Management Manual†. The five (5) main obligations that were considered in our analysis are: The site consists of 23.66 acres, more or less. The site is identified as Parcel 36 on tax map no. 15 in the third election district of Howard County, Maryland. The existing property contains one (1) large lot residential dwelling and outbuilding. The property is one third wooded and the remainder is lawn and meadow. A first order stream flows southeast to northwest along the western boundary. The site topography consists of moderate to steeply sloping land draining southeast to northwest. The hydrologic soil types of all soils within the property and surrounding properties in our study area are predominately type ‘B’ drainage class soils. The site is located within the Middle Patuxent Watershed of the Patuxent River (02-13-11-06) a Use I waterway. Proposed impervious areas consist of the impervious areas generated by the construction of 11 single-family lots and driveways

Entry Strategies of the foreign firms in the Indian Android Smart Dissertation

Entry Strategies of the foreign firms in the Indian Android Smart Phone Market - Dissertation Example .......3 Mobile industry profiling..........................................................3 Entry Strategies.........................................................................4 Methodology.........................................................................................8 Empirical evidence ..............................................................................9 Conclusion ..........................................................................................10 Introduction India is the second fastest growing foremost markets in the world and most trendy for foreign entrants. No study has vividly examined the accomplishment or failure of these entries. By using a new definition of success and uniquely complied survey, this study analyze whether and why mobile companies that entered India succeed or failed (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010).This study integrates the relevant strategies applied by new entrants in the Indian mobile markets. This study establishes that, small er firms are more flourishing than larger firms, and superior openness of the budding market have lower success (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010). Furthermore, other findings indicate that, the achievement is higher with superior control of entry mode, earlier entry and shorter cultural and monetary distance amid the home and the host nations (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010). This ensures better management and monitoring of the market trends. The study explores the diversity of the findings on, India mobile industry phone profiling, and the entry strategies the level of competition and the expected market mix. Background Information The Android Smart phone is one of the latest products in the mobile phone technology. It has hit the market due to its unique and more advanced features such Super Amoled touch screen, integrated social networking capacity, snappier applications, better battery life among other features (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010). Like any other product, the Android Smart phone has to undergo di verse process or stages before it fully occupies a market niche in India. It is imperative to note that, the India market structure is diverse due to the numerous foreign companies that have dominated the Indian market (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010). The Indian industry telecom has penetrated the market to almost 45% of the total market niche. It is notable that, the industry has undergone tremendous revolutionary change during the past decade to befall one of the principal universal mobile markets (Sekaran & Bougie, 2011). The Indian mobile industry profiling indicates that, the industry took positive strides since 2003 until its climax in 2007, when the overall revenue of telecom equipment stood at 136, 833 million crore. It is believed that, the mobile users may surpass 206 million in 2014 (Sekaran & Bougie, 2011). It is significant to note that, the Indian mobile industry and market holds a market niche of approximately 815 million global users. It is anticipated to touch 1.5 billion ma rk by 2015. Literature Review Mobile industry profiling India is currently the second mobile market in the world. It is behind China, which is the leading in the world, however, the upward trend of the mature population mobile consumers on the preference for high end handsets and younger demographics desire to use mobile web technologies could see India’s mobile revenues soar up to INR 350 in 2016 from INR 255 2010 (Sekaran & Bougie, 2011). The price war and consequent squeezing of profit margins are immensely attributable to this prospected increase (Root, 2007).

Black holes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Black holes - Essay Example Photons flew out across of the universe, energized to the limit found in nature and billions of years later, the space stations have detected them above our space. Our ability is to discover the mysteries through our present new age high energy astronomy. The universe is full of amazing astronomical and scientific features, but according to scientists and researchers up till now Black holes are considered as one of the most puzzling phenomena in the universe. The definition of a black hole is enough to get one’s attention as a black hole is a celestial body of extremely intense gravity from which nothing, not even light, can escape (Wald, 1984). The significance of black holes in the cosmos is obvious and same they have the importance to gravitational physics. The theory of presence of the black holes in the universe is our real test that how much we understand the concept of strong gravitational fields. This paper mainly deals with this topic i.e. â€Å"the strong gravitational singularity† of black holes. Primarily â€Å"a quantitative approach† is applied to involve the use of library sources, journals and â€Å"online search† as well. The facts about the topic (black hole) are probable emergent themes based on literature reviews and personal research. This document is developed in three segments. It starts with the brief introduction of black holes and their basic characteristics and particularly the gravitational singularity which is the most distinguished property they possess. This part is based on the previous literature review. The preceding segment deals critical analysis regarding the gravita tional singularity of black holes. In the last segment, a conclusion is made based upon literature review and critical analysis. A black hole is a hypothetical cosmic body of extremely intense gravity from which nothing, not even light, can escape (Wald, 1984). The borderline of this region where nobody can escape, is called

Case Study on Ontology Languages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Case Study on Ontology Languages - Essay Example 20/Jul/2006 J B Conrad Semantic web creation conrad@xyz.com DAML+OIL: http://www.xyz.com J B Conrad conrad@xyz.com Semantic Web Creation May OWL: Comparison of the...While these languages represent the specifications for the Ontology, they do not represent the real programming languages that are employed like CycL, Ontolingua, F-Logic, etc., 1. XML: This uses a standard syntax laid down already by the W3C. The code is crisp and easy to write. The DTD can be defined the way it is required. However, this does not offer the flexibility of defining standard classes and then making use of the similar structure repeatedly. XML is easy to use in a program though of course, creating XML data which will have semantics in them is not possible with the existing structure of XML. 2. XOL on the other hand, offers all those features that are present in XML as well as in OIL. XOL employs modelling primitives that are in line with OKBC standards. This is based on XML and uses Ontologies to extend the features. Therefore, it is found that the language is supporting some of the insufficiencies in XML like standard class definition and other structure definitions. With these, the data gets verified and the mistakes in the data are avoided. In addition to these, this also supports extensive slot hierarchies. But however, it does not allow definition of relationships extensively. This makes it a weak relationship modeller. XOL is comfortable where only data is to be represented without any major relationship criterion which is hard to find in knowledge systems. 3.

I wanna you to ready that and answer those two question. I dont want Case Study

I wanna you to ready that and answer those two question. I dont want you to ready from anywhere else just ready the article that I am going to send to you - Case Study Example Such materials become considered inappropriate for use in joints. Mechanical characteristics – these materials must exhibit characteristics which enhance the functioning of the particular component which they are used to make. Tensile strength of materials, for example, remains an important characteristic for materials used in making the femoral stem of the artificial joint. The mechanical characteristics are the main causes of failures commonly observed in these joints. Material density and reproducibility – this are an essential element of concern because of the need to make repairs to artificial joints that might be damaged. The prosthetic quality of the material must remain consistent in order to make repairing easy, should damage to the joint occur. Magnetism – when seeking to establish an appropriate material for artificial hip replacement materials it is important to consider the magnetism of the materials. Material utilized for this function should not exhibit any ferromagnetic behaviors (Gibbons, 33). This is mainly because of the requirements to use MRI spectroscopy to study the joint in future. Magnetic materials make this spectroscopy method inapplicable. Toxicity – artificial materials sometimes produce toxic substances which could affect the body parts. The reaction of some materials with the body parts commonly results in the generation of toxic substances which harm the body parts next to the artificial implant. Femoral stem – the femoral stem fits into the femur bone. There is need to make considerations of the corrosion characteristics of the materials which are utilized in the manufacturing of the femoral stem. Cobalt chromium and titanium are the major alloy components for the material which is utilized for making this component. This alloy remains highly resistant to corrosion and fatigue which results from increased use of the

Traditional marketing vs. online marketing for online shopping sites Essay

Traditional marketing vs. online marketing for online shopping sites - Essay Example o purchase certain product or wish to avail certain services, we have to visit the site selling such products or services, pay the amount and our desired thing will be delivered to us. The core concept or process of marketing a product remains same only avenues to it change. The early phase of online marketing is replete with such examples that the investors had to invest a great deal of money to start his venture and there was not enough certainty also if the venture will be successful or not. Within a very period of time this conception changed and people started to follow the rule of developing products and market them properly. It has been observed if it can be done properly customers are sure to come. Thus, it is understood that advertisement plays a great role in selling products online. During the earlier part of Internet marketing investors used to spend huge amount of money to compete with others and more money were spent in order to launch an effective advertising campaign. Both in traditional as well as online marketing, advertising play a dominant role. The main reason is until and unless the consumers can be properly informed about products, it will not be possible to attain expected results. If we judge with a bit of analytical mind, we wi ll realize that in case of online marketing same methods like that of its traditional counterpart is used. In this context it becomes important to understand about traditional tools of marketing in a brief way. The whole idea of traditional marketing is standing over the foundation of ‘marketing mix,’ which, according to Professor E. Jerome McCarthy, is summation of four materials, namely, Product or service, Pricing of the Product, Distribution or placement of such products, and finally, promotion of such products. Selling is the final destination for marketing and the two factors a) Customer acquisition and b) Retention of those customers play the most important role. Traditional tools for marketing depend

PERSONAL ESSAY PREWRITING Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

PERSONAL ESSAY PREWRITING - Assignment Example Therefore, through securing the immediate needs and acceptance the community will be protected from the high rate of recidivism especially for drug offenses meaning a safer community. The most influential person in my life is the United States of America president Barrack Obama. Barrack Obama is passionate, enthusiastic and focuses on giving humanity the foremost priority in service to the American people and beyond. Obama is influential because through the belief of service to the community being a personal responsibility and supporting community programs effort for a better America and the world at large. Through attending community service programs that are available in our neighborhood mainly addressing drug users who want to undergo rehabilitation change my life. The programs were important because opened up the real experiences of the people and families that are affected by drug or drug related problems causing a tremendous impact in my life. After undergoing these programs, I got the actual first hand effect of drug from the people we interacted with alongside the victims families. Hercules in the Greek mythology is comparable to me in terms of the source of our drive to serving our community. The character of willingness and dedication to serve without expecting reward for our action is common when it comes to my community endeavors. Hercules stand amidst resistance by the people he was serving assists a lot in giving me the focus and enthusiasm to continue pursuing my goals in the community service such as outright ridicule and

Country Living Versus City Essay Example for Free

Country Living Versus City Essay The traffic is bad, work is hectic, and people do not seem to have enough time to talk to each other about little things (Is Country Living Healthier Than City Living, 1997). Yet, living in the city continues to have its own charms. One of the main reasons why a huge number of people choose to live in cities as compared to the country side is that the city offers more and better opportunities to earn money. Moreover, cities are known to have finer and a greater variety of schools as well as health care facilities. No wonder, cities can become overcrowded. There is just too much to do in cities, and plenty of people wanting the kind of stimulation offered in these places, as compared to the country, where life can be dull and boring, and there is usually only one cinema house to cater to the interests of all. The population of the country is also not as big. Hence, only those who do not mind seeing the same people over and over again may want to choose the country over the city. Regardless of the range of our interests, country life offers fewer opportunities to stimulate the intellect. There may be few if any bookstores, little or no diversity in terms of the population, in addition to very few recreational spots in the country. On the contrary, people living in the city are exposed to countless people from different corners of the nation and the world at large; these people also have easy access to many bookstores, recreational spots, as well as airports and other modern conveniences. Hence, city living as compared to country living may broaden the mind as well as our interests in life. People in the city may also tend to be smarter than people from the country seeing that city living offers greater opportunities to stimulate the intellect. COUNTRY LIVING VERSUS CITY LIVING Page # 2 Individualists probably do not miss the sense of neighborliness and the sense of community that people in the country are typically acquainted with. For individualists, it is most important to develop themselves, and this development would not feel complete without the amenities that only the city offers (Is Country). Even so, the city is known to have more crime than the country. People are coming to the city from all around the nation and the globe, after all. When these people do not find jobs in the city, they may very well turn to crime. Nevertheless, cities remain overcrowded because law enforcement is recognized as a genuine way to deal with the threat of crime. People do not give up on city living even if country living might be safer. One advantage of country living is, of course, the extra space that people see around themselves. When Professor Robert Cummins visited his hometown in the country, he remarked: â€Å"Id forgotten how much extra space youve got †¦ and on the main street theres hardly any traffic around so basically Ive got most of the shops to myself. † People living in the city tend to love the extra space that the country offers, especially for their vacations. However, they can easily become agitated in the country after a while, missing the stimulation of the city. Moreover, people from the city do not feel that they miss out on the so-called â€Å"community spirit† of the country (Is Country). This is because the city dwellers have developed their own community spirit in the city. They may give to charities, for example, or visit orphan homes. They may join different societies and clubs. After all, there is no dearth of human beings in the city. For anybody who wants to develop a sense of belongingness in the city, it is possible to do so any day. COUNTRY LIVING VERSUS CITY LIVING One disadvantage faced by country dwellers is that â€Å"everyone knows your dirty laundry. † According to Professor Cummins, â€Å"People do become overly involved in one anothers lives and for some people this can be a great source of irritation (Is Country Living). This problem does not exist in cities, seeing that there are far too many people around for an individual to dwell on the negative emotions of a few. Finally, although country living may feel more relaxed than city living, the reality of human life is that people do fall sick at one time or another, and â€Å"another country negative is that health services are pretty thin. † According to Phoebe Bull, who moved from the city to the country to get married, â€Å"I phoned to go to the dentist here, booked in two months ago and November 25 is the next date I can go — its just unbelievable and doctors are the same† (Is Country Living). No wonder, cities are still overcrowded. It is definitely more practical to live in the city. Water taxi man, Ric Fletcher from the city, agrees: Things open 24 hours a day, you can find a restaurant or a cafe anywhere. Youve got the opera, theatre, cinemas, a great choice of night life and live venues you can go to where youve got top-class acts playing pretty well all year round. † COUNTRY LIVING VERSUS CITY LIVING Page # 4 References 1. Is Country Living Healthier Than City Living? (1997). Nine MSN. Retrieved from http://health. ninemsn. com. au/article. aspx? id=118615. (17 March 2007).

Understanding The Key Characteristics Of A Profession

Understanding The Key Characteristics Of A Profession A profession means a group of people that are specialised in a particular occupation. For example, an individual that is a doctor can be specialised in children, therefore their occupation would be called paediatricians. Profession consists of professionals that have the same interest, skills based on theoretical knowledge. Therefore it is important that professionals should have extensive period of education to influence the competency of their profession. Hodson and Sullivan (2005, p. 258) implies that profession is a high status and knowledge-based occupation that is characterised by the Hallmarks of a profession. The hallmarks of profession suggest profession is split into 4 main components that are based on abstract, specialized knowledge, autonomy, Authority over subordinate occupational groups and a certain degree of altruism. Specialized knowledge consists of theoretical, practical and techniques. The theoretical knowledge would focus on theoretical guidelines as to what is expected by professionals. In relations to social work, theoretical knowledge is a crucial element to their profession as putting theory into practice; it helps socials workers develop to think critically and analytically. Oke (2008) suggest that one way of linking theory into practice is known as issue-based approach to learning (IBL). IBL encourages meaningful learning as for example, processing information from a source can help encourages a reflexive process of thinking as it explore further on about ideas and speculate in ways you can put the theories into practice. By means of social workers applying the IBL effectively, it would enhance social workers to work proactively as they would be capable of empowering strategies support the needs and wishes of the service users. The competence of knowledge is a key to profession as Payne (2005 p. 185) suggests professionalism, associated with increasing organisation alongside increasing knowledge and power. Therefore, this may link to entry of qualification, the higher the qualification the more competent on their understanding of putting theories into practice. Learning new information constantly develops the self-knowledge and enables to go in-depth of understanding. Harris (2003 pp.133-4) argued that social work training helps social workers become a competent and accountable professionals. This may be a combination of educational institution and social work agencies. The Central Council for Education and Training in Social work (CCETSW) supported the training scheme financially through the central government. Before the mid-1980s when the CCETSW introduced the certificate in Social Services (CSS), the tendency was students that obtained the CSS were more likely to become social workers. Higham (2006, p. 16) argued that this meant people that worked within social care didnt fit in with the framework with social workers in the 1970s. This is because obtaining the qualification became demanding between social work and social care, therefore the CCETSW was worried if there was suitable amount of training resources available for social care staff that was desired to become a qualified social worker. Corresponding to Horner (2009 p.94 -5), he signifi ed that since the emergence of the Diploma in Social Work (DipSW) in 1989 there has been an increase of social workers. This could relate to the discontinued of the CSS qualification in 1992 ended and the start of training courses including worked-based vocational qualification emerged such as National Vocational Qualification (NVQs). In 1992 the National Standards for Training and Development introduced the Worked-based vocational qualification which was made with a difference as there was no set curriculum, specified programmes or examination- it was assessment based. Before there were social care workers that were already employed but did not achieve a formal qualification as it was not regarded at that time. Higham (2006) argued that statistics shows in the year 2000 around 80% of the workforce didnt not obtain a qualification or had qualification that was not related to their occupation. This shows there was lack of competency within social care professions which may have compe lled issues associated with inadequacy of reporting and recording procedures, maintaining confidentiality, accuracy of information and taking into account of the current policies and procedures. The DipSW does not exist any longer; people that are training to become social workers would now need The Social Work degree course to become a qualified social worker. Primarily, the formalisation of training based on social work emerged from social care. Traditionally, society viewed social work and social care as a synonymous profession. Steadily social work had developed recognition in relation to their profession which had gained them distinctive characteristics than the social care profession. However, both professions overlap each other and form a relationship together to facilitate people with their quality of life. Autonomy is another part of a profession according to the four hallmarks. It is common that professionals have a tendency to control their own affairs based on their professional skills and knowledge. Social work values autonomy in terms of decision making. For example, social workers may demand autonomy in terms of building a relationship with the service users more than the heavy caseloads they may encounter as the inequitable caseloads can prevent social workers from tackling effectively the issues that may lead to risk upon service users. Roe (2006, p.15) report emphasises with social workers because he argues that they are constrained by line management arrangements that require escalation of decision making up a chain of command in order to manage budgets or risk. This argues that social workers are refrained from professional autonomy as the result of pressure of their line management; this suggest that line managements main priority in terms of decision making is to insure a ppropriate decision making takes place (taking into consideration manageable budgets and the prevention against risk towards service user). Others may argue that there is lack of professional autonomy within social work because of the restriction from the public and within the service demands. Social workers are perceived as authorised professionals that are entitled to autonomous decision making in order to meet the needs of service users; Harkness and Kadushin (2002, p 468) suggest that professional autonomy is about having responsibilities to themselves and the services they offer. Therefore, if there was a deficiency of autonomy within the social workers, this would strongly broad services and social workers would consequently feel greater pressure from the public and other agencies of delivering their full potential due to the boundaries of what they may encounter. An issue that may arise for a social worker is it acceptable to follow their instinct to protect and meet the need s of the service user, even though it may be unacceptable within the rules and regulations of the profession. Sustaining autonomy in a social work profession is imperative as it promotes social workers to actively engage with other multi- agency professionals which would boost their self-confidence and helped them reach their full potential. In relation to a degree of altruism, there are codes of ethics for professionals within any occupation that are put in place for professionals to seek guidance through competency, practice and acknowledging the complexity of situations. In other words, it is recognised as a systematic framework as to what is ethically acceptable. On the other hand, code of ethics within professionals offers guidance for every believable situation, which means it can be perceived as generic and not the use of specific rules. Despite the codes of ethics being generic, it plays a role for the social work provision. The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) introduced the codes of ethics for social work, values and principles that established the five main key principles such as human dignity and worth, social justice, service to humanity, integrity and competence; they were put in place to ensure that in relations to conflicts and disclosure is honest, fair and accurate. Also to make sure profess ionals are compliant with the legislations and regulations. Despite, codes of ethics can be misinterpreted or ignored by professionals; not only may the risk of disciplinary action, but this as a result put the service users at risk. However, it is important within the social work profession for social workers to make mature decision as well as understanding and taking into account the value of issues that social workers may face. It is crucial for professionals to adopt the knowledge and skills gained through experience and qualifications in order transfer the skills achieved to help promote new roles and approaches to meeting the needs of the service users. Within a profession there are codes of practice which is expected by employees to follow and put into practice; it usually consists of the outlines of behaviour. The significance of the codes of practice would ensure high standards of their job roles are being met. This would not only benefit the profession as a whole but also the employees, employers and the wider society. Comparison to the social work profession, they have a similar concept as a range of organisations had been put in place to ensure that it promotes high standards within the profession. To maintain the assurance, regulation within the service (including education and training) and matters of misconduct was a high priority according to the UK government. These organisations included The Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2000 (SCIE), The Commission for Social Care Inspection, 2004 (CSCI), The General Social Care Council, 2003 (GSCC) and Skills for Care this was known as the big four Horner (2009, p 118). Each of regulation has their own purpose to ensure high standards of care were priority. The SCIE main responsibility is to ensure that social care professionals are able to identify and widen knowledge about good practice such as guidance and developing professional standards. The CSCI main duty is ensure that inspection and monitoring services within the health and social care services were affirmative quality of protecting service users or patients from potential risk of the service users or patients needs. Moreover, The GSCC regulates social workers including social care professionals by situating them onto a register. The register ensures only professionals with the required qualification and adhered the occupational standards are genuine to working with service users especially the vulnerable. Furthermore, the Skills for Care regulate the training processes within the social sector. This may include developing qualifications and assessing the social sector training needs to ensure co mpetency within knowledge is constant throughout the training that is supplied to the social care and social work professionals. Overall, the regulatory frameworks may have different missions but they all form a relationship that supports and promotes quality standards to the staffs, services and training within the social care provision. Regulations are important within a profession to ensure professionals are fulfilling the roles satisfactory and sensitively according to the public interest. It is important that the Social work profession should be able to identify when the standards are to some extent failing, it should take instant action as it is their responsibility as a profession to take the leading role in professional governance. This will prevent drastic dilemmas which can damage the profession status. To conclude, to an extent social work can be said to be a professional as compare to a profession with a social work profession there are similarities. In relation to knowledge, the social work professionals would have some degree of theoretical knowledge. For example, according to Payne the power of professionalism involves the competence through knowledge. This may argue that social workers who obtained a social work degree would have higher qualification alongside increasing knowledge and authority as they more understanding of putting theoretical claims into practice. In relation to training profession require training to keep up to date with current skills, legislations and knowledge so that they can provide a better service to their clients. Social work profession has a history of different approaches to training and development to a point of needed a degree instead of a diploma to become a social worker. Professional autonomy within profession is about professionals dealing wi th their own affairs. Corresponding, social work is between decision-making and taking into consideration ethical views as to what is acceptable. To a degree of altruism professionals would seek guidance through competency, experiences and understanding complexity of dilemmas. This concept is the same factor for a social work profession as social workers would need to follow their code of practice coherently. To ensure that the profession is meeting the codes of practice, regulation is maintained through organisations including the SCIE, CSCI, GSCC and Skills for care. In general, social work can be recognised as a profession. Furthermore, throughout the years Social work profession reputation has been damage to extent as qualified social workers leaving the profession as they feel it is demanding profession.

Feminist Themes in Silkos Yellow Woman and Choplins Story of an Hour :: comparison compare contrast essays

Comparing Feminist Themes in Silko's Yellow Woman and Choplin's Story of an Hour Yellow Woman and the story of an hour by Kate Choplin have some feminist themes in common. Silko and Mrs. Mallard exhibited Characteristics that conflicted with their natural roles in life. They seemed to be confined by their marriage. With prospects of not being married again, they exhibited feelings of freedom and exhilaration instead of unhappiness. When Silko was left alone in the morning, she had a chance to go home to her family but she did not go. This shows that she was not being held against her will. At the death of Mrs. Mallard's husband, she felt a deep sorrow but she also felt free. As Choplin puts it, "She said it over and over again; free, free, free!"(200). She felt that her husband's death had liberated her fro a kind of prison and she was free to assert herself and do things she wanted to do. Silko did not seem to be very disturbed at being away from home. She did not even consider her presence important for the baby. Silko conveyed this impression when she said, "My mother and grandmother will raise the baby. Al will find someone else and they will go on like before" (191). This shows that women might not always be satisfied in the roles they are playing in society. The society expects them to fit into this moulds and be a perfectly happy mother or wife as they case maybe. They act the roles out but they might be interested in some other things. The Structures of male dominance pervade every aspect of the society. Instead of asserting themselves, most women bend to there husband's will. Contemplating her freedom after her husband's death, Mrs. Mallard said " there will be powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature" (200). This contributed to her sense of being free when her husband died. The same male dominance is shown in Yellow Woman when Silver told Silko "You don't understand, do you, little yellow woman? You will do what I want" (190). It was as if Silko was not a person and could not have a will of her own. Silko's sense of her own unimportance is also reflected in her assumption that she will be easily replaced by her husband.

april 19 :: essays research papers

PATRIOT ACT FACT OF THE DAY: In passing the Patriot Act, Congress established standards in oversight for the use of the Act's provisions. For example, Section 1001 of the Patriot Act requires the inspector general of the Department of Justice to determine and report to Congress civil liberties violations. Florida U.S. Attorney Defends PATRIOT Act In a letter to the Florida Times Union, U.S. Attorney Paul Perez explains the success of the PATRIOT Act in protecting Americans from terrorism: â€Å""The Patriot Act did two things to correct major weaknesses in our nation's pre-Sept. 11, 2001, defenses. First, it lowered the bureaucratic and legal wall that had prevented law enforcement and the intelligence community from sharing information with each other about terrorist operatives and plans. † Second, the Patriot Act updated our legal tools, allowing our nation's justice community to use court-approved legal authorities for terrorist investigations that had long been used in investigations of drug smugglers and organized crime. Three years after the passage of the Patriot Act, we can point to a nation that is safer and more secure. Sadly, in this important public debate about freedom and national security, critics have come forward to attack the Patriot Act unfairly, claiming the law endangers our individual rights and our civil liberties."† USA PATRIOT Act News Archive April 18, 2005 PATRIOT ACT FACT OF THE DAY: The Patriot Act allows investigators to use the tools that were already available to investigate organized crime and drug trafficking. As Sen. Joe Biden (DE) explained during the floor debate about the Act, â€Å"the FBI could get a wiretap to investigate the mafia, but they could not get one to investigate terrorists. To put it bluntly, that was crazy! What’s good for the mob should be good for terrorists.† (Cong. Rec., 10/25/01) Former Gov. Racicot corrects misconceptions about PATRIOT Act In an op-ed in the Billings Gazette, Gov. Racicot shows how the PATRIOT Act took down the â€Å"wall† and updated terrorist investigators’ tools: â€Å"The Patriot Act broke down the ‘wall’ that separated law enforcement and intelligence investigations. The 9/11 Commission cited that wall as a central failing in our national security preparedness because it did not allow intelligence officers and criminal investigators to coordinate their information. The Patriot Act updated the tools available to law enforcement with new technology. Also, the Patriot Act took many of the tools available in organized crime and drug trafficking cases and made them available to terrorist investigations.† April 15, 2005

The Biology of Wetlands

The term â€Å"wetlands† is often associated with the image of the coastal marsh – a muddy area that is teeming with a variety of animal life and emergent vegetation such as mangroves, rush and cord-grass. But wetlands are actually areas that are characterized by the formation of hydric soils and the existence of flora and fauna due to the presence of standing water during all or part of the year (Spray and McGlothlin, xiii). Some wetlands cover hundreds or thousands of square kilometers and are therefore homes to a wide variety of plant and animal life.General Biology Ii Study Guide (Online Class) Examples of wetlands include the Florida Everglades, the Hudson Bay Lowlands, the Mekong Delta and the Danube Delta (Van der Walk, 1). At present, there is no universal classification scheme for wetlands. However, wetlands are usually categorized according to their hydrologic flow regimes, vegetation types and hydrogeomorphology. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for instance, classifies wetlands according to four major types – marshes, swamps, bogs and fens. This basic but simplified scheme was intended to â€Å"(promote) understanding (of) the diversity of wetland ecosystems† (Spray and McGlothlin, xiv). Marshes are regions whose soil is either periodically or continually inundated with water. Mashes are classified into two types – tidal and non-tidal. Tidal marshes are found in areas that have erratic soil moisture due to ocean tides but do not experience heavy wave action. Tidal marshes can be freshwater, brackish or saline. Non-tidal marshes, on the other hand, are freshwater or brackish marshes that undergo episodes of drought (Spray and McGlothlin, xiv). Swamps are wetlands that are characterized by saturated soils during the growing season and standing water at other times of the year. Consequently, swamps are home to many species of plants and animals. The Great Dismal Swamp, a 109-acre forested wetland situated between northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, is dominated by bald cypress, tupelo, red maple and black gum. It is likewise the habitat of animals like the white-tailed deer, river otter, bats, raccoons, mink, black bear, bobcat, snakes, turtles and at least 200 bird species (Spray and McGlothlin, xv). Unlike marshes and swamps, bogs are wetlands that possess various types of soil and vegetation. Some of the substances found in bogs are peat deposits, acidic water and sphagnum moss. Furthermore, bogs derive their hydration mostly from precipitation instead of from groundwater, streams or runoff – they are therefore sometimes referred to as precipitation-dominated wetlands. Examples of bogs include pocosins (evergreen-shrub bogs located in the southeastern United States) and northern bogs (found in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions of the United States) (Spray and McGlothlin, xv). Akin to bogs, fens are wetlands known for their peat deposits. What differentiates fens from bogs, however, is that the former receive their water supply from groundwater inputs instead of from precipitation. Furthermore, fens have less acidic water and higher nutrient levels than bogs (Spray and McGlothlin, xv). Wetlands play many important roles in preserving the Earth’s ecosystem. Scientists refer to wetlands as the â€Å"kidneys of the Earth† – they filter the water that moves through them of pollutants such as toxins and organic and inorganic nutrients. Wetlands therefore have high levels of sediment-water exchange and mineral uptake, which, in turn, render it suitable for plant and animal life. Wetlands likewise acquire sediments and particles by decreasing the flow velocity of the running water which enters them (Spray and McGlothlin, xvi). Other functions of wetlands include providing flood control, preventing coastal erosion and serving as a critically important habitat for plants and many endangered species. As of 2000, wetlands made up about 3. 5% of the land area of the United States and were the primary habitat of around 50% of the 209 animal species that were listed as endangered 1986. Scientists and environmentalists thus argue that the preservation of wetlands is crucial for environmental health – wetland ecosystems are neither artificially created nor easily regenerated (Spray and McGlothlin, xvi). Wetlands are home to many species of plants – the former are sometimes classified according to the types of hydrophytes present in them. There are three kinds of hydrophytes – submersed, emergent and obligate. Submersed refers to plant species that are completely submerged. Emergent (also known as terrestrial) is identified with plants whose stems and roots are found underwater, but reaches to or above the surface. Obligate (also known as facultative) pertains to plants that thrive both in wetlands and in certain upland habitats (Dennison and Berry, 57). Wetland plants play a key role in the survival of wetland ecosystems. Most wetland animals, as well as many non-wetland ones, depend on wetland plants as their primary food source. Wetland plants also assist in the thermoregulation of many wetland animals and provide cover from predators. When wetland plants undergo decomposition by fungi and bacteria, they immediately become a source of nutrients for animals and other wetland plants (Dennison and Berry, 59). Wetland plants, specifically seed-producing ones, are very important in the regeneration of wetlands after periods of drawdown and drying. Read also Lab 2 Biology Other groups of organisms that inhabit wetlands, such as algae, fungi and bacteria, are also crucial for the survival of wetland ecosystems. Apart from making nutrients available to other organisms by decomposing dead plant and animal material, they likewise enable wetlands to survive certain weather and climatic conditions. The blue-green algae, for instance, may form a â€Å"periphyton† mat which has the capacity to withstand prolonged periods of drought. Consequently, the presence of a periphyton layer is considered as a possible sign that an area is a wetland (Dennison and Berry, 60). During the winter, many wetlands are transformed into valuable wildlife habitats. Evergreen forested wetlands (cedar swamps), for example, are the winter homes of deer and moose. Black ducks live in northeastern coastal marshes during the winter, while other waterfowl consider bottomland hardwood swamps as their winter refuge. In the Upper Midwest, migratory waterfowl start arriving in pothole wetlands even before winter starts. Male red-winged blackbirds are among the first migratory birds that return to freshwater marshes in the Northeast for the winter (Tiner, 28). In the winter and early spring, floodplain forested wetlands become important fish habitats. During these seasons, various fish species use the flooded wetlands either as spawning areas or nursery grounds. Some amphibians, however, start breeding in vernal pool wetlands in the northeastern United States even before winter begins. At the start of the year, the Jefferson salamander is the first amphibian to breed in vernal pools. According to animal experts, it â€Å"migrates over the snow on rainy nights in late winter to slip into the pond (vernal pool) through cracks in the ice† (Tiner, 28). But there is likewise significant breeding activity even before the start of winter. Marbled salamanders, for instance, migrate to dry vernal pools in the Northeast from late August to October. Males leave sperm sacks at the bottom of the pools for the females to fertilize their eggs with when they later arrive. The fertilized eggs are then left beneath leaf litter or rocks in the pool. The eggs hatch in the fall, with the larvae feeding on aquatic invertebrates (Tiner, 28). The pitcher-plant bog crayfish is another animal species which share the same type of life history requirement. They are active from late fall to late spring – periods when Mississippi’s pitcher-plant bogs are flooded. Pitcher-plant bog crayfishes begin to mate in the late spring, with the females retaining the fertilized eggs before depositing them in the flooded bogs in the winter (Tiner, 28). Apart from the suitability of breeding sites, other factors that control the distribution of animals within wetlands include the level of protection from predators, the speed of travel within a certain area and the availability of particular food sources (Galatowitsch and Van der Valk, 19). Some wetland animals thrive in most wetland habitants. Examples of these are the tiger salamanders, American toads, painted turtles and snapping turtles. This flexibility is required in order to meet changing requirements over their life cycles (Galatowitsch and Van der Valk, 20). Some animals, however, require very specific environments for feeding or nesting. Wet prairies, for instance, have tall and dense grass vegetation. In addition, they thaw and dry up earlier than deeper wetlands. Consequently, wet prairies are characterized by an abundant food supply and a grass cover that provides excellent protection against predators. Birds that live in wet prairies include ground-nesting birds like the northern harrier, short-eared owl, savannah sparrow, swamp sparrow and the common yellowthroat. The short-tailed shrew and the Franklin’s ground squirrel, meanwhile, are some examples of the mammals that live in wet prairies (Galatowitsch and Van der Valk, 20). Sedge meadows thaw early and remain moist even in summer, turning it into another early source of food and protection. Large sedges and grasses provide a close canopy but an open understory, allowing animals to move about more freely while keeping them protected from predatory birds (Galatowitsch and Van der Valk, 20). The aforementioned wet prairie birds can also nest in sedge meadows, along with other birds such as American bittern, common snipe, sedge wren, marsh wren and LeConte’s sparrow (Galatowitsch and Van der Valk, 21). Other mammals are likewise drawn to sedge meadows because of the latter’s reliable invertebrate populations. The masked shrews and the pygmy shrews, for instance, feed on plants and seeds that inhabit sedge meadows. Meadow voles, on the other hand, can be found on the moist parts of the meadow due to their diet of rushes, sedges, grasses, insect larvae and fungi. Meadow jumping mice have a diet that adapts to seasonal changes – invertebrates in the spring and seeds, fruits and fungi during the summer. Although chorus frogs thrive in different wetland habitats, they breed only in those with a lush growth of lushes, sedges and grasses – the vegetation effectively conceals their mating call against predators (Galatowitsch and Van der Valk, 21). Shallow emergent marshes are characterized by dense vegetation and prolonged standing water. As a result, they provide effective concealment and reliable source of food. Shallow emergent marshes are inhabited mostly by birds that build nests that are either floating on water or are anchored on emergent vegetation. The horned grebe, eared grebe, least bittern, Virginia rail and American coot are some examples of birds that inhabit shallow emergent marshes (Galatowitsch and Van der Valk, 21). It is often said that everything in this planet is interconnected. A seemingly â€Å"useless† insect may actually turn out to be an important cross-pollinator. A huge, leafy but fruitless tree might be the only source of food for animals in the forest during the summer season. A bacterium living in the ocean could have the capacity to filter the latter of pollutants. Thus, it is very important that wetlands be preserved. Although they may appear to be large mud puddles with lush vegetation, wetlands are in truth home to various organisms that depend on each other to sustain life on this planet. The extinction of wetlands, therefore, will spell the end of many plants and animals on which humans are dependent on for survival.

Analysis †Aqualisa Quartz: Simply a Better Shower Essay

Aqualisa is a U.K. based shower manufacturing Company. The Company has been very reputed in the U.K. market for its top quality showers, reliability and great service. It had launched its premium brand Quartz in May 2001. The basic purpose behind launching this brand was to address the concerns of the consumers and the plumbers which perhaps were not satisfied with the existing products in the market. Aqualisa has three products in shower market segments. This product addresses the issues of lower water pressure and allowing for proper temperature control for water. Generally speaking, due to legacy building designs, shower has low pressure and variable temperatures. Electric Showers commands around 60% of the market (Aqua has 20% or so of electric shower market) and easier to install but are positioned awkwardly in bathrooms and does not solve the pressure problem. On flip side, they do not need separate heat water supply, rather heats the water by itself. Also they are by far the cheapest among the three products with price difference in the range of 200- 400 dollars. Mixer Shower – Has two products one with pump one without. Priced at 400- 700.It takes 2 days to install. They have Great reputation in the market. Power Share – Awkwardly installed. they in 480 to 700 price range. It has average quality reputation. The quartz shower solves the awkward installation and long installation time problems. It can be installed in half a day, has easily configurable buttons to set temperature, and the installed box can be tucked away in a closed space. However, it costs 850 -1100 which is higher than the cost of other showers in the market and hence it is perceived as a premium segment product. Because of this and also the reluctance of the plumbers to learn about the new product, Quartz has not been able to achieve its expected sales. It was able to achieve the sales of only 15 units a day. Going with the current sales of Quartz shower of 15 units a day, the Company could probably recover the amount spent on its research and development with a time period of 3-4 years. If the Company could promote the sales of the product to at least 50 units a day it will be able to achieve a break even within the next two years. Analysis Porter’s five forces: 1)Supplier power: As seen in the case of Aqualisa, the supplier has almost no say. The market is completely customer driven. 2)Buyer power: In case of the shower industry, there are three customers. They are the plumbers, the property developers and the consumers. The plumbers here had the maximum bargaining power as they were involved in 73% of times in selecting a suitable shower. Only 17% of the times the consumers selected the shower alone without the consultation of the plumber. Hence the plumbers were the key customers. 3)Threat of new entry: The shower industry has been a growing industry. Only 60% of the U.K homes had showers and hence there were a lot of chances that new companies can come in the market to tap the huge market. This would reduce the market share of Aqualisa. 4)Threat Of substitution: Only 60 % of UK homes have a shower in spite of a bathtub being present in all homes. People are reluctant to buy showers because of the problems of fluctuations in water pressure and temperature. The aqualisa showers overcomes these problems however, if the perception about the showers are not changed in the minds of the people, the may still be reluctant and not use showers 5)Competitive rivalry: There are more than 9 rival brands to Aqualisa in the UK market. The market has been captured by Triton which captures about 30% of the UK shower market. However, Aqualisa has a superior technology which in still not available with any of the rival companies. Strengths: 1)Aqualisa was perceived as a high quality shower manufacturing company in UK.This was due to the superior products which Aqualisa used to sell. 2)They had very high innovation in technology. The Quartz was an example of high technological innovation of Aqualisa which was not present in any other shower making company. 3)The brand image of Aqualisa was very good because of its high quality and innovations. 4)The market share of Aqualisa was also quite high in the UK market. It captured 18% of the total market share and was third largest selling brand in UK. Weakness: 1)Aqualisa was perceived as an expensive brand. As a result of which the sales were less in the lower segments of the market. 2)The service of Aqualisa though perceived as high quality was actually degrading and about 10% of the products had defects in them. 3)Because of the high R&D cost involved in bringing innovative product in the market, the products were highly priced. Opportunities: 1)With a strong R&D already present in Aqualisa, the company could innovate further and bring out technologically advanced low cost, low weight and a highly reliable product. 2)With its shower having very less fluctuations in water pressure and temperature, the products could have very high demand in the UK market if marketed properly. Threats: 1)The main customers for the showers were the plumbers as the end consumer were very heavily dependent on the plumbers. Most of the times, the choice of the consumer was influenced by the plumber. However, the plumbers were usually reluctant to use a new product as they were used to working with the existing product and did not want to learn anything new. This could lead to very low sales of the newly launched Aqualisa Quartz showers. 2)Aqualisa was clear differentiator from the market because of its superior technology and innovations. But the rival companies were also soon catching up and within two years’ time could match up with Aqualisa’s superior products. The 4 P’s of marketing: Product: The current quartz products of Aqualisa ,quartz Standard and Quartz Pumped can be produced to capture the Premium end market . In addition to that a we propose to produce a cut down quartz product named say ShowerMax Lite that could be marketed under the ShowerMax brand to cater to the need from the developers. Similarly a slightly differentiate quartz shower product Say Quartz Easy and Quartz Easy pumped could be introduced under the brand name Gainborough to fulfill the needs of the DO-IT-Yourself Customer group Place: The Aqualisa quartz products such as Quartz Standard and Quartz Pumped should be marketed should be marketed only through Showroom and Trade shops to maintain its status as premium brand. The quartz product under the Shower Max Brand (ShowerMax lite) should be sold only through Specialist Contract oulets to supply developers. Quartz Easy marketed under the brand Gainborough should be sold through DIY sheds. Price: The Aqualisa is a premium brand so we keep the price as Planned but we have to sell Shower Max quartz product at much lower price since the developers are price sensitive and we have to slightly decrease to promote it among DYI group.

Sippican Corporation

Product Gross Margin Calculation vs. Product Contribution Margin Calculation Assigning the overhead costs to the products shows how profitable the products are after deducting all cost. However, it is important to find the appropriate method of overhead cost allocation. In Sippican’s case the traditional accounting method is used, which does not reflect the real resource usage of the different product lines. The correct method in this case would be to apply the time-driven ABC approach for cost allocation.Such method apart from showing the actual profitability after all cost deductions also depicts the differences in resource usage rates between the products and, thus, allows for identification of cost drivers. A contribution margin approach provides only insight into the products profitability after variable cost deduction, but it does not show whether the profit of a particular product is still profitable after all cost deductions. This could lead to a false perception of pr oduct profitability. In addition, this approach could lead to wrong decision making in terms of pricing or expansion actions.Moreover, with this approach it is not possible to identify any cost drivers. Thus, many profitability improvement opportunities might be lost. Moreover, in particular, in the Sippican’s case the overhead costs are not really fix. They are fix only in the short term but variable in the long term as with an increase in volume of the products or the number of various products more machines and labor are required. The correct term for such cost is step-fix cost. Thus, the overhead costs in this case are not really a period expense (only in the short term).Thus, the volume of each product line does indirectly drive the overhead cost in the long term. Consequently, it is important to see how each product affects the overhead costs or, to say it the other way around, what amount of resources does a product use and how does it differ from to the usage rates ot her product lines. Therefore, the executives should definitely not abandon the overhead assignment to the products, but instead use a different accounting method. Practical Capacity and Capacity Cost RatesFrom the information given in the Exhibits and in the text I have calculated the practical capacity and the capacity cost rates for the different resources. Table 1 summarizes the results. The practical capacity rates were calculated by multiplying the number of employees/machines with their respective total effective hours per month. The capacity cost rates were calculated by dividing the total monthly cost by the respective practical capacity to become the cost rate of the particular resource per hour. Table 1: Practical Capacities and Capacity Cost Rates Note: For exact calculations please see the attached excel file.Cost and Profitability Based on Time-Driven ABC Approach Table 2 shows the revised costs and profits of Sippican Corporation when calculating those according to the time-driven ABC approach. Table 2: Cost and Profitability Based on Time-driven ABC Approach Note: Total machine expenses include the expenses for machine production runs and the expenses for machine setups. For exact calculations please see the attached excel file. The expenses in each category were calculated by multiplying the actual usage of the resource (taken from Exhibit 3 and Exhibit 4) by the respective capacity cost rate.It can be inferred from the table that valves is the most profitable product line with a gross margin of 42. 8% and not of 35% as obtained by the traditional cost accounting system. The pumps have a gross margin of 19. 7% as opposed to 5% and the flow controllers have a negative gross margin of -3. 6% as opposed to a gross margin of 38% as calculated using the simple accounting method. These differences in the cost and the resulting profitability of the product lines arise from the fact that according to the time-driven ABC approach the cost are allocated to the product lines based on their real usage of the company’s resources.In the simple accounting method the manufacturing cost were allocated as a percentage of direct labor cost at a rate of 185%. This method did not account for any specific cost arising from the complexity, diversity or other production related specifics of the product line. In contrary, the time-driven ABC approach does account for all the nuances of each product line. From the table can also be inferred that the practical capacity is not totally used since at the end there is a total of $28,288 of unused resources. Table 3 summarizes the capacity utilization of various resources.Table 3: Capacity Utilization Rates Note: For exact calculations please see the attached excel file. The significant shift in cost and profitability of flow controllers can be mainly explained by the considerably higher engineering and setup expenses (machines and labor). The latter arises due to the higher component number (10) of the flow controllers (resulting in higher complexity) which leads to a higher number of production runs and, thus, raises the number of setup hours. The number of production runs is further increased by the on average small batch sizes (see Table 4).Table 4: Average Batch Sizes for Production Runs and Shipments Note: For exact calculations please see the attached excel file. The time-driven ABC approach reveals that flow controllers use disproportionally higher amount of the company’s resources per unit (see Table 5). It can be derived from Table 5 that flow controllers have much higher per unit cost than other two product lines across all cost categories. According to the time-driven ABC approach the total manufacturing overhead per unit cost amounts to $63. 4 as opposed to $24. 055 as derived by the simple accounting system.As already explained above, the high per unit cost for flow controllers across the categories are mostly due to on average small batch sizes. For th e majority of activities (setup, receiving and production control, partially packaging and shipping) the costs occur independent from the volume, but they do depend on the number of batches. For these reason the total manufacturing overhead per unit cost for valves and pumps are lower than estimated via the traditional accounting method as in these product lines the average batch sizes in production runs as well as in shipments were very high (375/188 for valves and 125/125 for pumps).Table 5: Cost per Unit Note: For exact calculations please see the attached excel file. Recommendations Flow Controllers Starting with flow controllers, there are two ways to deal with the negative gross margin. First way would be to keep on producing the flow controllers and increase the batch sizes and thereby reduce the setup- and shipping related cost. If the batch sizes for shipments and production were increased to 25 units, the gross margin would amounts to 8. 6% (see excel sheet for precise cal culations).To reach the target gross margin of 35% by only adjusting the batch sizes one would have to increase the batch sizes of both shipping and production to 190 units. In reality the increase in batch sizes can be implemented by either imposing a minimum order size or reducing the variety of the flow controllers (this would reduce the number of production runs and allow for higher batch sizes). The freed up capacity from these actions can be used to increase the overall volume of the product lines.One could also try to reengineer the flow controllers to require fewer components which also would result in fewer production runs and, thus, fewer setup hours. Moreover, as the past price increase has proven the demand for flow controllers to be quit inelastic Sippican could further raise prices for flow controllers and drive up the contribution margin. In reality the price increase should be accompanied with a promotion campaign which emphasizes the superiority of Sippican’s flow controllers to prevent the potential market share losses from the price increase.If the prices were to raise by 10% the resulting gross margin would account to 5. 8%. Moreover, one could also try to reducer the hours of engineering. Table 6 shows an example of gross margin effects of the various actions outlined above. The total effect on the gross margin when applying all these actions would amount to + 24. 2 % which results in a gross margin of 20. 6% (by deducting the current -3. 6%). This is just an example. Further margin increases could of course be realized by further improving the identified cost drivers (please see the excel file to see the gross margin effects if changing the discussed cost drivers).Table 6: Gross Margin Effects of Various Actions Note: For exact calculations please see the attached excel file. Another way to deal with the negative gross margin of flow controllers would be to abandon the production of them completely and thereby reduce the fix cost ( step-fix cost to be precise). Thus, abandoning the production of flow controllers would lead to high reduction in resources and thereby saved costs. However, such a measure could lead to negative indirect effects on the image of the company which, hitherto, could result in market share losses in other products.Therefore, this method of dealing with negative gross margin of flow controllers is highly unfavorable. However, in instead of laying off the employees and reducing the number of leased machines one could use the freed up capacity from abandoning the flow controllers production line for other purposes, such as volume increase in other production lines or taking a new production line into the portfolio. Pumps and Valves To deal with the price pressure apparent in the pumps market Sippican could attempt to further increase the batch sizes in production and shipment.In addition, by combining higher batch sizes with an increase in the volume of pumps Sippican could increase the re venues and additionally fully utilize its capacity. Similar improvements can be applied for valves. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. 2 3 Brem, Lisa (2002). Sippican Corporation (A). HBS Publishing. February. HBS Note # 9-100-055. p. 4. Exhibit 2 [ 4 ]. 5 Brem, Lisa (2002). Sippican Corporation (A). HBS Publishing. February. HBS Note # 9-100-055. p. 4. Exhibit 2

Is Tourism Considered an Import or an Export?

Is tourism import or export? Tourism is now one of the fastest growing sectors of the economies of many countries, especially for the developed regions. What is the majority of their income of the tourism industry comes from? In fact, their income is came form importing and exporting tourism. However, is tourism solely export or import? Our group holds the view that tourism is both import and export. Exporting tourism means that tourists from other places travel to the host country and consume goods and services. In addition, according to book ‘Tourism Principles and Practice (second edition)’, it is said that international tourist expenditure can be seen as an invisible export from the other countries. To explain, let us take Macau as an example. Macau, as an international city with its fast-developing tourism industry, attracts tourists all around the world. At the day when tourists first arrive Macau until they leave, they will have fundamental needs of transportation, accommodation and food and beverages. When tourists go to different scenic spots, they will need transportation and they may buy souvenirs. Moreover, some of them will visit the casinos for entertainment, and eventually they will need to eat and to have a place to stay (e. g. hotel). As they are enjoying all these services, Macau is exporting tourism for Macau provides these services. On the other hand, importing tourism means that people from the host country travel to the other places and consume goods and services there. In fact, import of tourism is exactly the opposite of export of tourism. Domestic citizens of the host country travel to other places and surely they will also need accommodation and transportation. Therefore, we are importing tourism from other places. In conclusion, according to the above information provided, our group strongly agrees that tourism should include both import and export. Furthermore, import and export should be maintained in an equilibrium state.

Early Childhood Education Essay

Throughout history there seems to be a trend that early childhood education was supplementary. Even today we still experience these similar issues. However there are a lot of other issues that come into play in early childhood education. Some issues that prevent children from learning are the child’s culture, learning disabilities, temperament, behavioral problems, and achievement gaps. We cannot control these issues from happening but we can adapt and cater to each child for some of these issues especially observing a child’s temperament. There are nine temperament traits that we should look for according to article 17 of the Annual Editions textbook. This is beneficial so that we can, â€Å"tailor our approach to each child’s cluster of temperament traits. As you tune into temperament, you are likely to become more successful in helping all children adjust to situations and persons in was that promote their social ease and competence. † (Annual Editions #17) Besides observing temperament, achievement gaps can come into play. â€Å"The achievement gap between poor and middle-class black and white children is widely recognized as our most important educational challenge. † (Achievement Gap handout) There are different types of gaps such as the reading gap, the conversation gap, the role model gap, and the health and housing gaps. â€Å"Young children of educated parents are read to more consistently and are encouraged to read more to themselves when they are older. † (Achievement Gap handout) When a child enters preschool or kindergarten, there is an achievement gap already with the reading level of middle and lower class children. This issue unfortunately affects the lower class children dramatically and this is only one of the different issues on the topic of achievement gaps. There are a few individuals that impacted early childhood education significantly and two of them are Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget. Maria Montessori still impacts early childhood education today and there are still Montessori schools all over the world. Montessori was the first woman in Italy to earn a degree in medicine. Her first intention was the study diseases in children but later on became a strong influence in early childhood education. She became so popular at one point she was opening up Montessori schools all over the world and touring as well. Montessori has five principles to her theory. The 1st principle in her theory is having respect for the child. According to the handout on Montessori, â€Å"children are unique individuals† where teachers must respect each child for their differences. The 2nd principle is known as the absorbent mind, the belief that a teacher should not teach them because children can learn on their own instead. This principle is categorized into three stages ranging in ages. From birth to three year old, the child develops their senses from the environment around them. By age three to six years old, the child’s senses are sharpen as they learn more about the world around them. The 3rd principle is known as sensitive periods, when the teacher must step back and be observant of each child in the classroom. When a teacher feels that a student is sensitive to a certain skill then they can learn it. It is time for the teacher to introduce this task. There would be many opportunities afterwards where the child can practice this new task till it is perfected. Finally, the 4th principle is the prepared environment where children can be comfortable and learn best in. The teacher must customize the classroom for children. It is fit to be more convenient for the child to do things for themselves. The goal is to get the child must be independent and to take advantage of the freedom around them. The child will learn to rely less on their teacher but more on themselves. This idea is strongly emphasized in the classroom because Montessori believed that the education should be child centered rather than teacher centered. Even though a school may not be officially be a Montessori school you can find a few ideas that were influenced by her. The prepared environment and respect for the children are definitely things you see at any good school or program. Moving onto the second individual, Jean Piaget was a Swiss philosopher and natural scientist that is famous for his theory of human intellectual development. His theory has four stages of development. The first stage is the Sensori-Motor Stage, which occurs mostly around the age 0 to 2 years old. This stage, â€Å"child relies on touching, feeling, and using his senses to find out about the world. †(Handout on Piaget) The second stage is the Preoperational Stage, which occurs mostly from 2 to 7 years old. During this stage, â€Å"the child still relies on using the senses, but is increasingly able to use language and words to represent things not visible. †(Handout on Piaget) The third stage is the Concrete Operations Stage, which occurs usually around 7 to 11 years old. At this point â€Å"the child is developing the concepts of number, relationships, processes, and more. He is becoming able to think problems through mentally, though still in terms of concrete or real objects rather than in abstractions. † (Handout on Piaget) The fourth stage is the Formal Operations Stage, which happens when the child is 11 years old and older. â€Å"The child is able to proceed a step further; he can now mentally think in terms of concepts and abstractions, rather relying on concrete or real objects. †(Handout on Piaget) There are other good ideas used in classrooms today. These ideas are taken from Piaget’s theories on how children and grow and learn. According to this extraordinary scholar, all children have the curiosity to learn about themselves and the world. If children are stimulated and found the skill interesting then they will learn. Piaget also strongly believed that when teachers provide the material then children are eager to learn. Even today these theories offer guidance for teachers to find different methods to inspire children to learn especially at a young age. Developmentally Appropriate Practice, also known as DAP, is a widely used practice for teachers working with children. In 1987, â€Å"the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) published a widely used position statement about developmentally appropriate practices for serving young children from birth to age 8 in early childhood programs. †(Handout of Early Childhood Programs) However in â€Å"1997 the NAEYC revised the Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs, clarifying the misunderstandings and misinterpretations that arose from a decade of extensive dissemination of the original position statement. There are three dimensions in Developmentally Appropriate Practices and they are age appropriateness, individual appropriateness, and cultural appropriateness. There are numerous ways that they are demonstrated in a pre-K program. Age appropriateness is a common characteristic that is seen in most pre-K programs. â€Å"Developmentally appropriate practice suggests that teachers should not attempt to direct or tightly structure learning experiences and that formal academic instruction at the preschool level should not occur. † (Handout on Early Childhood Programs) Another example is with cultural appropriateness, especially when it has to deal with holidays. Most pre-K programs, unless it’s a non-secular school, go over different holidays and mention which cultures celebrate which particular holiday such as Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza. As young children learn about themselves and the world in school, literacy is constantly being exposed and is developing in their minds. It is important that their literacy is developing in their young lives because this also increases their vocabulary and grammar skills. As teachers read aloud to them and provide activities for children, early literacy is expanding their knowledge. Once this is evident, teachers can be on the look out for certain behaviors in children. This allows them to know that children are ready to learn how to read. There are four behaviors to identify and they are handling books, looking and recognizing, comprehending pictures and stories, and reading stories. Other characteristics that occur in children are their loose teeth are falling out as well as putting their arm over the head and being able to touch the ear. (class lecture) Today there are programs that are supporting early literacy for young children. In the film Foundations of Reading and Writing, it stressed how reading should not be taught too early. Alternatively, literacy can be taught in creative ways. In the film, several teachers believed that activities is beneficial for children and will promote early literacy. Block playing and painting are a few examples of activities that help children recognize shapes and colors. This simple activity can assist children to start recognizing letters and putting it in a certain order to create words, such as their name. It is up to us as teachers to promote early literacy and to enhance this development.