Benefits of Children Learning in Two Languages

Terror Bird (Phorusrhacos) - Facts and Figures

Terror Bird (Phorusrhacos) - Facts and Figures Name: Terror Bird; also known as Phorusrhacos (Greek for rag bearer); pronounced FOE-roos-RAY-cuss Habitat: Plains of South America Historical Epoch: Middle Miocene (12 million years ago) Size and Weight: About eight feet tall and 300 pounds Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Large head and beak; claws on wings    About the Terror Bird (Phorusrhacos) Phorusracos isnt known as the Terror Bird only because thats much easier to pronounce; this flightless prehistoric bird must have been utterly terrifying to the small mammals of middle Miocene South America, in light of its enormous size (up to eight feet tall and 300 pounds), clawed wings, and heavy, crushing beak. Extrapolating from the behavior of a similar (but much smaller) relative, Kelenken, some paleontologists believe the Terror Bird grabbed its quivering lunch with its talons, then grasped it between its powerful jaws and bashed it repeatedly on the ground to cave in its skull. (Its also possible that the giant beak of Phorusrhacos was a sexually selected characteristic, males with bigger beaks being more attractive to females during mating season.) Ever since the discovery of its type fossil in 1887, Phorusrhacos has gone by a bewildering number of now-outmoded or reassigned names, including Darwinornis, Titanornis, Stereornis, and Liornis. As for the name that stuck, that was bestowed by a fossil hunter who assumed (from the size of the bones) that he was dealing with a megafauna mammal, and not a birdhence the lack of the tell-tale ornis (Greek for bird) at the end of the Terror Birds genus name (Greek for rag bearer, for reasons that remain mysterious). By the way, Phorusrhacos was closely related to another terror bird of the Americas, Titanis, a comparably sized predator that went extinct at the cusp of the Pleistocene epochto the extent that a minority of experts classify Titanis as a Phorusrhacos species.

American Progress Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

American Progress - Term Paper Example It was a rationalization that growth and western movement was to help in spreading of Christianity. The advocates of Manifest Destiny were guided by the themes of virtue, mission and destiny. The American progress painting shows a translucently and unsteady dressed America floating westwards through the air with the star of empire on her brow. Behind her are the cities of the East, the wide Mississippi and her route is westward. On the right of the picture is a city, schools, steam trains and churches over which beams of illumination are streaming and lighting the air representing progress. The theme of the painting depicts general confusion. She carries a school book of her national enlightenment testimonial on her right hand while her left hand is used to trail slender wires of the telegraph for binding the nation. Her advance causes the fleeing of Indians, wild horses, buffaloes and bears disappearing in the tempest and waves of the pacific coastline. They are fleeing the amazing vision of the star is too much for them. The assumption is that they are of the same class thus dehumanizing the natives into animals which make their dislocation more pleasant. Everything in the east is arranged in order unlike the territory towards the Rockies is engulfed in black clouds of lack of knowledge and uncivilisation. Next to the forefront are homesteaders moving on plains, breaking the lawn and their backs in bringing an unfriendly terrain under nurturing. The picture portrays the whole splendid immigration of the savage waste by the development. It also hints at the past, lays out an unbelievable version of a developing present and the vision of the prospect. The painting is divided into four main parts which are: heaven above, the earth below, right and left and are divided into positive, superior, negative, weak, powerful, conscious. Spiritual light, undeveloped and primal darkness. The painting of the American history portrays the east as a place that was void of an y evils as it is brought out as a civilized place symbolized with clearness as compared with the west which was symbolized with darkness. John Gast’s painting of the American history omitted the coin history. With the civilization of America was to be determined by economic growth as it was the back bone of the developments in the whole world. The manifest Destiny led to the standards of living improving but this meant low wages, long working hours and poor working conditions as growth in the economy affected all aspects of the American structure. Latest developments and opportunities were always associated with new societal tribulations. The painter avoided highlighting the evils in the history of America which define the Americans. Racial terrorism engineered by the Ku Klux Klan who engaged in intimidation, physical violence, lynching, genocide and other forms of evils. The painting is called the magnificent destiny but there is the omission of God in the picture. The paint ing shows a woman carrying an extension of the telegraph from the east heading to the west. Though this shows civilization, the pony riders lost their jobs as they were replaced by the telegraphs. The picture of a half naked woman is symbolical in the sense that the woman has to some degree covered herself. This action of covering herself might mean that

Address Academic Integrity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Address Academic Integrity - Assignment Example Based on their observations, Teuscher, Valrhona, Lindt, Godiva, and Hershey (2012) have proposed the notion of chocolate-induced euphoria, a state of well-being and enhanced mood that follows shortly after the ingestion of various cocoa-based products. These authors have even argued that society at large would benefit if more citizens experienced chocolate-induced euphoria on a regular basis. Though the student has used in- text citation, there are no direct quotes. The original quote should be in direct quotes and properly referenced indicating the author and the page from which the information was obtained. Student C (female)  While popular authors have touted the benefits of eating chocolate for decades, some scientists have recently embraced this sentiment. In fact, Teuscher, Valrhona, Lindt, Godiva, and Hershey (2012) introduced the notion of â€Å"chocolate-induced euphoria,† which they defined â€Å"as a state of well-being and enhanced mood that follows shortly after the ingestion of various cocoa-based products† (p. 313). Teuscher et al. further asserted that societal benefits would follow if more individuals generated this emotional experience more regularly (p. 313). Student C has appropriately used the original quote. Direct statements from the authors are in quotation marks. The statements are also properly referenced showing the page and the authors. However, placing the names of the authors outside the parenthesis is inappropriate. Student D (male)  Some have discussed the emotional effect of eating chocolate, including euphoria (Teuscher, Valrhona, Lindt, Godiva, & Hershey, 2012, p. 313), a sense of calm (Cadbury, 2009, p. 105), reduction in depressive symptoms (Nestle & Quick, 2010, p. 5), and less stress (Ritter Sport, 2011, p. 400). Student E (female)  Because of the high sugar content in milk chocolate and some dark chocolates, nutritionists are reluctant to recommend that people increase their intake of chocolate. Some have advocated the

Individual Project Unit 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Individual Project Unit 4 - Essay Example This creates a situation where a silent partner begins exerting their pressure on the company leadership (in this case a friend or family member) which can jeopardize future relations or future lending opportunities. Oftentimes, as well, because friendship and family relationships are usually quite informal, the receiver of the start-up funds will neglect to put any formal agreement into contract form. When this occurs, if conflict arises about the progress of the business, disappointment and mutual anger can occur, which could often cause internal conflict which is apparent to the customers, diminishing profitability when sales decline. Having identified the risk of relationship funding, it is important to identify other sources of financing in order to prevent damaging long-term camaraderie with the acquaintance lender. As such, the business had identified one possible option as a term loan, which is provided by a banking institution. Term loans involve a specific amount of money, usually loaned at a term of five to 10 years, based on projections of future profitability (Longenecker et al). Though this is probably one of the most stable methods of borrowing money, there are potential risks to the receiver of the funds. For instance, a business that takes out a term loan must have a competent method of forecasting cash inflows and matching future periods of revenue to meet the loans repayment terms. A business which does not plan accordingly will experience a cash flow crisis, potentially harming the future operating potential of the business. Another type of financing option is asset-based lending, which involves receiving a line of credit (usually from a bank) which is based on asset value (GE Capital, 1999). For instance, assume that the company maintains regular payment in accounts receivable or maintains inventory which, when resold, can be liquidated for

The Development Of The Welfare State Sociology Essay

The Development Of The Welfare State Sociology Essay The aim of this essay is to look at the development of the welfare state following the 1942 report by Beveridge and how successful this has been in eradicating poverty. This essay will outline the context the report by Beveridge was written in, what the report was trying to solve and how far it went in solving the problem of poverty. It will also look at the three assumptions made by Beveridge and what these assumptions achieved alongside how far these worked to eliminate poverty and inequality. Finally it will briefly look at poverty in todays society to see how far things have changed. The first part of this essay will look at Beveridges report, the context it was written in and what it was trying to achieve. Beveridges report was published in the aftermath of the Second World War. It was well received by the public who as a result of the war had been brought together and were now looking to the future. Previous to the Beveridge report, in the 1920s -1930s pre-war Britain was riddl ed with unemployment and poverty. During this time there was a level of support but it was inconsistent, time restricted and confusing, causing many people to fall through the net and live in absolute poverty. When the report was published it gave people hope of change and a more optimistic future. The aim of the report was for Beveridge to look at the social insurance scheme, but the report ended up shaping the welfare system. Beveridge identified the high levels of poverty in Britain and came up with a plan to overcome it. The report found five giant evils in society which were want, ignorance, squalor, idleness and disease. The idea was to introduce a new plan for social security which would include social insurance, national assistance and voluntary assistance. This plan would work alongside three assumptions which were family allowance, National Health Service and full employment. Beveridge felt if both of these things worked alongside each other poverty would be irradiated. The second section of this essay will look at Beveridges plan for social security. A new plan was introduced by Beveridge for social security that he felt would go some way to tackle poverty. This plan consisted of Social insurance, National assistance and Voluntary insurance. Social insurance was paid by everybody that was working, it was a flat rate and if you had to stop working you received a flat rate back for that period. National assistance was created as a safety net for those who havent paid into the social security scheme. It was income assessed so would only be received by those who were really in need. Voluntary insurance was a voluntary contribution you could make which meant that as an individual you could receive a better lifestyle if you choose to pay into it. It may be argued that this allowed for inequality because in effect only those who earned enough could pay into this scheme, whereas those who worked but couldnt afford to wouldnt have the option. Beveridge felt that to tackle poverty the social security plan needed to be used alongside the three assumptions which were Family allowance, National Health Service and full employment. Family allowance was created at a time when there was a concern about birth rates falling. Many people couldnt afford to have and support children. This was introduced to stop child poverty and also with the knowledge that children were a major expense too many families so it would seem impossible to stop poverty whilst people still had children to support. It may be said that by having family allowance it encouraged people to have children to gain more money. The National Health Service was created to combat the giant evil of disease. Prior to the National Health Service poor people were terrified to become ill, because many couldnt afford to pay for any treatment. Ensuring that people had access to health care would also ensure that more people were treated and therefore fit to work. The National H ealth Service created a level of equality, everybody was entitled to the same care regardless of contribution. Full employment was introduced to combat the giant evil of idleness. The view was that if the state could help with employment, more people would be able to work so they would be less likely to be in poverty, meaning that less people needed money from the state. The third part of the essay will consider if poverty and inequality was irradiated. Following the implementation of the recommendations by Beveridge it seemed like there would be no more poverty. During the 1950s and 1960s research started to show poverty was still evident in society and in some areas was on the increase. These discoveries lead to a redefinition and rediscovery of poverty. Alcock, pg 7, 2003 highlights this when he states Townsend and Abel-smith conducted research which showed that, despite the welfare reforms to combat want, many people were still living in poverty in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s (Abel-Smith and Townsend, 1965; Townsend, 1979). When poverty was redefined it became evident that many people were still living below the poverty line, particularly single parent families, unemployed people and pensioners. During this time housing needs werent met meaning many people continued to fall through the system and couldnt support themselves. Inequality was stil l evident despite Beveridges recommendations. Beveridges report did not stop all inequality. There was a difference between the treatment of men and women. Women were expected to take on the caring role and be supported by their husbands. This may have left women financially dependent on their husbands. The final part of this essay will consider poverty in modern society. Poverty is still evident in todays society, which may indicate that Beveridges recommendations didnt go as far as expected long term to reduce poverty. Beveridges report lead to the implementation of family allowance in order to support children and stop the existing child poverty. It now appears that in modern society, with a similar benefit still in place, child poverty could be on the increase. This is reflected by Child poverty action group, 2010, page 19 which states The Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts that absolute poverty is already rising and relative poverty will soon rise as well. We can expect the wellbeing of children to fall. This indicates that child poverty is not irradiated. In conclusion it appears that although Beveridges report went some way to limiting poverty, it has never been erased. Some things may have changed for the better following Beveridges report; a better welfare state was introduced alongside a national health service to care for people who previously couldnt afford it. However, the poverty and inequality identified by Beveridge is still evident in todays society. People still suffer from inadequate housing or homelessness, lack of money, illness and unemployment similar to the five giant evils identified by Beveridge.

Hydrologic Cycle Essay example -- essays research papers

HYDROLOGIC CYCLE The hydrologic cycle is a constant movement of water above, on, and below the earth's surface. It is a cycle that replenishes ground water supplies. It begins as water vaporizes into the atmosphere from vegetation, soil, lakes, rivers, snowfields and oceans-a process called evapotranspiration. As the water vapor rises it condenses to form clouds that return water to the land through precipitation: rain, snow, or hail. Precipitation falls on the earth and either percolates into the soil or flows across the ground. Usually it does both. When precipitation percolates into the soil it is called infiltration when it flows across the ground it is called surface run off. The amount of precipitation that infiltrates, versus the amount that flows across the surface, varies depending on factors such as the amount of water already in the soil, soil composition, vegetation cover and degree of slope. Surface runoff eventually reaches a stream or other surface water body where it is again evaporated into the atmosphere. Infiltration, however, moves under the force of gravity through the soil. If soils are dry, water is absorbed by the soil until it is thoroughly wetted. Then excess infiltration begins to move slowly downward to the water table. Once it reaches the water table, it is called ground water. Ground water continues to move downward and laterally through the subsurface. Eventually it discharges through hillside springs or seeps into streams, lakes, and the ocean...