Concert Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Concert Review - Essay Example lighting of the pews contrasted with the brightly lit stage thereby making every aspect of the performance at the concert visible to the various musical critics present at the concert. A number of artists performed various classics including Castle Valse Classique, Burritt variations, Prelude and Fugue in Bb Major, Rounders and the Jolly Caballero among many others. The percussion ensembles on stage on the night consisted of a variety of musical instruments including a tambourine, cymbals, triangle, bass drums and xylophone. The construction of the stage was systematic and fitted with adequate microphones to help enhance the audibility of the surround system in the halls. The xylophone was a major instrument that enhanced the presentation of the classic percussion theme as various artists took their turns at the magical instrument and produced a variety of unique and creative creations. The first piece performed at the concert was the legendary Castle Valse Classique, which took us on an adventurous journey through different emotions and sounds and so did several other pieces performed in the night event. The performers portrayed their musical genius as they began the piece as a classic before they transformed into a jazz-like beats and ending the performance in a high tempo with a beat that resembled beats in hip-hop. This raised the spirit of the fans thereby setting the stage for other equally talented performers. The performance compared and contrasted with the things we have done in Drum Circle. Key among the similarities was the rotational performance as the various artists played their respective instruments systematically yet alternately at particular durations thereby producing different sounds appropriately. In performing The Joy Caballero, four performers took to the stage with their various musical instruments, which included the xylophone and marimbas among many others. They played the instruments methodically thus producing a holistic musical

Effects of Greenhouse Gases on the Environment

Effects of Greenhouse Gases on the Environment What are the three human affected sources of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. 75words 704-705 Krogh (2011), states that the three human affected sources of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are from the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and the amount of cattle we raise. These three affects either put in too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere or doesn’t produce enough. The burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, gives off a great deal of carbon dioxide gases into our atmosphere. Deforestation is the cutting sown of trees, which eliminates the carbon dioxide needed for photosynthesis among other plant life. It also has the effect of putting too much CO2 into the atmosphere because trees are known to take up CO2 and make oxygen for the atmosphere instead. Another greenhouse effect produced by humans is in the amount of cattle and rice we need to grow. Since we have to mass produce crops and cattle for the alarming number of human growth, this ultimately allows high amounts of gases into our atmosphere. You are hiking with a friend and reach the peak of a mountain after a long climb. On your climb upward, you had a clear trail with a little grass and small shrubs along the way. But looking down the other side, you see lush vegetation and many broadleaf trees farther down the slope. Your friend wonders why there is such a big difference. What explanation can you offer your friend? 75 words I would let my friend know that he/she is seeing the effects of the rain shadow. Krogh (2011), says that mountain ranges force air to rise, and drops its moisture on the windward side (pg.711). As a result, when the air travels over to the other side of the mountain it no longer as any moisture to drop. This obviously leaves no more rain to fall to nourish plant life and animal life, leaving it dry and inhabitable to much animal life. Compare and contrast ecological dominants with keystone species and give examples. 200 words 671-672,G5,G8 Krogh (2011), defines ecological dominants as a species that is abundant and obvious in a given community (pg.G5). He goes on to define keystone species as a species whose absence of a community would bring significant change in that community (Krogh, pg.G8). In an ecological dominant community it is usually always seen as a community of plants and shrubs. In the keystone species, its community is usually always seen in animal life such as the sea star. Although they are known to be of small numbers they produce a huge impact on our ecosystem when disturbed. For example, in the keystone species once a predatory animal is removed from its habitat the others in the â€Å"community† face the dangers of other predators. This can result in the elimination of a species. While in the ecological dominants community, they are always so largely populated that they take over others for survival. Krogh (2011), gives an example of the Kansas prairie fields that are dominated by tallgrass f or the ecological dominants, and the predatory sea star Pisaster ochraceus for the keystone species (pg.672). As stated above, they are different in the way they affect the ecosystem, but they are similar in the way that they are both a type of species. Give an example of why keystone species play a large role in community despite the fact that they may be present in relatively small numbers. 200 words 671-673 Keystone species are relatively smaller in numbers but have a huge impact on the ecosystem when disturbed. Keystone species are known as predators that can control a single community and without them the other species within the community may not be able to survive. This can be seen through the example that Krogh (2011) gives with the predatory sea star Pisaster ochraceus (pg.672). This is a good example because even though they live in moderately small quantities, once you remove it from its community the results can be catastrophic for the rest of the community. Removing the predatory sea star would leave the rest of them vulnerable to other predators, and may end in the extinction of them if the predatory sea star does not return. In other words, once the sea star has been removed it starts a trickling down effect on other sea animals among its biomass. More and more species that live in or near the sea star ecosystem will start to disappear due to lack of food or the overpowering of other predators in the sea. Another result of the of removal of a keystone species is now newer species are able to come in and take over the habitat they once lived in so they can flourish and live in that ecosystem. Explain the four types of biological community interaction and give examples. 500 words The four types of biological community interactions are: competition, predation and parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism. The competition interaction is a competition between two or more species (Krogh, pg. 674). This is a competition among species for resources in order to survive. These species do not compete by fighting, but rather by gathering enough resources to outlive the next species. This competition can be between species of the same or a different community. This competition can result in the extinction of a species because of lack of resources to survive. Krogh (2011), give the example of competition between the P. aurelia and the P. caudatum (Krogh, pg.674). In this experiment, both organisms were grown in the same test tube. It was documented that instead of either one trying to attack the other, the P. aurelia just outgrew the P. caudatum. This ultimately resulted in the P. caudatum to die out due to lack of room and resources (Krogh, pg.674). This type of biologica l interaction can be seen in many different types of species. It can also be seen in resource partitioning. This is where two species don’t attack one another for resources, but they take up two different sides of the resource in order to survive, thus leaving one another alone for the time being. The second biological community interaction can be viewed between predation and parasitism. This is where one species benefits while a different species is affected. Predators will obtain their resources through eating their prey, while parasites will live on other species and obtain its food through them. A big difference between the two is that they predator doesn’t live on its prey like the parasite. Also, the predator kills for its food, and the parasite won’t always kill its host for resources. Krogh (2011), give an example of the predator interaction with the common house cat and the rat (Krogh, pg.676-677). The cat preys on the rat as a vital food resource. He a lso gives the example of the strangler fig tree for the parasitism interaction. This tree will wrap its roots around a host tree to obtain nutrients and eventually killing it (pg.676). The third biological interaction is mutualism. Mutualism is an interaction between different species that does not end up in the harming of either one of them. Instead is a helpful interaction among the two different species. Krogh (2011), shows the interactions between the rhinoceros and the oxpecker birds as a good example of this mutualism interaction (pg.680). In this example, the oxpecker bird will sit on the back of the rhino eating any foreign objects off of it, and the rhino in return will provide a safe place for the bird to reside. The fourth type of interaction within communities can be seen through commensalism. This interaction is also among different species, but it results in one of the species flourishing while the other is left unaffected. An example of this type of interaction is exp lained with a bird and a tree (Krogh, 2011). Birds tend to make nest within the branches of a tree to have a place to live and flourish while leaving the tree unaffected of its existence.

Contact Essay -- essays research papers

b) Why are astronomers using radio telescopes looking for far stars instead of a telescope? First of all, what is a radio telescope? The first non-visual spectral region that was used extensively for astronomical observations was the radio frequency band. Telescopes observing at these wavelengths are commonly called radio telescopes. Radio telescopes may be made much larger than optical/infrared telescopes because the wavelengths of radio waves are much longer than wavelengths of optical light. A rule of thumb is that the reflecting surface must not have irregularities larger than about 1/5 the wavelength of light that is being focused. By that criterion a radio telescope is several hundred thousand times easier to figure than an optical telescope of the same size In the movie "Contact," astronomer Ellie Arroway, played by actress Jodie Foster, searches for signs of extraterrestrial life using massive, Earth-bound radio telescopes. Much of Contact's scientific intrigue, based on Carl Sagan's 1985 bestseller, unfolds at two National Science Foundation-supported radio astronomy facilities where real-life astronomical mysteries continue to be probed. Scientists use the government-supported telescopes to detect radio waves not from distant civilizations but from planets, stars, galaxies and other objects in space. Radio observations extend astronomers' reach into space and time, letting them "see" through gas and dust in space to detect celestial objects whose visible light cannot be seen from Earth. In "Contact," Foster hears the first guttural, throbbing message transmitted by other-worldly life using the world's most powerful radio telescope, the Very Large Array in Socorro, New Mexico, a collection of 27 antennas spread in a three-armed configuration across the desert. NSF’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory runs the huge dishes, which Foster manipulates in the film from her laptop computer like a high-tech, movable Stonehenge, in reality. Electronically linked to simulate a single radio telescope up to 20 miles in diameter, the antennas can be bunched together or moved apart along railroad tracks into different configurations. About 700 astronomers visit the VLA each year to observe the universe. In "Contact," Foster gets her scientific start at another NSF-supported facility, the... ... fastest moving man made objects in the process. If those same probes were to be launched to the stars, however, they would take thousands of years to reach them! The distances to the stars are huge So huge, in fact, that the light from the nearest star to the Sun, a triple star system known as Alpha, Beta and Proxima Centauri, takes over four and a quarter years to get here. Since, according to special relativity, nothing in the universe can travel faster than the speed of light, it would seem that travel times with even the most advanced starships are going to be extremely long indeed. There are also highly exotic ideas, which lie on the tantalizing fringes of modern theoretical physics. If the universe is a multidimensional place with human beings only able to perceive three dimensions, perhaps a way can be found to shortcut through the 'higher' dimensions. These so-called wormholes are currently having their mathematics calculated by the theorists but if they can be utilized for travel then perhaps the entire universe will become accessible to us. Traveling to different planets may take no more time than traveling to different countries does now!

Looking at children’s learning

For my assignment I have chosen to reflect on the children’s learning in the video sequence entitled ‘Hospital Play’, which was filmed at St Stephen’s Nursery School in Newham, London. The sequence is based around the concept of the casualty department at the local St Stephens’s Hospital and was created jointly by the practitioners and the children. My reason for choosing this video clip is that I can directly relate it to the setting within which I work and I have created similar situations myself and can therefore reflect on what I can do differently next time, extending my development. Children do not learn in the same way as each other ‘they each have their own preferred ways of learning’ (E100, Study Topic 3, p. 64). There are many theories relating to how children learn and develop, some coming from Government frameworks but many originate from an individual’s own ideas or beliefs. One of which being Rudolph Steiner, ‘whose principles emphasise the importance of unstructured play and the role of the teacher, who ‘works’ at activities as a model for children (E100, Study Topic 3, p. 6)’, this type of unstructured play is evident in the video in that the outside area offered a free play environment where the children can chose to part take in any activity of their choice, either the role play area or the playground. The adult ‘worked’ at the activity when she joined the table offering support and extending the children’s learning through asking questions that required the children to engage further in conversation, developing their communication skills. E100 Study Topic 3, p. 62, discusses the importance of play in early years settings, with the early years curricula in each of the four UK countries embracing the role of play in a child’s learning. The frame work in England for children from birth to five, suggests that learning and teaching is about adults and children working together, to co-construct ideas and new areas of learning, it is believed that investing at this age will benefit families and children at a later stage in their life. This was evident in the construction of the role play area and its play element. In our setting we always develop our curriculum plans through group discussions with the children. Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky was the main theorist with regards to socio-cultural aspects of children’s learning. His theory relates to the social and cultural element of a child’s learning and the importance an adult plays in conveying these areas of learning and values to the children. The adult is referred to as the more able ‘other’ (E100, Study Topic 3, p. 65), in the sequence Daksha Patel the practitioner takes on this role in that she speaks to the children in both English and Gujarati, so all children in the setting are valued and included in the activity, ensuring cultural awareness and that some children may speak a different language. Vygotsky also placed particular emphasis on the role of the adult in the transmission of culture, knowledge and language’ (E100, Study Topic 3, p. 65). Cultural values are very important in early years settings and although our setting is situated in an affluent, rural, predominately white community we always ensure other religious beliefs are shared within the setting, celebrating different cultural events in order for the children to extend their learning beyond the community within which they live. Vygotsky, also developed a concept called the ‘zone of proximal development (ZDP)’, whereby he believes a child has two development levels, where they are at now and their proximal level, what they could do next. Adults play an important role in this element of his work, in that it is them that can provide the opportunity to take the child up to their next level, it maybe that they initially offer support, but positively encourages them to try and undertake the activity (E100, Study Topic 3, p. 65). This is also evident in the sequence when Daksha Patel encourages the child to try and write the name of who’s the sample is on the bottle, she then aids them by writing it on the piece of paper for them to try and copy, which the child then does underneath where she has written. Linda Miller, one of the authors of the study topic 3 discusses a similar concept when working with the ZPD of her daughter, in that she would write her name for her, as a model for her to copy (E100, Study Topic 3, p. 66). In our setting we encourage the children to write their names on any work they undertake, aiding by writing first if necessary. Outdoor play is a very important part of the Early Years foundation stage and should according to Mclean 1991:71, be no firm distinction between the indoors and out (cited in Robson, S, p. 226). Although it is not clear on the video whether this is the case the setting certainly offers an extensive outdoor play area, with the role play area and a playground with activities that can also be seen in the sequence. The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage stresses that access to an outdoor play area is expected, this reinforces the importance of outdoor play in both a child’s development and in their learning. ‘Physical play is fundamental to all aspects of children’s development and learning, including the development of the child’s brain’ (Manning-Morton, J and Thorp, M, 2010, p. 100). In our setting we have an area outside that is under cover and has shutters to the main outdoor area, so it can be used in all weathers. Unfortunately staffing levels means we are not able to use our outside area as much as we’d like to, however we do try and get out in the morning, lunchtime and in the afternoon. Outdoor provision plays an important part in the health and welfare of children too, as it provides a safe environment that can provide lots of physically activities for children to enjoy, like scooters, play equipment like climbing frames, or simply an area where they can run around and express themselves. Outdoor play also meets several of the requirements of the Every Child Matters agenda, such as, being healthy, staying safe and enjoying and achieving (E100, Study Topic 6, p. 141). The practitioner, Daksha Patel, demonstrates in the video clearly how all children are included in the activity, she speaks in both English and Gujharti so all children are able to understand. The setting has also provided a wide range of stimulating items for the activity, like syringes, bandages, and sample bottles, to ensure the area is stimulating for the children. There is no discrimination or exclusion, like the girls are nurses and the boys doctors, all children are equal, they are all wearing varying dressing up outfits and they are all caring for the babies, clearly showing inclusion of all children, towards the end a child also states that ‘he’ is not sharing and the practitioner steps in and reinforces what she says and shows the girl where further similar items are. When dressing up in our nursery, which the children love to do, no distinction is made between boys and girls clothes and the boys especially like to dress up in the pink princess costumes. Everyone is included and no stereo typical comments are made and any made by the children are addressed. ‘Participation is the key element of inclusion’ (E100, Study Topic 6, p. 143). Study topic 4 (2010), p. 82 explains there are six main theories about child development, that complement each other rather than one being right and another wrong, one of which is that ‘young children are innocent until they are ‘spoiled’ by their parents and society (E100, Study Topic 4, p83)’, this is the maturationism approach, developed by Jean Jacques Rousseau. Another theory is one of social learning, when a child learns through observing others (E100, Study Topic 4 p. 99). This concept can be seen in the sequence on two occasions when the children carry out activities that they may have experienced in their lives, like syringing ears and putting a plaster on after an injection, this re-enforces the principle that children learn from their life experiences. In this situation the practitioner needs to be aware of issues that may arise with regards to safeguarding as the child may feel secure and in a play environment talk about something that is happening in their life. Study Topic 5, p. 131 details a list of indicators for possible signs of neglect, from the NSPCC, this includes being bruised or injured, a child may show bruises in a hospital role play situation or talk about injuries he or she has suffered (E100, 2010). The sequence offered many areas of learning for children, though initially child led the activity was then supported by an adult, who in turn provided extended learning in respect of writing skills, by encouraging them to write on the sample bottles and new vocabulary and cultural awareness by speaking in both English and Gujarati. The children were able to develop their own language and communication skills through imaginative play and also extend their social skills through communication with each other and an adult. Two implications for my practice from my analysis of the sequence with regards to supporting children’s learning are: 1. Although we have a fantastic outside play area it is not used for enough activities, like in the sequence. We have a climbing frame which the children love and lots of gross motor toys, like scooter and bikes, however, I have never taken out an activity like the hospital role play area. Plus, we have a great shed that is used solely for the storage of the bikes and scooters, it would provide more learning opportunities if the children were able to use it like in the sequence as a hospital or play house. 2. My second implication also focuses around the area of role play, in that we do provide fantastic role play settings, recently we have had a shop that had clothes, shoes, tills, money, price tags, bags and even a shop frontage, but I cannot recall at anytime an adult participating in or extending the learning in the area. The only time an adult was in the area was at tidy up time! It offered a whole host of learning activities like counting, communication and social skills yet all these were missed. I will ensure that in the future I will spend time in the role play area, like the practitioner did in the sequence. With regards to the official requirements on children’s welfare and provision the two implications I will take back to my setting are: 1. Key workers, although I am not currently a key worker of any children, when I am I would want to work more closely with the child and their carers. Although key workers are allocated practitioners are only responsible for keeping their records up to date there is not direct activities or contact with individuals other than during the day to day activities and running of the nursery. Although key workers aren’t evident in the sequence, the practitioner would be able to observe and assess any of her children during he activity. Part of the EYFS (DCSF, 2008) requires a setting to assign key workers as they state ‘a key person develops a genuine bond with children and offers a settled, close relationship’ (E100, Study Topic 5, p. 122). 2. I would also take back the theory and requirements on inclusion, particularly the multi-cultural aspect. As I stated previously we are a mainly white school, in our nursery we have over 50 children and only 1 black girl, who lives ov er 20 miles away in the nearest city. Although the staff and children do not discriminate against her in anyway her own cultural values and beliefs are not directly discussed in the nursery. It would be nice to approach her family and invite them into nursery to maybe discuss what the events they celebrate are and why and how they celebrate them, rather than us just playing an educational video clip; this would be a positive activity making the little girl feel valued. In the sequence the practitioner speak in both Gujharti and English ensuring all the children are included in the activity.

The Secret River Essay

Belonging occurs when individuals understand the people and the world around them. How is this evident in two of the texts you have studied? Belonging, that is, the connection an individual feels to the world he or she inhabits often comes down to the specific factors and forces that shape their experience. In the text The Secret River, author Kate Grenville illuminates a number of key issues in regard to belonging, none of these more poignant that place, location and locus often functions as a key determinant of belonging. This concept of belonging is also highlighted in Shaun Tan’s pictorial narrative, The Arrival, in which the importance of home and family and the sense of harmony and happiness that comes with understanding relationships with the people we love. The determinants of belonging vary depending on an individual and their views and experiences; ones sense of belonging may come down to who they are with without the location being a factor, where they are located and the physical environmental features and one’s culture and traditions. These varying determinants of ones belonging are represented in The Secret River and The Arrival in which each protagonist has different approaches to their ideal conclusion of belonging. Australian author Kate Grenville’s 2005 novel, The Secret River, explores the concept that place and geographical context and circumstance will often play a key role in determining one’s belonging. The opening pages of the novel introduce William Thornhill, a convict, transported to New South Wales in the year 1806. Thornhill’s journey tells of the great physical distance that now separates Thornhill from the warm familiarity of life at home in London; Thornhill’s new world is foreign, inhospitable place, disorientating in its otherness, and becomes a metonym for the great yearning Thornhill now has for his erstwhile life in England. To express this idea of one’s understanding and connectedness with their world being a determinant to their sense of belonging, Grenville uses a number of techniques such as hyperbole and simile. Grenville’s third person narrator describes the Alexander, Thornhill’s ship, as having â€Å"fetched up at the end of the Earth. This hyperbole creates an image unassailable distance, of diametric extremity and in so doing dramatizes the concept of distance which, in turn, comes to represent Thornhill’s alienation from the world he knows and loves. Grenville uses figurative language to bring into focus her main character William Thornhill’s attachment t, and ultimate dislocation from the two places he calls home: A New South Wales penal colony, and London. London and the themes are represented in the simile, â€Å"as intimate to him as breathing. In this case, the simile takes the idea of breathing which is both natural to us and essential to our being. This idea of intimacy then extends to Thornhill’s essential attachment to home and his understanding and recognition of its world. Like breathing itself, Thornhill’s London life is a giving force. When it comes to describing Thornhill’s antipathy to his new life in New South Wales, Grenville’s simile describes a disconnect, a non-relationship. Whereas Thornhill is closely familiar with the London night sky in his new life the stars are â€Å"meaningless as spilt rice†. This simile neatly captures Thornhill’s disorientation. The image of â€Å"split rice† suggests something both random and accidental. This reflects his emotive alienation of moving and not belonging in his new world. The idea that one must understand and be familiar with their environment and its individual traits that are only recognisable and known if you have a personal sense of belonging to our world. One of the main ideas that emerges In Shaun Tan’s, The Arrival is that belonging is often influenced and shaped by family and the personal intimacies family offers. Tan develops this theme through the use of a number of specific visual devices. In chapter one of the narrative Tan describes a situation where the husband of the family unit must leave his family for another, distant nation. Tan stresses the significance of family through the use of vectoring and shot size. Tan presents a close up shot of the father-daughter hand clasp emphasising not only the physical bond that unites the family but the emotional connectedness they share. The hand clasp is effectively a metaphor for connectedness and the close up emphasises the significance of family. In addition to this Tan uses vectoring. Strong vectors direct the reader to the hand clasp which is positioned precisely at the centre of the page; this central placement of the image then becomes a metonym for the central significance and place of family in the fathers life: To further accentuate the significance of family in determining belonging, Tan again employs shot size in a subsequent image, the hand clasp is replaced by a broken hand-clasp, the close up and the tiny interstice that now separates the hands becomes a key signifier of the separation the ather must now endure. The belonging once evident in the intimacy of the hand clasp is replaced with the separation and the emptiness of the broken embrace. As a final and consolidating reminder of the fathers separation from family, Tan uses and extreme close long shot of the father’s departing train. the train is a remote presence on the horizon, the horizon itself a symbol of distance. The warmer physicality of earlier imagery is now replaced with the distant train, visible more as a puff of soon to be extinct smoke on the horizon- thus the once tangible presence of the family is replaced with the immaterial image of a train quickly travelling past the sight of the eye. The contrast demonstrates the obvious way in which the understanding family members have with each other results in a strong sense of belonging. Once separation takes place- belonging itself starts to fade, and an individual must than consider the effects of alienation and unfamiliarity. Belonging, that is, the connection an individual feels to the world he or she inhabits often comes down to the specific factors that shape their experience. One’s world is made up of their individual cultures, location, experiences, familiarity, relationships and environments. This idea is represented in The Arrival and The Secret River, in which each protagonist’s sense of belonging comes down to several of these factors of belonging. For some, time will result in a once unknown and alienated sense or place, to a comfortable and evolving feeling inhabited by an individual, and for others, belonging is concrete mindset in which they need to experience the sense of belonging.