Cross-Cultural Film Analysis Gattaca Essay Example

Cross-Cultural Film Analysis Gattaca Paper ‘GATTACA’ Film Summary Vincent is destined to be a second class citizen, conceived naturally, rather than in a laboratory. He is born into a world which discriminates against genetics, rather than religion, race or gender. In order to gain access into the Gattaca Corporation and reach his dream of going to Titan he takes on the identity of Jerome Morrow, a person with ideal genes but crippled from an accident. He uses Jerome’s hair, blood, urine and skin to pass all tests and is set to reach his lifelong desire when the mission director is murdered. He inadvertently loses one of his own eyelashes at the scene and becomes the main suspect in the case. The killer is determined to be another of Gattaca’s directors who is initially overlooked because his DNA profile indicates that violence is not in his nature. In the end Vincent takes off on his mission to Titan. Discussion Culture Shock due to contact with unfamiliar cultures (Stephen Bochner, 2003) Culture shock is something that Vincent experiences as he makes the transition from a culture comprising of second class citizens to a culture of superiority as he takes on the identity of the genetically superior Jerome. We will write a custom essay sample on Cross-Cultural Film Analysis Gattaca specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Cross-Cultural Film Analysis Gattaca specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Cross-Cultural Film Analysis Gattaca specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The first stage of culture shock is the honeymoon period (Bochner, 2003). Vincent experiences this before he meets Jerome for the first time and thoughts of fulfilling his life-long dream are active. He then goes through a period of fear and denial where he is not confident and actually refuses to go ahead with the plan. He is talked around by the real Jerome, who needs the money to pay for his alcohol addiction, and prepares himself to lie and cheat just to succeed. Situations similar to this are played out in organisations regularly where people are prepared to lie, cheat and steal to gain success, typically financial success; and management must deal with effectively. As time goes on Vincent gradually adjusts to the new expectations of within the Gattaca Corporation. A cross-cultural obstacle that needed to be overcome was the difficulty that Vincent has in accepting himself as Jerome which is essential if he is to succeed within Gattaca and not give up his cover. This is overcome by the real Jerome referring to Vincent as Jerome when they spoke. One thing that this framework does not discuss is the idea of never fully coming to grips with the new culture. The question I pose is: Can a person entirely take on a new culture or does their childhood culture remain with them for life? The film shows that people cannot fully accept a new culture and when forced upon them they show resistance. An example of this is when Vincent becomes aggressive towards one of the murder detectives in fear of being proven as the murderer. The implications of cultural shock for organisations can be seen when an employee is sent on sojourn, typically overseas, and needs to cope in an unfamiliar culture. Management could overcome some of these issues by educating the employee about the foreign culture and some expectations prior to leaving. Software of the Mind (Hofstede, 2005) Culture as mental programming: At the beginning of the film, during his childhood, Vincent’s patterns of thinking, feeling and acting are established in his mind. He learns to accept himself as inferior to his genetically ‘perfect’ brother Anton. When he finds a way of living his dream and must take on a new identity (Jerome) he finds it difficult to unlearn this mental programming. However, a person’s behaviour is only partially predetermined by their mental programming (Hofstede, 2005, p. 3), and this is seen as Vincent deviates from his culture and creatively takes on the identity of Jerome. Hofstede describes culture as being derived from exposure to the world rather than from one’s genes. Hofstede discusses the possibility of intelligence being attributed to genetics and suggests that on the basis of ethnic groups it is difficult to come to a conclusion. In the film it is clear that within Gattaca there is wide acceptance that yes a person’s genes do determine their intelligence. Vincent’s interview for entry into Gattaca entails solely a genetic test and not a physical or mental assessment. Manifestation of cultural differences: In the film we see the divergence of two very strong cultures. One belongs to the genetically gifted; and the other to the ‘degenerates’. The ways these cultures have divided themselves is explained well by Hofstede’s depiction of the ‘skins of an onion’ (Hofstede, 2005, p. 6). The heroes in the film (the genetically gifted) are highly valued and show model behaviour to inferiors or naturally conceived people. Depicted as the more capable members of society the heroes display symbols which carry specific meaning such as formal hair styles and very professional, clean clothing. The heroes display rituals such as the day on the treadmill where they assert themselves superfluous to reaching a desired end as assessors are solely interested in genetic make-up rather than fitness. Contrary to Hofstede’s view that values are acquired early in our lives we see Vincent’s values change significantly in the film. These values are a strong determinant of culture and as Vincent takes on the identity of Jerome he moves into the hero status of society, or as Hofstede describes it, from abnormal to normal (Hofstede, 2005). His move from second class status to hero status is a good example of how culture reproduces itself. His role models become the members of the Gattaca Corporation and he sees an opportunity to fulfil his aim in life. It appears that the hero’s culture is growing as more and more parents are opting for gene selection of their babies. Stereotyping The culture within the Gattaca Corporation shows clearly the human tendency to stereotype. Assessors discriminate against new applicants with undesirable genetics rather than testing each person individually to determine their capabilities. Genetics gives them a preconceived opinion of how people will perform and people are rejected or accepted accordingly. A specific example of stereotyping in the film is when the actual murderer of the mission director is excluded as a suspect because of his genetics. This would suggest that the idea of selection of people with ideal genetics and reliance on this for behaviour of people may be major a cause of stereotyping, not just a result of it. The implications that this has for managers of organisations are that they need to be aware of their stereotypes and ensure that this doesn’t affect their decisions or cause them to discriminate unnecessarily when dealing with people. References Bochner, S. (2003). Culture shock due to contact with unfamiliar cultures. Found in W. J. Lonner, D. L. Dinnel, S. A. Hayes, D. N. Sattler (Eds. ), Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (Unit 8, Chapter 7), Center for Cross-Cultural Research, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington USA. Accessed 1st September 2008, from http://www. ac. wwu. edu/~culture/Bochner. htm Francesco, A. M. and Gold, B. A. (2005), International Organizational Behaviour: Text, Cases, and Exercises, 2nd Ed, Pearson Prentice Hall, pp. 17-45 Hofstede, G. and Hofstede, G. J. 2005, Culture and Organisations: Software of the Mind, 2nd Ed, McGraw-Hill P. L. Duffy Resource Centre, 2006, Gattaca, Trinity College WA, Accessed 31st August 2008, from http://www. trinity. wa. edu. au/plduffyrc/subjects/english/media/gattaca. htm

Awesome Cover Letter Examples for College Students to Engage Employers

Awesome Cover Letter Examples for College Students to Engage Employers Awesome Cover Letter Examples for College Students to Engage Employers Writing a cover letter for resume as an undergraduate or freshly graduated student is both an exciting and difficult prospect. While many students focus on writing their resumes in order to impress their future employers, it’s important to note that both your resume and the cover letter for resume you send are what make your application. They both serve as a way of communicating who you are and how the company you are applying for can benefit from having you. It’s a two-way street after all. Many students will complain that their cover letter wasn’t good enough and that’s why they were turned down. While it’s not impossible, the more probable cause was that they mass e-mailed a resume with a cover letter and crossed their fingers. This is not how you apply for an internship or a job position. It shows that you don’t care about your employer and only think about yourself. Let’s take a look at how you can write a cover letter for resume in order to get hired. Do your research The best way to come up with perfect content for your application paper is by doing research. What does your dream company do? How long are they in business? Who is their CEO? Any and all information that you find about the company that you are chasing for an internship will help you a great deal. It will show that you care about them and do your work thoroughly. You can look up some cover letter examples in order to have a better understanding of what a company is looking for in its interns. The most prominent and developed companies don’t look for your academic background but for your particular set of skills. The most sought after skill in the corporate world is leadership. The ability to manage people and projects. Not how high your grade was in a particular course. Adapt to your company’s needs and you will be on your way of earning that internship you are looking for. Adapt your writing There is a cover letter for resume example everywhere you look, and knowing which style and tone of voice to acquire in order to impress your employer is part of the writing process. Some of the cover letter examples for students offer very detailed and step-by-step guides on how to craft your cover letter. Make sure that you study each one in order to recognize what style you need to use for that particular company. Are you sending your application via e-mail or in an envelope? Sometimes the envelope might be a great idea considering that it’s a dying fashion. It will help you look professional and elegant; making sure that your cover letter for resume actually gets read. Manage expectations The fact of the matter is that you are not the only person applying for a particular internship. It doesn’t mean that you should panic, only think critically about the chances you have. The most common mistake many students make is that they think the cover letter for resume is the first thing that your future employers will read when they receive your application. While in some cases that might be true, your employer is more interested in your resume. If it is well written and has everything that that particular employer wants in an intern, he or she will read your cover letter. Only then will the cover letter for resume come into play when applying for an internship. This means that your resume must be on par with what the company is looking for. It has to be well written and formatted, but most importantly it needs to fill the employer with confidence that you are the right person for them. It also means that you have to adapt your cover letter to your employer. While students think of internship more than they do of the company providing it, this has proven wrong in practice. You letter must be hand-crafted to cater to that particular company and only then does it have a chance in impressing your employer and landing you an internship. Format your paper While it’s important to adapt your writing to your employer, it’s even more important to format the paper properly. Try looking at some cover letter examples for students. You should start your cover letter for resume by greeting the person reading it (by name, mind you). The introduction of your paper should contain the reason for why you are writing the application and how you specifically can help the company. Employers are interested into why they should hire you and what benefit they have from you. Be sure to get straight to the point as soon as possible and your cover letter for resume will do the trick. The next paragraph should focus on your particular skills and again, how they can benefit the company. Make sure to keep the narrative going forward and don’t use the same sentences twice. It’s unprofessional and the employer will get the impression that you don’t have anything else to say. Use the final paragraph to close your cover letter for resume and state that you are looking forward to getting a phone call or an e-mail from the company. Always make sure that you give the reader a call-to-action, something that you expect them to do after they finish reading. As you’ve probably noticed by now, there is no way to write one cover letter and send it to multiple companies hoping that they will contact you; because they won’t. Adapt to your company of choice and craft the paper according to the research you’ve previously done. Following these tips and ideas will greatly increase your chances of earning an internship. It doesn’t mean that your cover letter for resume will be perfect, but it will be that much more professional and true to whom you are. Put every bit of hard work and effort into crafting your resume and cover letter; you will soon realize that hard work does pay off.

Literature review of nursing leaders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Literature review of nursing leaders - Essay Example The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines quality of care in hospitals as the level to which health services offered to individuals increase the certainty of expected health results and are in harmony with current professional expertise. With this standard definition, quality indictors include death, disability, discomfort, disease and dissatisfaction (Yragui et al, 2013). However, recent medical practitioners have shifted way from the usual negative to the positive aspects of quality. This has led to the innovation of the description of quality health care is the safe, effective and equitable services that health practitioners give to patients ( Mitchell). Curtis et al (2011) defines nurse leaders as medical practitioners who order instructions to medical students or co-workers. In addition, the two claim that every leader in whichever position merges their circle of influence with clinical practise. This goes hand in hand with Yraguis (2013) suggestion that anyone who is in authority and has disciples who rely on their expertise is a leader. Nurse leaders have many roles to perform in the hospital because of their influence to other nurses. One such role is providing organizational support. Nurse leaders are expected to motivate nurses and make them feel appreciated in the hospital (Morse, 2007). The nurses should feel needed in the organization and that their efforts are recognized. Nurse leaders help improve practice levels when they are responsive to patient concerns. They can also make other care providers believe that the management is concerned with high-quality care. This would in turn encourage care providers to give specialized care to patients, as agreed by Yargui (2013).The providers will also embrace positive attitude and behaviour. Employees who receive compliments from employers would have better attitudes. The nurse leaders should also give an aggression free environment to other care providers. They should

Community Health Nursing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Community Health Nursing - Assignment Example These flies can easily spread the disease when they come to contact with clean food to be consumed by human beings. This often leads to an outbreak of cholera, a deadly disease if treatment is not quickly sought. However, of notable concern is the fact that cholera is a preventable disease if necessary precautions are taken. As such, the nurses play different roles in environmental health. They can take a leading role in educating people about the need to maintain a clean environment in order to prevent the outbreak of deadly diseases such as cholera. These health professionals can also enlighten people about the importance of taking safety precautions such as washing hands before eating any food. These are preventive measures that can help mitigate the problem identified. The nurses can also educate people about the measures they can take once they have witnessed symptoms of deadly diseases like

Reading assignment 4 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reading 4 - Assignment Example Research and problem solving should be aimed at discovery, and not identification of existing contexts and assumptions. The divergent concept illustrates the breakage from the existing constraints, and also the established thinking models of analyzing problems (Higgins, 1994). Expansive outlooks and original thinking, represents the problem solving process. In the business organization environment, divergent thinking is applied in several ways. A company suffering losses can embrace divergent thinking to ensure turnaround. The company can form mergers and strategic alliances with other companies, so as to increase its market base and benefit from superior production technologies. Convergent thinking focuses on key attributes. The aim entails provision of adequate resources, and also investing in areas that generate high results. Significant opportunity areas must be identified, amongst a universe of alternatives (Higgins, 1994). Success criteria are discussed, and the possible solutions are continuously narrowed. In the business organization context, convergent thinking can identify the solutions to the losses in one major way. The convergent solution can be minimizing losses through rightsizing. Rightsizing entails terminating employment of non-core employees, so as to drastically reduce the remuneration

Poor communities relocation to Braamfischerville

Poor communities relocation to Braamfischerville Chapter 1: Introducing the study area Introduction â€Å"There is a crisis in housing in the third world. Large increases in the urban population of third world countries have dramatically increased the demand for housing. ‘traditional values, and increases in urban population have resulted in the deterioration of housing conditions in larger cities† (Aldrich and Sandhu, 1995). As quoted above, housing has really been a problem in third world countries, of which South Africa is considered to be, as much as population increases has been emphasized South Africa has another distinctive and very effective factor that affected housing and development, namely apartheid, prior 1994 apartheid laws restricted the non-white population of South Africa from residing where-ever and whenever they wanted. The influx laws that controlled the movement of the non-white population were further emphasized by limited amounts of money put forth for the development of black communities. De Loor (1995:158) as cited by Oosthuizen (2002) points out that from an initial amount of R402 million that was transferred to the Department of housing during 1990/1991 for national housing developments only R4 million was used the black communities development and revolving fund, this amount only constitutes about 1% of the total amount. It is as a result of this that there were an increased nu mber of informal settlements in South Africa. After being elected as president after the first democratic elections in 1994 then President Nelson Mandela promised the South African citizens a better life for all (RDP white paper, 1994:1), a better life for all includes better living standards such as better housing, clean water, electricity, safety and better health care and etc. With the aim of achieving the goals put forth by President Nelson Mandela the Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP) was initiated early 1994. This program was mainly aimed at developing South Africa to a better country socially and economical especially the poor. The question at hand currently is whether this has been achieved thus far, Sowman and Urquhart (1998) as cited by Moolla (2008) points out that informal settlements consisting of self-built squatter camps made from a variety of materials such as corrugated iron, plastic, tin cans, wood, and cardboard are still prevalent in South African cities, this also implies that living conditions ar e difficult and very unhealthy. There are many localities in South Africa where such informal settlements are found so, with still the aim of improving the lives of South Africans the government continued the RDP and built low-cost houses for the poor. These areas where theses RDP house are being built became of much interest to academics and they became good research areas. In 2008 Raheesa Moolla of the Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg conducted a study on one of these newly developed areas namely, Braamfischerville, her research was aimed at understanding whether the residence of Braamfischerville where satisfied with their new homes. This research showed much dissatisfaction by the community, it shows an increase in dissatisfaction levels from 37.3% in 2002 to 44.5% in 2008 (Moolla, 2008), this is just general dissatisfaction including factors such as housing qualities and sanitation. The results from the above mentioned research stimulates an interest as to whether Braamfischerville is different from where most this people come from or not? It is important to understand this so more effective solutions can be found to put these people out of their misery. Research Questions and aims This research is aimed at understanding what new changes, if any, that the move to Braamfischerville has brought to its community, whether their satisfaction level has changed for the better or worse. The research further more aims at answering the following questions: What is the cause to such increases in dissatisfaction levels by the community? What is the communitys perception on Braamfischerville as compared to where they come from? What improvements can be made to Braamfischerville in order to make it a better place? With great considerations, this research can contribute to the governments goal to providing a better life for all by drawing attention to what the people really need i.e. what they want the government to do in order to improve their lives. Study area: Location and History Braamfischerville is located on the outskirts of Soweto, south west Johannesburg, some few kilometers away from Dobsonville (see figure 1) thus forming one of the 87 townships (Wikipedia contributors, 2009) found in Soweto characterized by formal and informal settlements, squatter settlements and shanty towns. Braamfischerville is predominantly composed of RDP houses, 30m2 on a 250m2 plot, consisting of an open plan, bedroom, lounge and kitchen, and a separate toilet (Moolla, 2008). In total Braamfischerville is made up of four phases (namely phase 1, 2, 3 4) with only main roads having been tarred since the beginning of this development in 1996. On this report only phase 1 will be investigated. Phase 1 is composed of approximately 3000 houses (Moolla, 2009; Personal communication) predominantly RDP houses, bond houses and squatter settlements. Though the governments aim with these developments was to provide basic services, such as shelter, running water, sewerage and electricity, and amenities, such as schools and clinics, in the Sowetan newspaper as cited by Moolla (2008), Mohlale (2002) reported that many of these services are still absent in this area after six years of development. Methodology In 2008 the University of Johannesburg conducted a questionnaire survey on housing satisfaction amongst the Braamfischerville residents, this survey was a revalidation of a survey of the same kind that was conducted by the former Vista University (Now known as University of Johannesburg Soweto campus) both these studies used the same survey. As this is a small scale report and posses just small differences the questionnaire from 2008 was just used as a guideline and thus some minor modifications where done. Out of the four phases that make up Braamfischerville only one phase was chosen as the target for this research, namely Phase 1. A random sample of 30 questionnaires was conducted to achieve the objective of this study. The questionnaires where answered by means of interviewing residents of RDP homes, squatter settlements and bond houses of Braamfischerville Phase 1. The questionnaire looked at demographics; socio-economical and number of years these residents resided at Braamfischerville furthermore it also aimed at understanding where most of the residents resided before Braamfischerville, the main aim of the survey was to compare Braamfischerville to where most of these residents come from thus, to achieve that, the questionnaire also looked at availability of services and accessibility of basic amenities to the residents and, as a result the comparison was scaled on a scale of 3 (where 1 is worse; 2 the same and; 3 better) and thus conclusion was drawn based on this comparison between Braamfischerville and where most residents resided before. The results of the questionnaire were captured using Microsoft excel and thus statistical analysis were conducted which resulted in graphs presented in this report. The 2008 report was used as guideline for comparative purposes. As completion of report, as will be seen in the next part, literature review was done on what has been written in regards to housing the poor, and the progress thereof. The rest of the report will be based on results from site visitation and validation, if any, of literature based on the topic of study. Chapter 2: Low cost housing defined and explained Radikeledi (2007) cites Meng et al. (2004:88) as they define low cost housing, the define it as â€Å"a type of low profit commodity housing with government subsidies and policy support aimed at providing a large number of decent homes for middle and lower-middle income house holds.† RDPs function and continuation â€Å"The RDP endorses the principle that all South Africans have a right to a secure place in which to live in peace and dignity.One of the RDPs first priorities is to provide for the homeless† (Bond, 2008). Furthermore Bond (2008) mentions key things that RDP housing must provide as follows: Protection from weather; A durable structure; Reasonable living space and privacy; Sanitary facilities; Storm-water drainage systems; Electricity and; Convenient access to clean water. To ensure that these goals are achieved the Johannesburg City council in the financial year 2007/2008 allocated a budget to the different departments. RDPs progress in Johannesburg Knight (2001:1) as cited by Radikeledi (2007) states the goal that was set by the African National Congress (ANC) after winning the election in 1994 that they will ensure that with RDP 200 000 houses will be built annually until all South African citizens are fully accommodated, especially the previously disadvantaged. In contrast, the delivery of RDP homes has been heavily criticized, not only in Johannesburg but all over South Africa. 14 years into democracy still, a variety of self made informal settlements are still prevalent in South African cities (Moolla, 2008). One of the major criticisms against the delivery of RDP homes has been the procedures followed in order for one to obtain such a house. Marx and Royston (2007) identifiers three ways in which people find opportunities to access land: Through legal procedures involving local authorities, councilor and municipal officials. Family and friendship network. Information and assistance provided by the committee members through community meetings. Ndaba (2003) as cited by Moolla (2008) found that allocation of low cost homes in South Africa was undermined by corruption and malpractice from the officials. Furthermore Moolla (2008) cites The Star newspaper (Radler, 2008) which reveals that some 830 000 people have been on the waiting list since 1994 and are still waiting for their homes. Living conditions in RDP homes ‘Matchbox House is it may be known to many, RDP homes are generally a 30m2 house on a 250m2 plot (Moolla, 2008). As cited by Moolla (2008), Haggard (2006) states that a typical RDP house consists of a toilet, open lounge, two bedrooms, kitchen and dining area (Haggard, 2006). However, Moolla (2008) states that not all RDP houses are constructed in this layout but are rather made up of an open lounge, kitchen and single bedroom with no dividing walls, and a separate toilet. Furthermore, Dangor (1998) compares the RDP houses to the old apartheid matchbox houses and in this comparison no difference was found as far as standard is concerned but much difference in size as matchbox houses are rather slightly bigger than the RDP houses was noted. Part of the objective of the RDP was the availability and accessibility of basic services and amenities respectively. Amenities include schools, clinics and transport however, Moolla (2008) states that many of these services are still absent in these areas. It is due to the absence of basic services and poor infrastructure that dissatisfaction levels regarding the area has increased by 7.2% within a period of six years i.e. 2002 2008. Chapter 3: Demographics and socio-economical characteristics of inhabitants This chapter will present findings on demographics and socio-economic characteristic of the inhabitants, also to be looked will be proximity from basic amenities and delivery of services to the residents. Research shows that migration into phase one has been trending since 1996 this can indicate the unavailability of houses in the years of low migration. Demographic and socio economic characteristics. In this regard, to be looked at is the number of people occupying per household, dominating gender and employment status of these residents. Furthermore to be looked will be where the employed portion of the residents got employed i.e. in Braamfischerville or before the got to Braamfischerville. Braamfischerville Phase 1 is dominantly composed of households consisting of 3 4 people per house, and rather astonishingly it is dominated by females. Also evident from table 3.1 is that most these residents are aged between 31 and 40, educational qualifications show that most these people, especially the dominant age group, have at least a grade 12/matric qualification but yet employment levels are really low and thus most of the population is self employed by means of small businesses such as spaza shops and other retail services. A rather fascinating finding is that, as much as the governments aim with the RDP is to empower the poor statistics show that 27% of residents in phase 1 are renting the property they live on from owners who do not even live in the neighborhood. This puts much emphasis and reasoning to the criticisms mentioned in the previous chapter as far as RDP housing distribution is concerned. Proximity to basic services and amenities Braamfischerville appears to be rather dominated by Spaza shops with one large Spar supermarket for formal groceries. There was no clinic, police station or pension pay out point seen in phase 1, residents complain that to get these services they are forced to go to Dobsonville which is located just e few kilometers from their homes. Overall delivery of services is rather poor in this area as the most important services are located very far from residents and they have to pay transport to get to them. Living in Braamfischerville Having to have looked at demographics, socio-economic characteristics as well as proximity from basic services residents where asked to compare Braamfischerville to where they resided before. The majority of residents prefer to have rather remained where they come from. Reasons for such dissatisfaction from residents include that stated by Moolla (2008) of poor infrastructure, houses are leaking, poor service by municipality, absence of police for security reasons, no tarred road, unemployment, poor sanitation, no library and recreational facilities and unreliable transport systems. These results are of much surprise as the government intentions with areas such as Braamfischerville is to make sure everyones needs are satisfied. A large number of Braamfischerville residents come from areas such as Meadowlands and Alexandra; these areas are perceived to be of rather unhealthy, unsafe and just poor living conditions thus, to understand these results literature review was conducted about the most prominent area where these people come from. An overview on Alexandra Established in 1905, Alexandra is thus the oldest township in Gauteng but also one of the poorest of the province. Alexandra is located north east of Johannesburg some 3kms away from Sandton. It is characterized by lack of infrastructure, overcrowding and high rates of crime. The lunchbox fund (2008) highlights that this overcrowding has put much pressure on service delivery thus most shacks have no electricity and only 65% of household have access to piped water. Alexandra is made up of three different regions separated by the Jukskei River. To the west of the river one encounters the Old Alexandra predominantly composed of informal dwellings, three hostels and a block of flats, just to the east of the river lies East Bank which is predominantly middle class households. The Far East Bank which was developed recently is composed mainly of RDP houses (Wilson, 2008). Unlike other townships, Alexandra is rather very small, extending over approximately 800 hectares of land and ironically is home to about 350 000 people (Dlamini, 2008). Wilson (2008) reveals that of the 350 000 people, 70 % of them where young people aged below 15 and 35 years with a 1:1.22 ratio between male (60%) and female (61%). Former President Thabo Mbeki allocated a budget of R1.3 billion to the development of Alexandra in February 2001 (Dlamini, 2008). This budget was to be spread over seven years but when 2008 came was extended by two more years. This budget gave rise to the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) which then initiated the project by building about 90 000 RDP structures and also renewed the hostels and built a clinic. The ARP is still active and is renewing Alexandra to a suitable place for all. â€Å"The de-densification process has been highly successful. The relocation exercise since 2001 to new developments in Dieplsloot, Braamfischerville and Far East Bank extensions provided approximately 11 000 families with new homes. The ARP Housing strategy envisage the further relocation of 15 000 families out of Alexandra† (Dlamini, 2008). Conclusions As a result of poor services and unavailability of basic amenities, 63% of Braamfischerville residents are very dissatisfied with their new homes and prefer to have stayed where the resided before Braamfischerville or be relocated to a better area. The overview on Alexandra has shown that there is much progress in the development of the township, further more, all amenities that are absent in Braamfischerville are present in Alexandra, the only advantage Braamfischerville has over Alexandra would be that if these people had remained in Alexandra they would possible still be living in shacks and other informal dwellings not that they would complain much as research has shown that 44.5% of the population is not satisfied with the houses in general either way. This dissatisfaction levels will continue to grow until the government intervenes and start targeting areas of low satisfaction levels and attend to all basic needs, this will result in RDP houses being homes where people live with pride in and not show the clear distinction between the poor and the wealthy.

Equality vs. Athletics Essay -- Title IX Sports Women Essays

Equality vs. Athletics In 1929, the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. This was a breakthrough for America and an enormous step towards equal opportunities for women everywhere. Being given the right to vote created a sense of long awaited and greatly deserved equality with men. Even though women were given the right to vote, over 70 years ago, the government still has to make a law to ensure that equal treatment is given. Title IX was instated in 1972 to provide women with the same athletic opportunities as men in universities across the United States. While Title IX has helped advance female athletics, there are arguments that it has discriminated against male athletics. Attorney Curt Levey makes a drastically bias argument against Title IX in his article, Title IX’s Dark Side: Sports Gender Quotas. The argument focuses on the pressures of upper level schools complying with Title IX’s proportionality rule, the lack of female interest in intercollegiate athletics, and the bit ter cutting of several men’s teams since Title IX was established. Levey, along with many others opposed to Title IX, seem to think the law is slowly destroying male athletics, which was not what it was intended for and definitely is not the case. Title IX was created in order to provide women with equal opportunities in intercollegiate athletics, and that is exactly what it has done so far and what it will continue to do. Levey’s first problem with Title IX and its attempt to increase women’s athletic opportunities, found in paragraph four, is directed towards the proportionality rule (Levey 626). The proportionality rule is one of three options schools are given to comply with Title IX. This requires high schools, colleges, and u... ...een sitting on the bench for years, and now it’s time for men to â€Å"take one for the team.† Work Cited Bestwick, Dick. â€Å"Title IX’s proportionality rule is patently unfair to men.† Athens Banner-Herald. 2 Feb. 2003. 16 Apr. 2003. Levey, Curt. Title IX’s Dark Side: Sports Gender Quotas. Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments. Needham Heights: Pearson, 2001.626-627. Rpt. in The Humanist. The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education. Title IX at Thirty: Report Card of Gender Equity. June 2002. The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education. Title IX Athletics Policies: Issues and Data for Education Decision Makers. Aug 27. 2002. The Secretary of Education’s Commission on Opportunity in Athletics. â€Å"Open to All† Title IX at Thirty. Feb 28. 2003. Equality vs. Athletics Essay -- Title IX Sports Women Essays Equality vs. Athletics In 1929, the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. This was a breakthrough for America and an enormous step towards equal opportunities for women everywhere. Being given the right to vote created a sense of long awaited and greatly deserved equality with men. Even though women were given the right to vote, over 70 years ago, the government still has to make a law to ensure that equal treatment is given. Title IX was instated in 1972 to provide women with the same athletic opportunities as men in universities across the United States. While Title IX has helped advance female athletics, there are arguments that it has discriminated against male athletics. Attorney Curt Levey makes a drastically bias argument against Title IX in his article, Title IX’s Dark Side: Sports Gender Quotas. The argument focuses on the pressures of upper level schools complying with Title IX’s proportionality rule, the lack of female interest in intercollegiate athletics, and the bit ter cutting of several men’s teams since Title IX was established. Levey, along with many others opposed to Title IX, seem to think the law is slowly destroying male athletics, which was not what it was intended for and definitely is not the case. Title IX was created in order to provide women with equal opportunities in intercollegiate athletics, and that is exactly what it has done so far and what it will continue to do. Levey’s first problem with Title IX and its attempt to increase women’s athletic opportunities, found in paragraph four, is directed towards the proportionality rule (Levey 626). The proportionality rule is one of three options schools are given to comply with Title IX. This requires high schools, colleges, and u... ...een sitting on the bench for years, and now it’s time for men to â€Å"take one for the team.† Work Cited Bestwick, Dick. â€Å"Title IX’s proportionality rule is patently unfair to men.† Athens Banner-Herald. 2 Feb. 2003. 16 Apr. 2003. Levey, Curt. Title IX’s Dark Side: Sports Gender Quotas. Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments. Needham Heights: Pearson, 2001.626-627. Rpt. in The Humanist. The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education. Title IX at Thirty: Report Card of Gender Equity. June 2002. The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education. Title IX Athletics Policies: Issues and Data for Education Decision Makers. Aug 27. 2002. The Secretary of Education’s Commission on Opportunity in Athletics. â€Å"Open to All† Title IX at Thirty. Feb 28. 2003.

Why or Why Not College Should Be Free

Some countries have free education from kindergarten to university, while students in other countries have to pay at every step of the way. This essay will look at some of the reasons for this difference at university level. Free third level education has several advantages. First of all, everyone can attend, so the gap between rich and poor students decreases as poorer students have more opportunity. The economy also benefits from the increased pool of highly educated labor. An educated workforce attracts employers and foreign investment.Socially, a more educated population should have more choices regarding nutrition, jobs and lifestyle. An additional point is that university fees only contribute a small proportion of the university budget. However, some people are opposed to free education. First of all, through their taxes, poor families subsidize rich students who can easily afford to pay fees. A second point is that spending government money on free education is often not possi ble or desirable when a country needs hospitals, roads, and primary or secondary schools.A third point is that a university education is a choice, not a requirement. People who finish college with advanced qualifications are going to earn large salaries and can easily afford to pay back loans. Furthermore, when people get something for free, they often do not value it. If college is free, many students will go there just because they cannot think of anything else to do. Education is widely regarded as a key factor in the economic and social development of a country, but there are different attitudes about whether students should pay or not.Some regard education as a basic right, which should therefore be provided free, while others think the individual student should have to shoulder some of the costs of his or her education. This essay will examine some of the arguments for and against free education at third level. There are several reasons why university education in particular s hould be paid for by the students who receive it. to allow as many people as possible to develop to their full potential and to develop the country, we need to make third level education available to all.Restricting access to the elite will have detrimental effects on the society and the economy. However, there are sound economic and social reasons for making third level education free to all. In the first place, a modern country needs highly skilled graduates of all kinds, rather than just high school leavers. For many families, the high cost of tuition would discourage participation in third level education. An important point is that the contribution of fees to the budget of any good university or college is relatively small, since almost all colleges rely on large amounts of government or philanthropic funding.The money from fees may represent only a small part of the college budget. A third point is that third level education is not purely vocational. Students at college are no t just being given technical skills desired by employers, but are questioning, analyzing, synthesizing and creating new knowledge, and this will be a tremendous resource to the society as a whole. With the extremely rapid development of the society, increasing young people choose to accept the higher education, in order to enhance their competitiveness.Yet, it is indisputable that the tuition is really high, and some family cannot afford it, because of which, personally, I insist that it should be a duty of the government to pay the course fees. In my essay, I will talk about this topic on twofold. First of all, it benefits individuals a lot to pay the tuition by the governments. We all know, studying is not an easy job to every person, and the one who want to have some achievements in the academic areas must pay a great of efforts.There is no reason to require the students, who are trying their best to get a good result in their study, to earn the large sum of money for their furth er education. In order to encourage this kind of students to continue to work hard to gain more professional skills to make sure they can lead high quantity lives after their graduated, it is a vital and effective option for the governments to pay for their tuition. More importantly, it is not only for personal benefit, but also for governments.Owning to the ever-accelerated updating of science and technology, modern societies need much more high-tech talents. That is a quite useful method to drive more young person to pursuit the higher education, and the same time to give them the belief that they should put their shoulder to the wheel to return the society. To sum up, paying the cursers is a symbol of society progress. It gives people dwelling in the society a kind of belonging, and makes individuals become more unity.Therefore, I reaffirm that the tuition should be paid by governments. Free third level education is not always a good thing. Governments need to think carefully abo ut their policies and ensure that they are using their resources to help all the people in the country equitably. To allow as many people as possible to develop to their full potential and to develop the country, we need to make third level education available to all. Restricting access to the elite will have detrimental effects on the society and the economy.

Charlemagne2 essays

Charlemagne2 essays Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, became the undisputed ruler of Western Europe. As Western Europe was deteriorating Charlemagne was crowned the privilege of being joint king of the Franks in 768 A.D. People of Western Europe, excluding the church followers, had all but forgotten the great gifts of education and arts that they had possessed at one time. Charlemagne solidly defeated barbarians and kings in identical fashion during his reign. Using the re-establishment of education and order, Charlemagne was able to save many political rights and restore culture in Western Europe. Charlemagne was born in 742 A.D., to a very famous and well-known family. Charlemagnes grandfather was Charles Martel, the man who was responsible for the defeat of the Saracens. Charlemagne was also the eldest son of Bertrade (also known as Bertha Greatfoot) and Pepin the Short, the first to become king of the Franks. With the almost full extinction of schools in the 8th century, many historians say that Charlemagne received very little education, but did learn the art of reading from Bertrade. The one thing that kept Charlemagne motivated throughout his entire life was his deep devotion to the church. Charlemagne was a tall young man with light blond hair, and was described by his secretary as stately and dignified. Charlemagne had great wit, but was stern at times. He had simple and moderate tastes; he enjoyed hunting, riding and swimming. Charlemagne had a large wardrobe with many Frankish dresses, linen shirts and breeches, silk-fringed tunics, hoses wrapped with bands, and for the winter he had coats made of otter or marten skins. Charlemagne asked his people to improve their lifestyles, but he divorced two of his four fives without any given cause. In 768 A.D., Charlemagne at the age of 26, along with his brother Carloman inherited the kingdom of Franks. However, in 771 A.D. Carloman died, making Charlemagne...

The Factors That Influence Travel Decision Making Tourism Essay Essays

The Factors That Influence Travel Decision Making Tourism Essay Essays The Factors That Influence Travel Decision Making Tourism Essay Essay The Factors That Influence Travel Decision Making Tourism Essay Essay This chapter consists of three parts. First is debut, following is literature reappraisals that review the critical points of old researches including substantial determination every bit good as theoretical and methodological parts to this similar subject. Last, a decision to this chapter. Research in the country of travel motivations is of import in understanding and foretelling the factors that influence travel decision-making ( Cha, S. , McCleary, K.W. and Uysal, M. , 1995 ) . Motivation is theoretically viewed as a province of demand, a status that serves as a driving force to expose different sorts of behavior toward certain types of activities, developing penchants, geting at some expected satisfactory result. ( Backman, K.F. Backman, S.J. , Uysal, M. and Sunshine, K.M.,1995 ) In peculiar, an apprehension of motive aid sellers attempts to accomplish and fulfill persons diverse desires and demands, cardinal elements that influence the procedure of travellers decision-making ( Crompton, J.L. and McKay S.L.,1997 ) . Surveies of motive therefore provide to foretell traveller s personal demands, outlooks, accomplishments, or benefits sought ( Formica, S. and Uysal, M.,1998 ) . A brief reappraisal of travel motive research ( Table 1 ) published in three major touristry diaries Annalss of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, and Journal of Travel Research revealed that bing surveies have covered a broad scope of the spectrum, there are included the sociology of travel motive as a stimulator of existent behaviour ( Dann 1977 ; Mansfeld 1992 ) ; travel motive of different niche markets ( Clift and Forrest 1999 ; Dunn Ross and Iso-Ahola 1991 ; Hsu, Cai, and Wong 2007 ; Maoz 2007 ; Qu and Ping 1999 ; Rittichainuwat 2008 ) ; the development or empirical trial of travel motive measurings ( Crompton 1979 ; Dann 1981 ; Fodness 1994 ; Ryan and Glendon 1998 ) ; differences in motive among tourers with varied nationality and cultural backgrounds ( Kim and Prideaux 2005 ; Maoz 2007 ) , figure of visits ( Lau and McKercher 2004 ) , finishs and beginnings ( Kozak 2002 ) , sociodemographic feature ( Jang and Wu 2006 ; Fleischer and Pizam 2002 ) , or environmental attitu de ( Luo and Deng 2008 ) . Writers Survey Dann 1977 A sociological survey of travel motive, with a focal point on the push dimension of motive. Crompton 1979 The motive for pleasance holiday. Seven motive factors were identified through interviews. Dann 1981 Based on a literature reappraisal on travel motive, seven attacks of motive survey were identified. The use of different nomenclatures was besides discussed Dunn Ross and Iso-Ahola 1991 Motivation of sightseeing tourers in relation to their satisfaction Mansfeld 1992 The function of motive in travel behaviour and its complex nature Paul 1992 Travel motive of Canadian ecotourists Parrinello 1993 Relationship between expectancy and motive in postindustrial societies in the context of Western Europe Fodness 1994 A measurement graduated table was developed for leisure travel with 20 points. Lieux, weaver ; and McCleary 1994 Benefit cleavage of senior tourers from the United States Gnoth 1997 Development of theoretical theoretical account on motive and outlook formation Formica and Uysal 1998 Benefit cleavage of visitants to a cultural-historical event in Italy Ryan and Glendon 1998 The Leisure Motivation Scale was applied to tourism with British tourists. An brief version of holiday motive graduated table with 14 points was developed. Waller and Lea 1998 Relationship between genuineness seeking and enjoyment. The cognition dimension of motive was found to intercede this relationship. Clift and Forrest 1999 The motive of cheery work forces in relation to the type of finishs they preferred in the context of the United Kingdom Qu and Ping 1999 Motivation of sail choice in the context of Hong Kong Goossens 2000 The function of emotional constituent of travel motive in exciting existent travel behaviour Fleischer and Pizam 2002 Relationship between motive and Israeli senior travellers income and wellness Kozak 2002 Differences of motive among tourers sing different finishs and tourer from different states sing same finish with respondents from the United Kingdom and Germany Sirakaya, Uysal, and Yoshioka 2003 Benefits cleavage of Nipponese tourers to Turkey Lau and McKercher Differences of travel motive between first-time and repeat visitants to Hong Kong Kim and Prideaux 2005 A cross-cultural analysis on travel motive to South Korea among five national tourer groups Pearce and Lee 2005 Further development of the Travel Career Ladder by presenting Travel Career Pattern ( TCP ) . The relationship between old experience and motive was explored by TCP. Yoon and Uysal 2005 Causal relationship between push-pull motives, satisfaction, and finish trueness. Pull factors were found to negatively act upon satisfaction. Jang and Wu 2006 Influences of sociodemographic factors, economic position, wellness position, and positive and negative effects on travel motive among Chinese seniors Chang, wall, and Chu 2006 Benefits cleavage utilizing the freshness seeking graduated table in the context of Chinese tourers to Aboriginal attractive forces Nicolau and Mas 2006 Influences of travel distance and monetary value on finish choice, with travel motive as a moderator in the context of Spain Poria, Reichel, and Biran 2006 Relationship between perceptual experience of heritage as it is related to the tourers ain heritage and motive explored before the trip Snerpenger et Al. 2006 Tourists and recreationist were comparing utilizing Iso-Ahola s motive theory. The relationship between motive and old holidaies was investigated. Swanson and Horridge 2006 Causal relationship between keepsake shopping and four motivational factors in the context of Southwestern United States Beh and Bruyere 2007 Benefits cleavage in the context of Kenya Hsu, Cai, and Wong 2007 A theoretical theoretical account of senior travel motive in the context of China Maoz 2007 Travel motive of Israeli backpackers, investigated in relation to national and cultural features Luo and Deng 2008 Relationship between environmental attitude and nature-based touristry motive Rittichainuwat 2008 Travel motive to a touristry finish, utilizing the disaster-hit beach resort in Phuket as an illustration. Comparison was made between domestic and inward tourers, and between tourers of different ages and genders. Park and Yoon 2009 Benefit cleavage of rural touristry in the context of South Korea Table1. Brief Summary of Studies on Travel Motivation ( Adopted from Cathy H.C. Hsu, Liping A. Cai and Mimi Li, 2009 ) Many research workers from different Fieldss such as from sociology, anthropology, and psychological science have investigated travel motive since many old ages ago ( Cohen, 1972 ; Dann, 1977 ; Crompton, 1979 ; Gnoth, 1997 ) . Maslow s hierarchal theory of motive was one of the most applied in touristry literature ( 1970 ) and it was model as a pyramid whose base consists of the physiological demands, followed by higher degrees of psychological demands and the demand for self-actualization. Numerous touristry bookmans have attempted to modify the theoretical account through empirical observation, with the noteworthy success by Pearce ( 1982 ) , who projected a touristry motive theoretical account that mirrors the theoretical account of Maslow, but free of predominance premise. Carry throughing Prestige Push Seeking Relaxation Factors Sightsing Assortment Deriving Knowledge Events and Activities Pull Adventure Factors History and Culture Easy Access and Affordable A reappraisal of past researches on tourer motive indicates that the analysis of motives based on the two dimensions of push and pull factors have been by and large accepted ( Yuan A ; McDonald, 1990 ; Uysal A ; Hagan, 1993 ) . The construct behind push and pull dimension is that people travel because they are pushed by their ain inner forces and pulled by the outer forces of finish properties. Most of the push factors that are origin-related are intangible or intrinsic desires of the single travellers. Pull factors, frailty versa, are those that emerge because of the attraction of that peculiar finish, as the travellers perceive it. They include touchable resources and travellers perceptual experience and outlook such as benefit outlook, freshness and marketed image of the finish. A research theoretical account is so developing based on this theory at below diagram ( adapted from Baloglu A ; Uysal, 1996 ) . Travel Motivation Crompton ( 1979 ) foremost sought to pull seven socio-psychological, or push motivations such as flight, self-exploratory, relaxation, prestigiousness, arrested development, kinship-enhancement, and societal interaction ) and two cultural, or draw motivations that are novelty and instruction. The conceptual model that he developed would giving impact the choice of a finish, and this attack implies that the finish can hold some grade of influence on holiday behaviour in run intoing an aroused demand. As Crompton s initial empirical attempt, many surveies have attempted to acknowledge push and pull motivational factors in different scenes such as nationalities, finishs and events ( Jang and Wu, 2006 ) . Example integrated Yuan and McDonald s ( 1990 ) survey on motives for abroad travel from four states: Japan, France, West Germany and UK. While Uysal and Jurowski ( 1993 ) studied, the nature and extent of the mutual relationship between push and pull factors of motives for pleasance travel with utilizing informations from the Canadian Tourism Attribute and Motivation Survey. Another survey in Australia examined the nature and utility of the relationship between these two factors of motive by using canonical correlativity analysis ( Oh, H. , M. , A ; Uysal, P. Weaver, 1995 ) . Baloglu and Uysal ( 1996 ) claimed that the construct of merchandise packages is used to mention to the sensed significance of the interaction between push and pull points of motive. This implies that certain grounds for travel may match to certain benefits that are to be valued and obtained at the finish topographic point. Based on the intrinsic and extrinsic motives, as discussed above, the single tourer physiques their perceptual experiences, and the perceptual experiences can be differ from the true properties of the merchandise depending on how the single receives and procedure information ( Gartner, 1993 ; Dann, 1996 ; Baloglu and Brinberg, 1997 ) . A general decision can be drawn that the personal motivations or called push motivations and the position of the features of the touristry finish ( pull motivations ) determine perceptual experiences. These motivations interact in dynamic and germinating context ( Correia, 2000 ) , and the tourer motive is seen as a multidimensional construct that indicates tourist determination ( McCabe, 2000 ) . As touristry paradigm is related to human existences and human nature, it is ever a complex proposition to analyze why people travel and what they want to bask ( Yoon and Uysal, 2005 ) . In most surveies, it is by and large accepted that push and pull motives have been chiefly utilized in surveies of tourer behaviour. The finds and issues doubtless play a usage function in trying to understand a broad different of demands and wants that can drive and act upon tourer behaviour. Nevertheless, Yoon and Uysal ( 2005 ) said that the consequences and effects of the motive surveies of tourer behaviour need more than an apprehension of their demands and wants. In touristry finish direction, it was by and large agree that maximising travel satisfaction is important for a successful concern. The rating of the physical merchandises of finish every bit good as the psychological reading of a finish merchandise are of import for human actions ( Swan and Comb, 1976 ; Uysal and Noe, 2003 ) , which could be farther represented as a travel satisfaction and finish fidelity. Both constructs can be examined within the context of a touristry system stand foring two major constituents of the market topographic point, viz. , demand ( tourer ) and supply ( touristry attractive forces ) which demand refers to motivations ( push factors ) that sustain tourers desire while lissome relates to finish s features ( pull factors ) ( Jurowski et al. , 1996 ) . Push and pull factors have by and large been characterized to two separate determinations made at two separate period in clip one focussing on whether to travel, the other on where to travel. For case, Dann ( 1981 ) noted that once the trip has been decided upon, where to travel, what to see or what to make ( associating to the specific finishs ) can be tackled and this make a conclude that, analytically, both logically and temporally, push factors precede pull factor . Although these two factors has been viewed as associating to two distinguishable determinations, several research workers have distinguished that they should non be viewed as operating wholly independent of each other s. For illustration, it has suggested that people travel because they are pushed by their ain intrinsic forces and at the same time pulled by the extrinsic forces such as the finish and its properties ( Cha, McCleary, and Uysal 1995 ; Uysal and Jurowskil, 1994 ) . However, Crompton ( 1979 ) argued, push factors may be utile non merely in explicating the initial rousing, stimulating, or push ; to take a holiday, but may besides hold directing potency to direct the tourer toward a peculiar finish ( p.412 ) . Several empirical scrutinies of push and pull factors had been reported in the travel and touristry literature. Of the anterior research that examined the pupils and/or spring interruption travel market ( Butts, F.B. , J. Salazar, K. Sapio, and D. Thomas, 1996 ; Field, 1999 ; Hobson and Josiam, 1992,1996 ; Hsu and Sung, 1996,1997 ; Sirakaya and McLellan, 1997 ) , there have been no probes of push forces and merely a smattering of efforts to analyze the pull factors act uponing pupils finish pick determination. In another survey, conducted by Hobson and Josiam ( 1992 ) , pupils were asked to name their primary ground for taking a spring interruption finish and most responses referred to the influence of friends and/or household populating near or traveling to the finish, other grounds referred to destination-related properties such as the finish holding s spring interruption party repute, warm conditions, low-cost pricing, quiet environment, good skiing, or good beaches.

Earth's Deserts Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Earth's Deserts - Research Paper Example The most important abiotic factor which influences the desert ecosystem is rainfall. Most deserts are characterized by the fact that it experiences little or no rainfall. The deserts receive a total of less than 300 mm of rainfall per year, where a rainforest receives about 2000 mm. The lack of rain, and ultimately water in a desert makes the vegetation scarce and influences the adaptation of the plants and organisms. Plants such as cacti which are very common in a desert ecosystem have adapted to the scarcity of water by storing water in their stems. The saguaro cacti do not have very deep roots, allowing it to soak up rain and dew before it evaporates. It's spongy surface inside expands to hold more water (Cunningham n.d.). Bushes develop small and few leave, but long roots to adapt to the harsh conditions by conserving water. Some plants are short lived and grow only during when rain is available. Temperature is another important factor which has a great impact on the ecosystem which ultimately is affected by another abiotic factor, sunlight. The temperature in the deserts reaches its extremes on a daily basis because there is no humidity in the desert air to block the Sun rays. Mean annual temperature in North American deserts like Chihuahuan, Sonoran, and Mojave, for example, is 20-25Â ° whereas it can reach up to 49Â °. Minimum temperature here can drop to -18Â ° as well. But temperatures can be so high that rain starts falling and gets evaporated whilst it reaches the ground (The desert biome. (n.d.).

Teaching elementary students Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Teaching elementary students - Essay Example At this period children develop effectively writing and drawing skills. The cognitive development characteristics are active information gathering, learning skills, mastering abstract thinking. At this period of life children master verbal skills. They long to become competent that’s why they are prone to ask many questions which are mostly fact-oriented. Communication needs are usually satisfied in social groups or interest clubs. Elementary students are able to handle abstract ideas, think generally of concrete objects, devise memory strategies, and evaluate behavior. Their attention is selective. The emotional development of elementary students is marked by acquiring independence and self-confidence. It’s a stage when self-concept and self-awareness are developing. It’s a stage when a personality traits are more outlined and which can be changed or preserved for the rest of the life depending on many factors. At this stage of development an active social participation starts. A person learns to achieve and compete, feels strong group identity. The need for interaction is satisfied through working and playing with others. The sex identity is determined and a child imitates the same sex adult. Constructivism regards learning as a construction of reality through our experiences. People generate ‘mental models’ to ‘shape’ experience and further acquire new ones. So, successful teaching practices should take into account the mental models which students use to perceive the world. Constructivists regard learning as a search for meaning, not memorizing of the ready answers. Constructivism suggests to customize curricula according to students needs, thus eliminating a standardized curriculum as well as grades and standardized testing. The students are encouraged to analyze and interpret information. They also play a vital role in the assessment of their progress. In Piaget developmental theory learning is also based