Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Impact of Climate Change on Moose Population

Impact of Climate Change on Moose Population Moose in the Noose? From Montana to Minnesota, Ontario and Wyoming to Hew Hampshire moose numbers are in steep decline. Could climate change be to blame? These majestic animals, which can be over 6 feet tall and weigh 700 kg, are a highlight for wildlife enthusiasts visiting America’s northern states and bring in much needed revenue for local communities. They are also important components of the boreal forest ecosystem. Unfortunately these mostly solitary creatures are becoming increasingly more difficult to find by hunters and scientists alike. Moose number declines Montana 40% drop in the number of hunting tags released Minnesota Down 70% since 2006 New Hampshire Dropped from 7000 to 4600 Wyoming 70% drop since 1998 Montana Mystery Dwindling populations in Montana have left local people worried and scientists scratching their heads as to why. Currently moose numbers in Montana are not checked regularly, instead they rely on anecdotal evidence from biologists and hunters as to what the situation on the ground is. But many people are worried. Nick DeCesare, the biologist leading the study said â€Å"There’s fewer moose out there, and hunters are working harder to find them.† So worried are they that the Montana Fish, Wildlife Parks (FWP) department have just embarked on a 10 year investigation to track population changes. By tagging moose with radio collars they can check up on them year after year to measure their body fat and take blood, fecal, hair and teeth samples. They will also check whether they are carrying any diseases or infestations. With this data they’ll be able to tell how healthy the moose are individually and as a population and if any tagged moose die they hope to be able to determine the cause. For the time being though, why numbers appear to be dropping so quickly is a mystery. Mike Gurnett, also from the FWP said â€Å"in some parts of Montana, numbers have declined, hunting licenses cut back, and moose counts continue to drop†. 50% fewer hunting licenses were issued by the state between 1995 and 2011. Just a Fluke? Likewise in Minnesota, Michelle Carstensen of the state’s Department of Natural Resources is also trying to figure out what is happening to their much-loved moose, so popular that they even had an Ice Hockey team named after them – the Minnesota Moose. Ominously the team was relocated to Winnipeg in 1996. We used to have two significant moose populations in our state one in the northwest, one in the northeast. And the northwest moose population is pretty much gone. Numbers in the northwest population of Minnesota have dropped from 4000 in the 1990s to just 100 in the mid 2000’s. This rapid loss drove them to cancel the 2013 moose hunting season altogether in the hope that numbers would rebound. The north-eastern population is also thought to be declining with fewer calves seen over the last 10-15 years than previously. Hunters here too have reported difficulty in finding moose. One of the main causes for this is thought to the liver fluke (Murray et al. 2006), these cause damage to the liver, lungs, and other tissues in the moose’s body along with secondary infections resulting from the damage. This reduces their overall fitness and Murray thinks that the northwest population will cease to exist in 50 years time. Ticked off In Ontario, winter ticks are thought to be a major cause of moose deaths. An adult moose can have as many as 30,000 ticks on its body and some have been known be infested with as many as 100,000. All of these blood-sucking ticks can make moose anaemic; the lack of healthy red blood cells causes fatigue due to inadequate oxygen supplies. This lethargy makes it more difficult for the moose to get enough food. As you can imagine a lot of ticks can be itchy. Moose don’t groom themselves like deer and so scratch themselves by rubbing up against trees. This may be satisfying in the short term – like scratching a mosquito bite – but can be detrimental in the long term. Excessive scratching can remove clods of hair meaning the moose are in more danger of dying from exposure in the winter months. In New Hampshire, too, ticks are a big problem for the moose. Youngsters feel the effects more than adults, says wildlife biologist Ted Walski, â€Å"the 1-year-olds don’t have the blood volume or body size (to cope), which makes them more susceptible.† In the warm winter of 2011 it is thought that nearly all calves born the previous year died as well as 40% of the adults. In relatively extreme event such as this moose populations can rebound the following year, but if the situation persists for prolonged periods recovery is not possible. UmWhat has this got to do with climate change? The fact that there seem to be a number of different causes for the moose declines in these different areas implies that there may be an underlying cause. Population ecologist Denis Murray suspects that it is climate change. Moose have evolved to live in cold climates. As such they have thick, warm coats and get stressed if it’s too hot. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the 30 year period from 1983 to 2012 was probably the warmest period of the last 1400 years in the Northern Hemisphere (IPCC, 2013). Furthermore, temperatures in this region are predicted to rise by 1.5ËÅ ¡ to 2ËÅ ¡C in spring and summer between 2025 and 2035 with winter temperatures expected to rise by the middle of the century (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2003). Montana, Minnesota, and Ontario all have something in common. They’re at the southern edge of the moose’s range – the geographical limit of where they can live comfortably. Moose numbers in southern Sweden, too, have been reported to be dropping. Climate change makes it more difficult for moose to survive in the southern parts of their range. This is thought to be due to the increased heat stress but also the increased survival rate of its pathogens over the winter period. In these southern areas increased temperatures are felt more keenly by the moose. When they get too hot they seek shelter rather than forage for food. This leads to them being weaker but also stops them from building up important fat reserves for the winter. Biologist Mark Lenarz from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resourses found that increased summer and winter temperatures induced heat stress was one of the main factors leading to an increase in moose deaths (Lenarz 2009). White-tailed deer are the normal hosts for the live fluke. Deer densities are expected to increase in response to milder winters (Murray et al., 2006) – exposing a higher number of moose to infection. Murray also found that populations of moose were negatively affected by increases in annual temperature Ticks numbers can also be affected by climate change. To see how we need a bit of info on their life cycle: Ticks emerge from eggs in the late summer. After a short time they climb on to plants like grasses and trees, here they wait as moose brush up against them they attach themselves. They feed and grow into adults during the winter and then mate in January to February, shorter winters mean more survive until this time. In April they start to detach and fall to the ground to lay their eggs and the cycle continues. However, if temperatures are low there is more snow around. The white background makes the tick’s dark bodies stand out and they’re more likely to be eaten by birds(Addison et al. 1989). But if it’s warmer and there is less snow cover and the ticks are harder to spot on the dark ground more adult ticks survive to lay eggs, leading to increased infection rates later in the year which have a negative impact on moose health. Daniel Bergeron, from the un iversity of New Hampshire, thinks that the widespread die-off of moose in the warm, snowless conditions in the winter of 2001 -2 extended the period that ticks could be transmitted to moose (Bergeron 2011). http://www.ccwhc.ca/wildlife_health_topics/winter_tick/wintertick.php#canada Christy McCain from the University of Colorado Boulder found that larger animals 27 times more likely to react to climate change than smaller animals. This makes them more sensitive to change and so they face the highest extinction risk (McCain and King 2014). â€Å"The things that are responding most to climate change are the things we tend to like the most, that we go to parks to see to see – Big Horn Sheep, Elk, Polar Bears. These are the things that have the highest extinction risk†. Much like the dinosaurs that died out after 65 million years ago, it was the small mammals left behind that were able to adapt to their new environment more quickly and survive. So Consequences for boreal forest – less grazing etc As well as the threat of climate change there are also threats from logging and especially mining, which currently is not subject to environmental assessment. Less browsing by moose – loss of natural habitat areas maintained by such grazing, fewer wolves as less moose to hunt. References Addison, E. M., Strickland, R. D. and Fraser, D. J. H. (1989) Grey Jays (Perisoreus canadensis) and common ravens (Corvus corax) as predators of winter ticks, Dermacentor albipictus., The Canadian Field-Naturalist, 103(3), 406-408. Bergeron, D. H. (2011) Assessing relationships of moose populations, winter ticks, and forest regeneration in northern New Hampshire., University of New Hampshire Masters Thesis, [online], available: http://search.proquest.com/docview/884096564 [accessed 02/03/2014] IPCC (2013) Fifth Assessment Report,Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, [online], available: http://www.ipcc.ch/ [accessed 02/03/2014] Lenarz, M. S., Nelson, M. E., Schrage, M. W. and Edwards, A. J. (2009) Temperature Mediated Moose Survival in Northeastern Minnesota, The Journal of Wildlife Management, 73(4), 503-510. McCain, C. M. and King, S. R. B. (2014) Body size and activity times mediate mammalian responses to climate change, Global Change Biology, [online], available: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.12499/abstract [accessed 25/02/2014]. Murray, D. L., Cox, W. E., Ballard, W. B., Whitlaw, H. A., Lenarz, M. S., Custer, T. W., Barnett, C. and Fuller, T. D. (2006) Pathogens, nutritional deficiency, and climate influences on a declining moose population, Wildlife Monographs, 166, 1-30. Union of Concerned Scientists (2003) Confronting climate change in the great lakes regions: impacts on our communities and ecosystems, available: http://www.ucsusa.org/greatlakes/glchallengereport.html [accessed 27/02/2014].

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Nitration of Acetanilide and Methyl Benzoate

Nitration of Acetanilide and Methyl Benzoate Nitration of Acetanilide and Methyl Benzoate by Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution Abstract The purpose of this experiment was to synthesize methyl nitro benzoate from methyl benzoate, as well as nitroacetanilide from concentrated nitric acid (HNO3), and concentrated sulfuric acid (H2SO4) by using an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction. The HNO3 and H2SO4 were combined to form a nitrating solution, which was added to a mixture of methyl benzoate and H2SO4, and the same was done with acetanilide. Following recrystallization, melting point was used to identify and characterize the product of the reaction. The melting point was determined to be 74 ËÅ ¡C-80 ËÅ ¡C for methyl nitro benzoate and for nitroacetanilide it was 195 ËÅ ¡C-200 ËÅ ¡C, which indicates meta-regiochemistry for methyl benzoate and para-regiochemistry for nitroacetanilide. The percent yield of this reaction for the recrystallized product was 59.3% of methyl nitrobenzoate, while it was 6.75% for nitroacetanilide. Figure 1: The reaction for the nitration of acetanilide. Figure 2: The reaction for the nitration of methyl benzoate. Experimental Concentrated sulfuric acid (0.6 mL) and concentrated nitric acid (0.5 mL) were added to a reaction flask and placed in an ice bath. Concentrated sulfuric acid (1 mL) was added to methyl benzoate (0.5 g) in a vial which was then packed in ice, and the same was done with acetanilide.ÂÂ   While stirring, the cold H2SO4/HNO3 mixture was added drop-by-drop. After the acid mixture was added, the reaction mixture was removed from the ice to warm to room temperature, with stirring. It was then transferred by Pasteur pipet into a beaker and stirred for five minutes. The methyl benzoate nitration formed white solid, and the acetanilide nitration for a light yellow solid. The crystals were the vacuum filtered with a Buchner funnel. The crude product was recrystallized by adding a distilled water and ethanol slowly while heating the product. While cooling, the solution produced large white crystals for methyl benzoate nitration and light yellow crystals for the acetanilide nitration. The ma ss, melting point percent yield were obtained. Results and Discussion Through the use of electrophilic aromatic substitution, acetanilide is nitrated to nitroacetanilide, while methyl benzoate was nitrated to methyl nitrobezonate. The first step of the reaction involved in the donation of an electron pair, which generates the nitronium ion from nitric acid by protonation and loss of water, using sulphuric acid as the dehydrating agent. The mechanism for methyl benzoate can be seen below. Figure 3: The mechanism of the nitration of methyl benzoate to methyl nitrobenzoate. To prevent acetanilide from dinitrating, the nitrating solution of HNO3 and H2SO4 were added drop by drop to the acetanilide solution, so that the concentration of the nitrating agent is kept at minimum. The cooler temperatures were used to reduce the reaction rate and help to avoid over nitration. The electrophilic aromatic substitutions involved the replacement of a proton on an aromatic ring with an electrophile that becomes substituent. The sulfuric acid protonates the methyl benzoate, which creates the resonance stabilized arenium ion intermediate.3 The electron deficient nitronium ion reacts with the protonated intermediate meta position. The ester group is the meta deactivator and the reaction takes place at the meta position because the ortho and para positions are destabilized by adjacent positives charges on the resonance structure.2 The major product of the methyl benzoate nitration is the meta product due to carboxyl and nitro groups both being powerful electron withdrawing groups. Table 1: The weight, melting point, and percent yield of both Nitroactenilide and Methyl Nitrobenzoate. Product Name Crude Weight (g) Product Weight (g) Percent Yield (%) Melting Point (ËÅ ¡C) Literature Melting Point (ËÅ ¡C) Nitroactenilide 0.585 0.045 6.75% 195-200 214-217 Methyl Nitrobenzoate 0.56 0.32 59.3% 74-80 78-80 The actual yield of methyl nitrobenzoate is 0.32 g while the theoretical yield is 0.54 g. The melting point is 74ËÅ ¡C 80ËÅ ¡C, and the value is closed to the literature value which is 78ËÅ ¡C 80 ËÅ ¡C. The percent yield for the methyl benzoate electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction was 59.3% with 0.32g of methyl nitrobenzoate formed. The percent yield for the reaction with acetanilide was 6.75% with 0.045g of nitroacetanilide formed, which can be seen in table 1. The melting point observed was 195-200 ËÅ ¡C, which can be accounted for impurities in the product, which can be seen below in table 1. Some impurities might be Ortho and Meta directing substances, as well as there could have been some experimental errors that occurred during the experiment such as not overheating solutions during the reactions. These low yields may have resulted from poor recrystallization, product lost during transfer from one apparatus to another, or human error. The miss ing percent accounts for the impurities removed during recrystallization. However, some product must have been lost in the acetanilide reaction recrystallization because of such a low percent yield. The melting point of the final product was 74-80 ËÅ ¡C suggesting that it was formed by meta-substitution. The literature melting point for meta-methyl nitrobenzoate is 78-80 ËÅ ¡C. Therefore, the melting point is lower than it should be suggesting that an impurity is in the product. This impurity may have occurred due to poor recrystallization or it may have been picked up after recrystallization. The melting point of the nitroacetanilide product was 195-200 ËÅ ¡C suggesting the para-regiochemistry. The literature melting point for the p-nitroacetanilide is 214-217 ËÅ ¡C. Therefore, the melting point of the product is a little lower than the literature value, suggesting that an impurity exists in the product from poor recrystallization of contact with an impurity during recrystallization. The methyl nitrobenzoate product was determined to be meta-substituted based on its melting point range. This can also be proved by evaluating the attack of the benzene ring of methyl benzoate on the electrophililic species and nitric acid.4 The C-OCH3 substituent is a meta-deactivator. Therefore, when the benzene ring attacks the nitronium ion, the NO3+ group will add meta-positon. This creates a resonance stabilized arenium ion without a positive charge on the carbon with the C-OCH3 substituent. Then the proton is removed from the meta position by the weak base, the HSO4-, formed in the creation of the nitronium ion, which reforms the sulfuric acid catalyst.3 Once the proton is removed the substitution product, methyl nitrobenzoate remains. The nitroacetanilide product was formed by a para-substitution. This can be determined by examining the melting point and comparing it to the literature values for each position.4 However, this can also be determined when examining the electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction of acetanilide on the electrophile, nitric acid. The NHCOCH3 substituent is an ortho-para-activator. Therefore, when the benzene ring of acetanilide attacks the nitronium ion, it can add ortho or para. The para substitution, if more stable than an ortho substitution, will be added because the para position is a further distance from the position of the NHCOCH3 substituent. Therefore, the benzene ring adds at the para position based on the melting point and resonance in the mechanism shown above. Conclusion The methyl m-nitrobenzoate and p-nitroacetanilide were prepared. The percentage yield is 6.75% for nitroacetanilide and 59.3% for methyl nitrobenzoate. The melting point of the products are 74ËÅ ¡C 80ËÅ ¡C and 195ËÅ ¡C 200ËÅ ¡C. From the given physical constant, the literature melting point of methyl m-nitrobenzoate is 78 80ËÅ ¡C and 214ËÅ ¡C 217ËÅ ¡C for nitroacetailide, so it can be concluded that the products were methyl m-nitrobenzoate and p-nitroacetanilide. References Wade, Jr., L.G. Organic Chemistry 2003, 722-741. Chemistry Laboratory Manual: Susquehanna University 2014, 242-244 250 ChemFinder.Com. Cambridge Soft Corporation. . Anerjee, Dhruv K. Ortho and Par % of Key Reaction. Utkarschemistry. 2013. Appendix A: Finding the Limiting Reagent Grams X 1 mol / molecular weight = moles of reactant Nitric Acid: 0.6 mL X ((1 g/1 mL) X 1 mol) / 98.08 g/mol = 0.0061 mol Nitric Acid: 0.5 mL X ((1 g/1 mL) X 1 mol) / 63.01 g/mol = 0.0079 mol Methyl Benzoate: (0.55 g X 1 mol) / 181.14 g/mol = 0.030 mol Appendix B: Calculating Theoretical Yield of Methyl Nitrobenzoate Moles of limiting reagent X molar ratio X molecular weight of product) / 1 mol = theoretical yield (0.030 X 181.13) / 1 mol = 0.54 g Appendix C: Calculating Percent Yield (Actual / theoretical) X 100% = percent yield (0.32 g/ 0.54 g) X 100% = 59.3%

Monday, August 19, 2019

Karl Marx and His Radical Views Essay -- History Politics Political

Karl Marx and His Radical Views Karl Marx[i] Karl Marx is among the most important and influential of all modern philosophers who expressed his ideas on humans in nature. According to the University of Dayton, â€Å"the human person is part of a larger history of life on this planet. Through technology humans have the power to have an immense effect on that life.†[ii] The people of his time found that the impact of the Industrial Revolution would further man’s success within this world and would ensure his success as a species. Marx was extremely radical in finding that this was a positive impact on humans in nature. In order to understand why his views were considered radical, it is important to understand his philosophy and the period of history during which Marx developed and formulated his views. Radical, as defined by the Webster’s New World Dictionary states, â€Å"disposed to make extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions†[iii]. Marx’s theories certainly fit this definition of radical. Marx was the founder of the Communist movement, and his ideas about history and economics form the basis of socialist politics throughout the world. This philosophy was developed just as the Industrial Revolution, which was based on capitalism, was beginning to spread from England to the rest of Europe. The writings of Karl Marx spell out the philosophic foundations of his radicalism. Marx’s philosophy is complicated and detailed. However, the central theme to Marx’s theories was his view that economic forces were increasingly oppressing human beings and his belief that political action and change were necessary. Marx’s thinking is a reaction to the industrial society of the mid ninete... ...pitalism (New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1988), 8. [viii] Gurley, 8. [ix] Karl Marx. Manifesto of the Communist Party, ed. Friedrich Engels (The Avalon Project at Yale Law School), Section IV. Position of the Communist In Relation to the Various Existing Opposition Parties. [x] [xi] Gurley, 31. [xii] John Elster. An Introduction to Karl Marx (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 7. [xiii] Gurley, 27. [xiv] [xv] Gurley, 5. Other Links: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/index.htm http://radicalacademy.com/philmarx.htm http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/marx.html http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html http://www.marxists.org/

Sunday, August 18, 2019

No “More” Socialism: Debunking Raphael Hythlodaeus’ Argument Against Pr

George Orwell, in his famous essay, â€Å"Why Socialists Don’t Believe in Fun,† aptly described the problem of any Utopian ideal. â€Å"It would seem that human beings are not able to describe, nor perhaps to imagine, happiness except in terms of contrast†¦ Nearly all creators of Utopia have resembled the man who has (a) toothache, and therefore thinks happiness consists in not having a toothache. They wanted to produce a perfect society by an endless continuation of something that had only been valuable because it was temporary† (Orwell). In Thomas More’s Utopia, Raphael Hythloday is used as a conduit through which More expresses his distaste with private property. It is striking how true Orwell’s words can be applied to More’s Utopia. More’s criticism of private property is structurally fallible, and his description of an alternative is deeply implausible. Raphael is used to lay out the Utopian alternative economic and civic system, from the common-place â€Å"peasant subsistence economy† of More’s England through his description of the idealist island of Utopia (Overton 4). Raphael’s case against private property is built upon two principle supports; the perceived fallacies and failures in a peasant subsistence capitalistic economy, and how seemingly intuitive the socialistic alternatives of the island of Utopia are in solving the tribulations which so perplex the world’s peasantry. If we analyze Raphael’s argument, we find that it is grossly mis-calculated. The assumptions made in both the construction of Utopia and the deconstruction of England’s economic system are both contradictory and completely over-simplified. With our advantage of economic and historical hindsight we can see that Raphael lays blame without knowledge, and we can se... ... A. Von. Collectivist Economic Planning. London: [s.n.], 1950. Print. Hunt, E. K. History of Economic Thought: A Critical Perspective. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2002. Print. Marx, Karl, Friedrich Engels, David McLellan, and Samuel Moore. The Communist Manifesto. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford UP, 1998. Print. Mill, John Stuart, and W. J. Ashley. Principles of Political Economy, with Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy. New York: A. M. Kelley, eller, 1965. Print. More, Thomas, and George M. Logan. Utopia: A Revised Translation, Backgrounds, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2011. Print. Orwell, George. The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968. Print. Overton, Mark. Agricultural Revolution in England: The Transformation of the Agrarian Economy, 1500-1850. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996. Print.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Best Friend Award

Valerie Martinez CMST100 4/22/12 The Best Friend Award For my best award I chose my best friend, Arely. I chose Arely because I really that we’ve had a long friendship during high school, considering that things don’t always last during our high school years. Not only because we’ve been friends for so long, but also because I’ve gone through some hardships throughout those years and she was there for me.She never gave up or got sick of me going to her and telling her all my feelings, in other words venting to her about everything. She knows me so well; I sometimes think she knows me better than I know myself. She’s always makes me feel better and I just love our friendship and I believe she deserves the best friend award. I decided to give her a letter telling her how much I appreciate her and thank her for her being my best friend.I also mentioned what I like about our relationship and what I wanted us to keep going and what I wanted to do to make things better for our relationship. This letter I wrote on was on white paper and I decorated it with a lot of pink because I know that is her favorite color. Arely and I both are taking the same class, so I don’t think she was that surprised to have gotten this letter. When I gave it to her, she didn’t read it till later that day.I got a text from her late at night that day and she said, â€Å" aww I love you†. Overall, I think this assignment is a really good idea. I think once in a while we need to remind the ones we love that we love them. There are many people that don’t do that and their friend might feel sad because they wish their friend could tell them they appreciate him or her. I know I don’t do that very often and writing this letter made me realize that I need to let the people that I care about know that I love them more often.

Learning and Skill Essay

Tymon Muska Intro to Motor Learning Dr Rausch Jr. 11 / 14 / 08 The Skill of Juggling In terms of the type of skill, juggling is a continuous skill as opposed to a discrete or serial. Juggling is a continuous skill because it does not have a distinct beginning or end. Continuous skills involve practicing the movement nonstop and uninterrupted, unless a ball or scarf is dropped. The motor control loop partnered with juggling is the closed loop because feedback and the comparator are present. In terms of breaking down the scheduling for teaching and practicing this skill, one must understand there are several different components to practicing juggling. Similarly, the schedule would be blocked because one must practice a component for juggling and repeat this component until mastered. A blocked practicing schedule also allows the subject being taught to build a feel for the skill, begin to get more confident in performing the skill, and most likely with block scheduling the subject will be more successful in performing the skill, over and over again. I will be using a combination of part and whole practice. This is because teaching the skill in parts is easier for the learner to understand, but when it comes to showing the learner how to put all the movements together, that is where the whole practice comes into play. Using a combination of both types of practices gives the learner a chance to understand each movement, and at the same time get his or her rhythm down without constantly starting and stopping the motion when trying to put the skill together as a whole. Another portion on the practice side of juggling is called massed practice. This type of practice, which I will use, is the best type of practice for a beginner. â€Å"When applied to the length and distribution of practice sessions, a massed schedule will have fewer practice sessions than a distributed schedule, with each massed practice session requiring more and or longer practice† (Richard (2007). I’ll use this type of practice with my subjects because it allows the subject to get a good feel for the skill and build confidence. With those two things, the subject becomes more successful at the skill they are performing. When one thinks of juggling, they think of juggling with some type of ball. For a beginner, juggling with a ball can be very difficult. For one, they are heavier so they fall faster. Second, they are solid so they are harder to grab onto. In teaching the subjects I plan to use a simulated practice, â€Å" research investigations of the effectiveness of simulators have been more common for their use as training devices to help people learn how to drive cars, and pilots to fly planes, (Fisher, 2002), than for their use in sports contexts, (Stewart, Do home, & Null Meyer, (2002)†. Scarves are perfect for a beginner to start off with because they are light and float in the air longer than a ball would. This gives the subject chance to get the right form and technique down. It will also increase their success rate in completing a juggling pattern, which in turn will lead them to build a higher level of confidence when juggling. Then, one must move to the next component involved in the skill of juggling. In other words, when beginning to learn how to juggle, one should begin without any scarves or balls. Mastering the hand movements and repeating the phrases ‘up, up, down, down’ or ‘throw, throw, catch, catch’ are important so that the student may now incorporate the scarves. The student should practice using one scarf and proceed to using two scarves. Also included in the schedule is the art of a practice. In this case, we would use part practice. In demonstrating the skill, I will first address the class explaining the use of the scarves and the different colors of the scarves and the sequence in which they will be used. I will demonstrate the toss and catch method with one colored scarf. Tossing the scarf up from the dominate hand and catching it with the non-dominant hand and then repeating the skill from non-dominant to dominant. The second step involves having two scarves, one in each hand. Starting with the dominant hand, the subject will toss with the dominant, toss with the non-dominant, catch with non-dominant and then catch with the dominant. The third step in learning how to juggle would involve the third color. Starting with the two original colors used for step one, in your dominant hand and step two in your non-dominant hand. Add the third color to your dominant hand; this scarf will be tossed last. In order to produce a perfect cycle of juggling the pattern goes like this, toss with the dominant, toss with the non-dominant, catch with the non- dominant, toss with the dominant and catch with the dominant hand. It is very important for the subject to keep the color and order of the scarves the same throughout each trial. By keeping the same colors in each hand, it will give the subject a base to go by. It will help them remember which scarf to through and grab and when and perform the skill in the correct order. Using the colored scarves is a form of simulated practice. Simulated practice is a great way to teach beginners a skill, but its major weakness is that it is not realistic in terms of juggling with real balls or heavier objects. For the practice consumption for juggling, we would be using the specificity of practice. The specificity of practice hypothesis has been around since the 1900’s. The theory explains why positive transfer occurs between two skills or skill learning situations, (Thorndike & Woodworth 1901). Part practice consists of three different types and we would be using segmentation. Segmentation is a type of part practice in which one part of the target skill is practiced and mastered followed by the practice of a second part in which the first and second would then be put together until the entire skill is practiced. It is important to give the subject feedback on how they are doing result wise and not performance wise. The close loop system involves feedback, whereas an open loop system does not. In human movement, the feedback is afferent information sent by various sensory receptors to the control center. The purpose of this feedback is to update the control center about the correctness of the movement while it is in progress (Richard (2007). There are multiple kinds of feedback a subject’s teacher could give to them after watching a number of trials performed. In this case since my subject is a beginner, I will be using the Summary Feedback schedule which is when the subject has completed his or her trial or practice runs and the teacher gives them intervals of feedback. The specificity of this feedback schedule is called direction, which is strictly used for beginners because it is the easiest to understand and the least overwhelming. After explaining the basic three step method to the class, I will call on subject up and ask he or she to perform the skill and demonstrate for the rest of the class. For the next step, I will split the class up into groups. Each person in the group will have a chance to perform the skill, while being evaluated by their peers in their group. Each subject will perform the task of juggling the scarves ten times, and I will ask the people in the group to give the subject some kind of feedback whether negative or positive after every two trials. The subject juggling has a definite advantage considering he or she will be getting fifty percent feedback during their trial runs. In teaching the subjects how to juggle, my ultimate goal is for each subject to be able to complete a full cycle of juggling without a single error. Due to the time constraints in teaching this skill, the main focus will be on the subjects form in performing the skill and how well he or she interprets the information and que’s given to them to complete the task. Reference Page 1)- Magill, Richard (2007). Motor Learning and Control : concepts and applications,8, 86. New York, NY: The McGrawth-Hill Companies. 2)- Magill, Richard (2007). Motor Learning and Control : concepts and applications,8, 395 – 396. New York, NY: The McGrawth-Hill Companies. 3)- Thorndike, E. L. , & Woodworth, R. S (1901). The influence of improvement in one mental function upon the efficentcy of other functions. Psychology Review, 8, 247 – 261. 4)- Fisher, D. L. , (2002). Use of a fixed based driving simulator to evaluate the effects of experience and PC-based risked awareness training on drivers decisions. Human Factors, 44, 416 5)- Stewart, J, E. , Dohme, J. A. , & Nullmeryer, R. T. (2002). Motor Learning and Control : concepts and applications, 8, 416. New York, NY: The McGrawth-Hill Companies.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Maintaining Race and Ethnic Identity Essay

The world we are living is very dynamic and exhibits various types of movements for both plants and animals including humans. History insinuates that man practiced considerable movements from one place to another since its first existence. This movement from one locality to another is referred to as migration. Migration can be 1) internal which is within the country, state or continent and maybe 2) international which crosses boundaries to other country, state or continent. With the development of technology and globalization, international migration continues to increase over the past decades. In 1960, there were 76 million international migrants and increased to 191 million international migrants in 2006. It was noted that a relatively high migration rate is from 1985 to 1990. Generally, ethnic identity diversifies according to the length of distance and therefore international migration increases the gap of connectivity in relation to ethnicity. Human migration can be classified as permanent or semi-permanent depending on their reasons which maybe voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary migration is generally practiced in search for a â€Å"greener pasture† and satisfaction of one’s preferences. This includes employment, climate, food supply, self development like education, religion and family. Involuntary migration, on the other hand, includes migration due to calamity, political conditions like when in war or in exile, slave trades or human trafficking and ethnic cleansing. (Boyd, 2003) Refugees can eventually be immigrants. Based from Human Migration Guide of the National Geographic Society, â€Å"A refugee is a person who is residing outside the country of his or her origin due to fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. † (â€Å"What is Human Migration? † 2005) . This involuntary migration results to a hefty impact on self identity rather than voluntary migration. Human migration has taken a major participation in shaping and honing the present status of the population. It allows the diffusion and combination of the structures, cultures, beliefs, ideas, principles, religion, and other traits which results to the modification of each others traits. Rejection of the integration, however, sometimes results to conflict that may cause decline of socio-cultural capital and values. Although immigrants tend to maintain their ethnic identity and cultures at home, the children of the second, third generation is common or comparable with generations of the host country. This means that these generations are highly acculturated to the host community and country. Intentional or not intentional, this is in response to their quest for belongingness. On the other hand, some immigrants give high regard to their culture which is linked to nationalism. Some may even believe that there is no other culture than theirs and fail to recognize cultures of other immigrants within the community. Some host countries like Western European nations and Japan are deeply concern about the effect of these immigrants on their culture and ethnic identity which can be compromised. Oftentimes, conflict such as racial discrimination exist and become the subject of debates. Different countries have their own policies regarding immigration. Other countries begin to recognize immigrants with different race and cultures. They are respected in preserving their respective cultures and interact peacefully within one nation. This official policy is known as multiculturalism and can be seen in Canada, Australia and the U. K. It is also called as the cultural mosaic of different ethnic groups. Nevertheless, immigrant groups are still encouraged to learn the language of the host country and participate in the activities of the major society including labor force. However, this policy gained many criticisms such as it divides the people even there is a need to be united on certain social issues and justices. Debates on immigration law and racism are still on-going issues of every host country.