Mark Shaffer Essays - Education, Critical Pedagogy, Multiculturalism

Mark Shaffer James Banks James Banks believes that there should be more multicultural education taught in schools. Education about ethnic diversity treats cultural pluralism within a nation-state by studying different traits from different groups, which determine one group from another. He believes that a major goal of education in a free society is acceptance of cultural pluralism as a national strength and not an obstacle. Individuals of various minority groups may maintain their ethnic identities while sharing a common culture with Americans from many different ethnic backgrounds. (http://ericae.net/edo/ED273539.htm) A suggestion made on how to incorporate more multicultural issues is that social studies education should build consensus on core civic values important to all Americans. These include the rule of law, representative and limited government, and civil liberties, including toleration of the respect of the rights of individuals and ethnic minority groups. Banks believes that educators who recognize and respect their students' ethnic identities should also prepare them to assume common obligations and responsibilities of citizenship which involve shared civic values embodied in basic documents of the American heritage. Although students and teachers may participate variously within different microcultures, they also come together within the American mainstream culture, especially the civic culture. (http://ericae.net/edo/ED273539.htm) James Banks has four basic levels to what he thinks will reform the curriculum. Level 1 is called the contribution approach. This is when the Heroes, heroines, holidays, foods, and discrete cultural elements are celebrated occasionally. (See the chart) This is the level I think most schools are at now. Level 2 is called the additive approach. This is where things are added to the curriculum without the structure changing. Level 3 is called the transformation approach. This approach says, the structure of the curriculum is changed to enable students to view concepts, issues, events, and themes from the perspectives of the diverse ethnic and cultural groups. (See the chart) Finally, the 4th level is called the action approach. This is when the students are encouraged to take action to help solve important personal, social, and civic problems. (See the chart) It would not be a hard thing to incorporate diversity issues into a physical education class. Every sport or dance or activity had to originate from somewhere. So what I would do is give each child a sport or activity to do a project on. Each child would get a different activity that came from a different place. The child would then teach the class about his or her activity and where it originated. This activity, I think, would best fit into Banks level three. The structure of the class would change and the students would learn things that are taught nowhere else in the school. References 1. The chart 2. http://ericae.net/edo/ED273539.htm Bibliography References 1. The chart 2. http://ericae.net/edo/ED273539.htm

Fire Ants essays

Fire Ants essays In the sunny state of Florida, you cant go anywhere without finding fire ants. They pop up inside as well as out, forming giant mounds, invading homes and even cars. Every Floridian knows what they look like; the full grown adults are reddish to dark brown. The male of the species can be either a minor worker (about 1/8 inch long), a major worker (about 1/4 inch long), or a winged ant. The females are each about 1/3 of an inch long, except the queen who can grow much larger. Fire ant mounds vary in size, usually in proportion to the size of the colony. For example, a mound that is 2 feet in diameter and 18 inches high may contain about 100,000 workers, several hundred winged adults, and one queen. When the mound of an active colony is broken open, you can see whitish rice grain-like larvae and pupae as well as the hundreds of displaced workers scurrying around. These immature ants will eventually develop into workers or winged adults. Mounds constructed in clay soils are usually symm etrical and dome-shaped; mounds built in sandy soils tend to be irregularly shaped. Now, one would think that, given the plethora fire ants in Florida, that they were a native creature. However, Solenopsis Invicta (as they are scientifically named) is actually an exotic species that have their origins in Brazil. They are expected to have traveled to the US in ship ballast water (as are many exotic species), and were first spotted in Mobile, Alabama in the mid-1930s. By the end of 1939, it had infested 9 counties in Alabama and 3 in Mississippi. Over the last 76 years, fire ants (which thrive on sunshine and dug-up soil) are now found in every Florida county, have spread to over nine southern states, and over 275 million acres within the United States. Man-assisted movement is probably responsible for large-scale "jumps" in ant infestations. Fire ants also travel by means of swarming, walking or floating, though this occurs in small increments ...

The Voyager Mission

The Voyager Mission In 1979, two tiny spacecraft were launched on one-way missions of planetary discovery. They were the twin  Voyager spacecraft, predecessors to the  Cassini spacecraft at Saturn, the Juno mission at Jupiter, and the New Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond. They were preceded in gas giant space by the Pioneers 10 and 11. The Voyagers, which are still transmitting data back to Earth as they leave the solar system, each  carry an array of cameras and instruments designed to  record magnetic, atmospheric, and other data about the planets and their moons, and to send images and data for further study back on Earth.   Voyagers Trips Voyager 1 is speeding along at about 57,600 kph (35,790 mph), which is  fast enough to travel from Earth to the Sun three and a half times in one year. Voyager 2 is   Both spacecraft  carry a gold record greeting to the universe  containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. The two-spacecraft Voyager missions were designed to replace original plans for a Grand Tour of the planets that would have used four complex spacecraft to explore the five outer planets during the late 1970s. NASA canceled the plan in 1972 and instead proposed to send two spacecraft to Jupiter and Saturn in 1977. They were  designed to explore the two gas giants in more detail than the two Pioneers (Pioneers 10 and 11) that preceded them. The Voyager Design and Trajectory The original design of the two spacecraft was based on that of the older Mariners (such as Mariner 4, which went to Mars). Power was provided by three plutonium oxide radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) mounted at the end of a boom. Voyager 1 was launched after Voyager 2, but because of a faster route, it exited the Asteroid Belt earlier than its twin. Both spacecraft got gravitational assists at each planet they passed, which aligned them for their next targets.   Voyager 1 began its Jovian imaging mission in April 1978 at a range of 265 million kilometers from the planet; images sent back by January the following year indicated that Jupiters atmosphere was more turbulent than during the Pioneer flybys in 1973 and 1974. Voyager Studies Jupiters Moons On February 10, 1979, the spacecraft crossed into the Jovian moon system, and in early March, it had already discovered a thin (less than 30 kilometers thick) ring circling Jupiter. Flying past Amalthea, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto (in that order) on March 5th, Voyager 1 returned spectacular photos of these worlds. The more interesting find was on Io, where images showed a bizarre yellow, orange and brown world with a least eight active volcanoes spewing material into space, making it one of the most (if not the most) geologically active planetary bodies in the solar system. The spacecraft also discovered two new moons, Thebe and Metis. Voyager 1s closest encounter with Jupiter was at 12:05 UT on March 5, 1979, at a range of 280,000 kilometers. On to Saturn Following the Jupiter encounter, Voyager 1 completed a single course correction on April 89 1979, in preparation for its rendezvous with Saturn. The second correction on October 10, 1979, ensured that the spacecraft would not hit Saturns moon Titan. Its flyby of the Saturn system in November 1979 was as spectacular as its previous encounter. Exploring Saturns Icy Moons Voyager 1 found five new moons and a ring system consisting of thousands of bands, discovered a new ring (the G  Ring), and found shepherding satellites on either side of the F-ring satellites that keep the rings well defined. During its flyby, the spacecraft photographed Saturns moons Titan, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, and Rhea. Based on incoming data, all the moons appeared to be largely composed of water ice. Perhaps the most interesting target was Titan, which Voyager 1 passed at 05:41 UT on  November 12th at a range of 4,000 kilometers. Images showed a thick atmosphere that completely hid the surface. The spacecraft found that the moons atmosphere was composed of 90 percent nitrogen. Pressure and temperature at the surface were 1.6 atmospheres and -180 ° C, respectively. Voyager 1s closest approach to Saturn was at 23:45 UT on November 12,  1980, at a range of 124,000 kilometers. Voyager 2 followed up with visits to Jupiter in 1979, Saturn in 1981, Uranus in 1986, and Neptune in 1986. Like its sister ship, it investigated planetary atmospheres, magnetospheres, gravitational fields, and climates, and discovered fascinating facts about the moons of all the planets. Voyager 2 also was the first to visit all four gas giant planets. Outward Bound Because of the specific requirements for  the Titan flyby, the spacecraft was not directed to Uranus and Neptune. Instead,  following the encounter with Saturn, Voyager 1 headed on a trajectory out of the solar system at a speed of 3.5 AU per year. It is on a course 35 ° out of the ecliptic plane to the north, in the general direction of the Suns motion relative to nearby stars. It is now in interstellar space, having passed through the  heliopause boundary, the outer limit of the Suns magnetic field, and the outward flow of the solar wind. Its the first spacecraft from Earth to travel into interstellar space. On February 17, 1998, Voyager 1  became the most distant human-made object in existence when it surpassed Pioneer 10s range from Earth. In mid-2016, the  Voyager 1  was more than  20 billion kilometers from Earth (135 times the Sun-Earth distance) and continuing to move away, while maintaining a tenuous radio link with Earth. Its power supply should last through 2025, allowing the transmitter to keep sending back information about the interstellar environment. Voyager 2 is on a trajectory headed out toward the star Ross 248, which it will encounter in about 40,000 years, and pass by Sirius in just under 300,000 years. It will keep transmitting as long as it has power, which may also be until the year 2025.   Edited and updated by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

School Voucher System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

School Voucher System - Research Paper Example Let us look at a graphical interpretation: Now, the initial equilibrium of education lies at the point S1 where the cost of education comes to $3000. Now, for this example we will suppose that the subsidy that will be provided, assuming that it is portable which would ensure that the sorting of schools in the city would not remain an endogenous variable in this matrix, will move the budget line from MN to M'N'. Therefore, with the voucher system the increase in education from S1 to S2 will cost around $200, an amount which will be covered by the subsidy that is provided by the government via this voucher system as the new equilibrium is now at S2. Due to the portability factor of the voucher i.e. the voucher can be used anywhere in the city, the link between the quality of the education that is provided to children and the location of the public school ceases to exist as families do not have to relocate to the urban city centers now in order to ascertain better levels of education for their children. Therefore, the role of u rban housing markets takes greater importance in the decline of cities with the implementation of this policy as the decision to move to an urban housing area does not remain dependent on the level of education provided by the schools in the suburbs. We will now look at an economic model which will shed some light on the role urban housing markets play in the decline for cities: As we can see from the graph, the supply curve of housing is defined from the equilibrium point determined at quantity Q1. This price is the minimum price level that can lead to housing construction which implies that if prices were to fall below the premium then no new housing would be built. Therefore, urban housing markets provide the greater supply in relation to the increased demand for housing due to which the equilibrium shifts to D1. This leads to the greater decline of cities as people move towards the suburban areas created by these urban housing markets. Final Remark: Moving on to the practical side of this discussion i.e. the expected impact of the voucher system on the decline of cities it is clearly evident from the fact that the quality of education plays a significant role in determining where people choose to reside and the voucher system provides an incentive to people which basically eliminates education as a line of argumentation in their decision of choosing their area of housing. In addition, as the proposed vouchers are portable, these can be used in any public educational institution due which there will not be much difference of quality between city schools and suburban schools, therefore, people will not be essentially hard pushed to level the city, due to which we can say that the voucher system will have a positive effect on the proposition of resuscitating central

Film Analysis 500 Days Of Summer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Film Analysis 500 Days Of Summer - Essay Example Tom thought of love at first sight but Summer seems to have other ideas of her own regarding romantic relationships. They became more than just friends but the two did not get married as somehow their fates were different. â€Å"500 Days of Summer† is produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures in cooperation with Watermark and Dune Entertainment. Its production cost was budgeted at US$7.5 million but it grossed about US$32.0 million worldwide. It was released in August 2009 and nominated for Golden Globe awards for best film as a comedy or musical (IMDb 1). But it still won another award for the best original screenplay for its two screenwriters. The film shatters preconceived notions of what love is on how people think. People have preconceived notions of what love means for them. There are people who believe love at first sight is the true or real love but there are others who think otherwise, like Summer Finn. Many preconceived notions are hard to dispose of because these values and attitudes toward love have been embedded into their consciousness since childhood or due to family upbringing, growing-up environment, and learned behaviors from watching others. An example of preconceived notions is the current discussion on the so-called â€Å"chick flicks† or films featuring young middle-class women. â€Å"Chick† is the colloquial term to refer to a young woman (like a chick) who is carefree or with no worries whatsoever. Summer is the quintessential example of a â€Å"modern chick† who believes in love but not in any long-term relationships because she thinks relationships are messy and bound to hurt people. In the book authored by Professors Ferriss and Young, they contend the explosion of chick flicks today is a part of the growing chick cultural phenomenon that includes â€Å"chick literature and chick TV† series depicting young women who are mostly college-educated to be

Automobile and Martha Johnson Essay Example for Free

Automobile and Martha Johnson Essay Martha Johnson is a mid- class work family. Martha’s goals are buy a car, rent an apartment, stay home and be a full time student, go on vacation, or save the money. The money she has it is from her aunt. Her aunt passed away and left Martha money. I am writing this essay to recommend my option on how Martha Johnson should spend her money. The chose I am going to make is going to help her out how to spend her money. The first goal that Martha has in mind is to buy a car. The advantages is that she has a car that she can use to go to school and go to work. She can also use the car to take her mom to her doctor appointments. Also she can go to the store when she wants to buy something like food, or clothes she will go shopping. The disadvantages is that Martha will have to pay for gas and pay car insurance for the car she buys. She will need to buy a use car not a new car. Also she would need to repair the car if it has any problems with the car. The second goal is that Martha wants to rent an apartment to herself and share it with a roommate also she is going to be a full time student . The advantages is that Martha will have her own place and wont be living with her parents. She will also be close to school and she will be walking instead of driving to school. She will also will be able to finish her career early.

Faust :: essays papers

Faust This Book has many shady characters, only Gretchen is the one character you can feel sorry for, that is what makes this tragedy so horrifying yet gratifying .Her and Faust running around makes you happy, but you anticipate them to fall desperately into love with one another and finish their lives indulging with Mephisto. But this pure untainted soul is tricked into leaving behind the innocence of her youth and subsiding to the evil one for the promise of riches and a better life. So once again you have no one to root for, because although you understand Faust’s predicament he’s getting what he wanted. Next you really begin to hate Faust because once he has seen and had all that Gretchen has to offer his love becomes an infatuation spurred by his newly found youth. Then who are you left with; Gretchen a now pregnant charlatan desperately hoping her â€Å"lover† who has poisoned her mother and slain her brother will come save her from prison, and Mephisto th e Devil himself. The entire Gretchen Tragedy is there to invoke a feeling of temptation. A sort of â€Å"What if†, really what would you do if a good looking member of the opposite sex who has more money than anyone you have ever heard of approached you describing their love to you like a cheesy Julia Roberts movie. This proves the point that Mephisto made to God in Prologue in Heaven â€Å"If only it were grass he could repose in! There is no trash he will not poke his nose in.†(Prologue In Heaven p. 85). We must keep looking for better things, if Gretchen were to realize what a small price she was paying to sacrifice life on earth for life eternal in heaven. She was without sin until she allowed human nature to take over. Gretchen upon her entrance into the play is stereotypical of a peasant woman of that time; she works all day, lives with her parents, and hopes to one day marry above her class so her daughter will not have to endure as she has throughout her life. But, she begins a metamorphosis when she meets Faust. First, she finds jewels that she can’t begin to describe, so she gives them to her mother typical of the times.