Chernobyl

Chernobyl ChernobylChernobyl was a nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union that had the biggest power plant disaster in history. I was to young to remember what was said about the accident, but I have heard some of reports that just take a glimpse at what happened, but I did not really get all that much information about it. They did not go into detail at all and just stated a few facts so it was not very helpful to me.What really happened at Chernobyl? Why did the accident really happen? There are many reasons that caused the incident and I want to find out why the accident really happened.There were news reports on what happened, that I did not get to see, but I am interested in what happened. It is interesting to me because I do not know how such a great power could let such a deadly accident happen, especially the biggest nuclear accident in history.English: Dog with dipygus - Kiev - Ukrainian Natio...Then the scientists waited twelve hours while reducing the power until it was at 50% of n ormal. Now that the power was lower the Number Two turbine was switched off because it was not needed to take in the smaller amount of steam.Normally during the test the power would have been further reduced to 30% but the Soviet Power Authority would not allow this because of the vast amount of electricity needed to power that part of Ukraine. On April 26 at 12:28 AM the staff received permission to resume the reactor power reduction. But one of the operators made a fatal mistake. He forgot to reset a controller that would have kept the power at 30% of normal. This caused the power to fall to 1% and water started to fill the core, also xenon, which is a...

Explore the World With Virtual Field Trips

Explore the World With Virtual Field Trips Today there are more ways than ever to see the world from the comfort of your classroom. Options vary from live-streaming explorations, to websites that allow you to explore a location via videos and 360 ° photos, to full-on virtual reality experiences. Virtual Field Trips Your classroom may be hundreds of miles away from the White House or the International Space Station, but thanks to these high quality virtual tours that make good use of  voiceovers, text, videos, and related activities, students can get a real sense of what its like to visit.   The White House:  A virtual visit to the White House features a tour of the Eisenhower Executive Office as well as a look at the art of the ground floor and the state floor. Visitors can also explore the White House grounds, view the presidential portraits that hang in the White House, and investigate the dinnerware that has been used during various presidential administrations. The International Space Station:  Thanks to NASA’s video tours, viewers can get a guided tour of the International Space Station with Commander Suni Williams. In addition to learning about the space station itself, visitors will learn how astronauts exercise to prevent the loss of bone density and muscle mass, how they get rid of their trash, and how they wash their hair and brush their teeth in zero gravity. The Statue of Liberty:  If you can’t visit the Statue of Liberty in person, this virtual tour is the next best thing. With 360 ° panoramic photos, along with videos and text, you control the field trip experience. Before beginning, read through the icon descriptions so that you can take full advantage of all the extras that are available. Virtual Reality Field Trips With new and increasingly affordable technology, its easy to find online field trips that offer a complete  virtual reality  experience. Explorers can purchase cardboard virtual reality goggles for less than $10 each, giving users an experience almost as good as actually visiting the location. Theres no need to manipulate a mouse or click a page to navigate. Even an inexpensive pair of goggles provides a life-like experience allowing visitors to look around the venue just as if they were visiting in person. Google Expeditions offers one of the best virtual reality field trip experiences. Users download an app available for Android or iOS. You can explore on your own or as a group. If you choose the group option, someone (usually a parent or teacher), acts as the guide and leads the expedition on a tablet. The guide selects the adventure and walks explorers through, directing them to points of interest. You can visit historical landmarks and museums, swim in the ocean, or head to Mount Everest.   Discovery Education:  Another high-quality VR field trip option is Discovery Education. For years, the Discovery Channel has provided viewers with educational programming. Now, they offer a phenomenal virtual reality experience for classrooms and parents. As with Google Expeditions, students can enjoy Discovery’s virtual field trips on desktop or mobile without goggles. The 360 ° videos are breathtaking. To add the full VR experience, students will need to download the app and use a VR viewer and their mobile device. Discovery offers live virtual field trip options- viewers just need to register and join the trip at the scheduled time- or explorers can choose from any of the archived trips. There are adventures such as  a Kilimanjaro Expedition, a journey to the Museum of Science in Boston, or a visit to Pearl Valley Farm to learn how eggs get from the farm to your table. Live Virtual Field Trips Another option for exploring via virtual field trips is to join a live-streaming event.  All you need is an internet connection and a device such as a desktop or tablet. The advantage of the live events is the opportunity to participate in real time by asking questions or participating in polls, but if  you miss an event, you can watch a recording of it at your convenience. Field Trip Zoom  is a site that offers such events for  classrooms and home schools. There is an annual fee for using the service, but it allows a single classroom or homeschooling family to participate in as many field trips as they’d like during the year. The field trips aren’t virtual tours but educational programs designed for specific grade levels and curriculum standards. Options include  visits to Ford’s Theater, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, learning about DNA at the National Law Enforcement Museum, trips to the Space Center in Houston, or the Alaska Sealife Center. Users can watch pre-recorded events or register for upcoming events and watch live. During live events, students can ask questions by typing in a question and answer tab. Sometimes the field trip partner will set up a poll that allows students to answer in real time. National Geographic Explorer Classroom:  Finally, don’t miss National Geographic’s Explorer Classroom. All you need to join in on these live-streaming field trips is access to YouTube. The first six classrooms to register get to interact live with the field trip guide, but everyone can ask questions using Twitter and #ExplorerClassroom. Viewers can  register and join in live at the scheduled time, or watch archived events on the Explorer Classroom YouTube channel. The experts leading National Geographic’s virtual field trips include deep sea explorers, archaeologists, conservationists, marine biologists, space architects, and many  more.

Analysis of Georgia O'Keeffe's Abstraction Blue Essay

Analysis of Georgia O'Keeffe's Abstraction Blue - Essay Example ury and made her presence felt in the artistic world through the magic blend of colors which made her works live across ages.(Decker Judy, 2004) The ‘Abstraction Blue’ was painted in 1927 and proved true to the lucidity and purity her pictures had in general. She grew up in Virginia and had her primary painting education from Chicago. (AHA, 2007).Though she was initially a follower of the abstracted, urban style of art, later her works critically followed the abstract expressionist movement. (AHA, 2007).The ‘Abstraction Blue’ also belonged to the abstract expressionist movement of art and has served as an ideal example of the style. Well belonging to the characteristics of the art movement, this work tried to explore the newer concepts and techniques in oil painting (Moffat Charles, 2008) The variation of darkness in the background proved to be a factor differentiating it with other works with similar themes. The background when blended with the strangeness of the outlook provided uniqueness and newness in the depiction which is a differential factor of the abstract expressionist movement .This made sure that it won’t miss the attention of the viewer. In totality the painting appeared to me as a pretty one paying justice to the artistic value and serving the viewer’s expectation at the fullest. The title of the work ‘Abstraction Blue’ well goes with the concept that the picture depicts. First of all it very well matches with the artistic movement it represents. Considering the role of blueness in the painting, no alternates may fit into the aptness of the current title. The effort of the artist to convey the focused subject and the depth of the elements in the subject are effectively extended to the viewer. The feeling carried by the viewer from the title well matches with what the picture tries to say. The painting represents a very close depictive view of a flower. It represents a zoomed out of focus view of the cross section of a flower. The

Set Induction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Set Induction - Essay Example The set should be clear enough for the students to know what is expected of them. It should also help them have an idea of what to expect from their instructor. A good set should also help create motivation among learners. This motivation will help enhance clarity and enable students to be fully engaged in the whole learning process (Schuck, 227). Proper set induction by course instructors is necessary for creating interest in and understanding of a new subject among students. I attended an in-depth science class to assess the impact of set induction on students. The lecturer just went straight for the lecture notes once the lesson began. There was no introduction to the lesson; therefore there was nothing to grip the attention of the students. The lecturer used power-point presentations for his notes, which were all in the class text books. I thought that set induction to the subject was lacking. The lecturer did nothing to introduce the students to the new concept of the lesson, and yet this is a science class in which students need to understand the concept from the beginning. The lecturer did not welcome the students, and I sensed some indifference in the way he started the lecture without settling the students down. This sense of indifference was also obvious among the students who lost attention during the early stages of the lesson. Some of them turned to other activities that were not related at all to what they were learning, like sending emails and messages on their phones. I think that the way the lecturer started his lecture was not the right way to go about any learning process. He should have used a simple set induction to get the students ready for whatever he was going to teach them. I think the students turned to other activities other than paying attention to what the lecturer was saying due to the fact that they did not understand anything he said. The lack of attention could also be attributed to the fact that the instructor used

Spies Essay Example for Free

Spies Essay Michael Frayn uses a unique style of writing in the novel Spies, dual narration. So in this essay there will be an investigation into this distinctive style of writing that magnetises the audience, as it makes the audience feel part of the story. Stephen and Stefan versions of accounts vary, this appeals to the audience as it leaves you guessing too many unanswered questions during the plot. Dual narration has many positives to contribute to the novel, for example numerous independent viewpoints. However during this novel not entirely independent view points, as the narrators remain the same individual in two separate time periods. The older character Stefan has the benefit of hindsight whilst remember the events of that summer in the 1940’s. Whilst Stephen as the enthusiasm of a typical young lad. The two accounts vary as memories are forgotten or Stefan hasn’t remembered the events in the correct chronological order. (Frayn, Spies, p. 32) So this essay will look into the effect that dual narration has upon on the reader throughout the novel. Michael Frayn is capable of using dual narration to such an impressive extent during Spies because he as an author is able to connect with the character Stephen and Stefan. The reason as to why these connections can be made is because Michael Frayn would have grown up as a child during the same time period as we see Stephen growing up in the novel, World War 2. (literature. britishcouncil. org/michael-frayn). This also indicates that Frayn would have same ability to remember certain events and recall the memories in the same manner as what Stefan does. The nature of the dual narration in this novel can become frustrating for the reader. (Hudson, everything is as it was, but everything has changed) The slow progression through the story generates complacency, as the reader wants to advance to the significant events, before the story arrives at them. As you seem to progress quicker than Stephen is able to, because of the hints and clues Stefan has informed you off prior to Stephen’s narrating. Even when Stephen finally describes the event, many of the questions you find yourself asking do not get answered. However the tension and anxiety that Frayn is capable of creating whilst leaving many questions opened and unanswered can entice the reader further into the depth of the novel. (Holtsberry, 2004). This effect gets the readers mind thinking about the possibilities and directions the story could precede and conclude in. Nevertheless you do find yourself bemused when the story continues in an opposite direction as to the one you had expected it to follow. During Spies dual narration is capable of portraying how an individual’s outlook can change over a period time. The memories can be forgotten, they can be missed interpreted, or the memories Stefan possesses may not even be his memories, instead they maybe what he wanted to happen instead. (Frayn, Spies, P. 233) This specific passage of the text indicates that Stefan is capable of remembering and realising how significant certain childhood memories are, even though he did not realise the importance or even consider the possible outcomes at the time as a child’s memory is an innocent one. It’s only with hind sight that Stefan is capable of understand the importance of Stephens memories. (Lancaster, the New York Book Review). The reader is allowed to accept and believe in Stephens’s memories and recollection of events only for Stefan to later on correct the series of events. This can also get extremely confusing for the reader, because Stefan and Stephen at various points with in the Novel have a conflict or memories. The way in which Michael Frayn has used the dual narration technique to write Spies has made the novel one of mystery and suspense. It engages the reader into the depth of the Novel. This leaves many readers having to restart certain chapters, or even rereading the entire novel to obtain and figure out the answers to the questions Frayn has cleverly left opened. The way in which in the novel flows from past to present also engulfs the reader, as you are always trying to figure out Stephens next move through the narrative of Stefan. As a reader this absorbs you into the novel as you feel as though you’re a character in the novel alongside Stephen in his childhood.

Essay --

Classic Books(OUTLINE AND SPEECH) Greeting: Good Morning Sargent Womak, and class; today I will be talking to you guys for the next 5 minutes about Classical Books and how to get started on your own classical book. 1st Paragraph: History, idea of what is a classical book and what makes one up A classical book is considered an exemplary noteworthy book, either through a book award or the reader's personal opinion. The way the words come together to create an interesting story line and excellent reading flow, attribute to the book's exemplary excellence. What makes a "classical" book? Has troubled many author such as Mark Twain, all classical book have one thing in common and it is the pattern in the literature. The story line in most classical book reinterpret events of some sort, and possess the ability to renew the interest of generations of readers not only accomplishing it's creation, but also accomplishing the authors every dream, to have one of their books considered "Classical." The idea of a classical book, is literature that enriches th...

The Age of Turbulence

Alan Greenspan published â€Å"The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World† on September 17, 2007 and the first half of the work is an autobiographical chronology of his life. It gives readers a chance to view the people and circumstances that can help and guide Greenspan as he grew up.The second half of the book states the major economic events that have occurred over the past half century. He details his life under different U.S. Presidents as well as economic systems including the Marxist Communism, Populism, as well as Market Capitalism.According to Greenspan, free market capitalism is the economic approach that will trump other approaches. Based on Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ which is the people’s motivational self-interest which is important in his view of building a successful economy.In the book he discusses the fast historical growth of the U.S. economy under the market capitalism as well as its benefit to the other foreigners. Inters persed in the material is Greenspan’s lack of quality public secondary education for the masses especially in the field of sciences and mathematics and it role in the divergence of rich and poor in the U.S.Greenspan hits hard as he criticizes President Bush, VP Cheney and Republican-controlled Congress for abandoning the traditional tenets of fiscal discipline. Included in his argument is the President’s refusal to veto new Federal legislation which increases the spending easily. According to him, Bush approach has been one of â€Å"conflict avoidance† and attending to political agendas leaving no room for reason.It is President Gerald Ford whom he praises above all the other presidents including former President Clinton calling his governance as characterized as a consistent disciplined focus on long-term economic growth.† Even at the age of 81, Greenspan has strong opinions about several issues and is saddened that it is politically difficult to admit th at in truth, the Iraq war is mainly about oil. His comments about the war can be shocking as he reveals that there could be about 1.2 million people could have died because of this conflict in Iraq.According to a Washington Post columnist, people will most likely agree that Greenspan’s greatest contribution is that of the policy maker who, â€Å"through the power of his office, the force of his intellect, and the cunning behind-the-scenes maneuvering, engineered the wholesale deregulation of the US banking and financial system†.With regard to legacy, his most important legacy is that of making the US economy â€Å"more prone to asset bubbles, corporate scandals and financial crises, but robust enough to absorb such shocks while continuing to deliver long-term economic growth† (Pearlstein, 2006, p. D01).He was elected to third consecutive term in 1996. One of the highlights of this term is said to be the crucial role he played during the financial crisis that hit Asia and Russia.With the world financial system under threat, Greenspan is said to have gone against the conventional wisdom of raising interest rates, and instead convinced his Fed colleagues to do the reverse and support him in pushing for three consecutive interest rate cuts. That unexpected move is said to have been instrumental in pumping capital flows into the world economy and averted a recession in the US and many parts of the world.Moreover, Greenspan is said to have collaborated with the then secretary of the treasury Robert Rubin in inspiring confidence in the national economy, so much so that in 1998, unemployment levels were at 24-year lows, inflation levels were at 11-year lows, and consumer confidence was highest compared to the past 30 years.According to a Washington Post columnist, people will most likely agree that Greenspan’s greatest contribution is that of the policy maker who, â€Å"through the power of his office, the force of his intellect, and the c unning behind-the-scenes maneuvering, engineered the wholesale deregulation of the US banking and financial system†.With regard to legacy, his most important legacy is that of making the US economy â€Å"more prone to asset bubbles, corporate scandals and financial crises, but robust enough to absorb such shocks while continuing to deliver long-term economic growth† (Pearlstein, 2006, p. D01).Some examples demonstrate the Greenspan standard in action. From 1994 to early 1995, for example, Greenspan was said to have launched a series of preemptive moves to tighten the monetary policy to ward off the threat of a trend towards rising inflation, in the form of increased interest rates. While the move to raise rates were said to have initially shocked the market, such moves were said to be a clear statement of the Fed’s seriousness to tame inflation.As a testament to his flexibility, he then eased rates towards late 1995 when the economy showed signs of abrupt weakeni ng, thus pumping money into the economy and avoiding a slowdown in economic activities (Yu, n.d., p. 5).Another example of Greenspan’s prescience was in 1998, when the Fed introduced rate cuts in three consecutive months from September to November, amidst signs of an economic slowdown. Such moves are said to have influenced European central banks to make similar rate cuts to avert a greater slowdown in the economies of Europe.Virtually every intellectual sector in the United States and the rest of the world has heaped praise on the singularly successful steering of monetary policy by Alan Greenspan during his term as chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board. Blinder and Reis, in a paper out of Princeton notes the following:No one has yet credited Alan Greenspan with the fall of the Soviet Union or the rise of the Boston Red Sox, although both may come in time as the legend grows. But within the domain of monetary policy, Greenspan has been central to just about everything tha t has transpired in the practical world since 1987and to some of the major developments in the academic world as well (Blinder and Reis, 2005, p. 1).Indeed, the book examines his views on these issues. To wit, Greenspan presided over an era marked by the Black Friday stock market crash in 1987, the wars in Kuwait in 1990 and the Iraq war in 2000, a global financial crisis in 1997 and 1998, â€Å"the biggest financial bubble in history†, a productivity growth turnaound that started in 1995, and the threat of deflation in 2003 (Blinder and Reis, 2005, pp. 1-2), and successfully hurdled them all to the benefit of the US and world economies.On the other end, some quarters have also been critical of the tenure of Alan Greenspan. One quarter argues that Greenspan leaves the Fed with a legacy of debt that will have long-term adverse impacts on the US and world economies. Specifically, a study notes that such a legacy of debt by Greenspan has â€Å"potential adverse consequencesâ₠¬ .Basically, the line of reasoning is that foreign creditors could start to question how America will be able to pay future interest and dividend payments without resorting to â€Å"printing dollars†, and such could result on a run on the dollar. The run on the dollar can then lead to a rise in interest rates, which could hurt the housing market and cause mortgage defaults to rise. Such a rise in defaults could then cripple the banking system, making Federal rate cuts less effective in steering the economy.I think that on balance, those who have been heaping accolades on Mr. Greenspan’s performance at the helm of the Federal Reserve Board have reason to do so. The Greenspan era was one that was characterized by the singular success of the policies of Mr. Greenspan to steer the US economy to its current state of prosperity.Basically, my take on the Greenspan standard is that Mr. Greenspan’s policies are based on intelligent, period-by-period assessments of the state of the economy, and making adjustments to monetary as needed, discarding old assumptions that are not in tune to reality and keeping close tabs to what is actually happening moment by moment. The Greenspan standard seems just another way of saying that Mr. Greenspan kept a close watch of the economy and did everything at his disposal to make sure that monetary policy is cautiously and prudently managed.The criticism regarding Mr. Greenspan’s legacy as one of it being a legacy of debt is simplistic. The argument is predicated on the withdrawal of trust by creditors in the ability of the US to pay its debt obligations, and on the collapse of the housing market. It is simplistic because it fails to consider that the macro economy is dependent on factors other than housing.Also, it is simplistic because the argument does not take into consideration the probability of a debt default happening, which is the main event that detractors say will touch off a series of cascading e ffects leading to the weakened ability of interest rates tweaking in controlling the economy.He mentions in the book that the rate of technological innovation is slowing down. He is pessimistic about the prospects that the United States is facing. He is able to predict that there are advances in the information technology and this will permanently increase the economy’s growth capacity.   Greenspan was able to keep interest rates low so that the economy could reach its potential. Greenspan was vindicated because in the years after that, the productivity figures started rising consistently.By and large, Greenspan’s memoir is an interesting read that makes readers enlightened about his life in the context of the Sept. 11 bombing. He is a man who also influenced the nation as he traces his early roots, as well as his training as an economist and finally his job as the Fed Chairman.His experience in the dotcom era manifests to him that the best way to control a speculati ve boom is to prevent it from developing from the very start. What makes the book an engaging material is the fact that he relied on the use of formal mathematical models together with a set of assumptions that can be identified with data. He stated his own predictions about the future and concluded that in the end, it is man’s ability to transcend the sufferings and trials that ultimately matters in the end.REFERENCESBlinder, A.S and Reis, R. (2005). Understanding the Greenspan Standard. Princeton University. Retrieved April 6, 2008 at: http://www.kc.frb.org/PUBLICAT/SYMPOS/2005/PDF/BlinderReis.paper.0914.pdfGreenspan, Alan. The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World. Allen Lane (17 Sep 2007) Pearstein, S. (2006). The Laissez-Fairest of them all. Washington Post. 20 January 2006. Retrieved April 6, 2008 at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011903180.htmlYu, H. (n.d.). Alan Greenspan. University of Florida. Retrieved April 6, 2008 at : http://bear.cba.ufl.edu/demiroglu/fin4504fall2004/Articles/Greenspan.pdf

Facebook Has Become Very Boring

Facebook has become very boring with all this cooking and slavery stuff. I believe feminism goes beyond who cooks at home and who doesn't. There are more pressing issues at hand to be dealt with regarding feminism but as things stand now, it seems most of us have misplaced priorities. There are women who are being oppressed and harassed in their workplaces, at school and even in their places of worship. These people are the ones who need voices in higher places to speak up for them. Uncles are raping cousins, fathers are sleeping with their daughters and husbands are sexually abusing their wives, these are the issues that need redress. These issues demand voices in the higher echelons of power to stand up for them. Brides are trapped in violent marriages they dare not come out to speak about or against. Over 600,000 girls are trafficked over the Atlantic every year and used as escorts in Spain, Mexico, China and all over the world; these ones need voices, voices in higher places to represent and fight for them. Female genital mutilation is still ongoing in our backyard. Girls are being given into early marriages, some are being used to atone for the sins of their fathers. No one is really talking about these things. The voice of the female child is stifling gradually and those in the position to speak up for them are rather wasting their breath on debates on who must cook or not, while we watch all these evils befall the innocent girl child who never asked her parents to meet and mate â€Å"under one coconut tree.† Women are scared to speak up and defend themselves. Your boss at work can touch you indiscriminately because he feels he gave you the job, your lecturer can decide to fail you because you refused his sexual advances, your pastor can touch your breast because you went to him to pray for you†¦and in all these, we still do not have a voice to speak. The girl child finds it difficult to trust anyone. There is a glass ceiling above competent and qualified women they cannot go past at the workplace. And it gets very irritating when you come online and the core issues are sidelined and peripheral stuff are rather discussed on national platforms. Big voices who must be speaking for these largely marginalized ones are talking about cooking being slavery or not. It is funny feminism has been belittled into â€Å"who becomes the head of the family?† and not â€Å"let's help the girl child to excel in all spheres and overcome all her fears†. Feminism is not about calling men names, slamming your fellow females and cussing those who disagree with you. Neither is it about arguing with people who try to perforate holes in everything someone who stands for the movement says even when they are right. We must learn to agree and disagree on issues intelligently. I am not really enthused with all this recent talk because it seems that is what we do these days. We go with the tide. Today, kitchen stool comes and we all talk about it and leave it there. Nobody moves further to check what really is happening in our schools and how we can help. Now it is cooking being slavery. It will also pass and we'll troll one another on the next bandwagon

Fishing Industry in Atlantic NorthEast essays

Fishing Industry in Atlantic NorthEast essays The geographic idea presented in this article is fishing industry in the Atlantic Northeast. More in particular, this article deals with the damage that is being caused by trawling. Trawling is a fishing technique where a large conical net is dragged across the bottom of the sea. Fishermen use long boards to keep the nets open and weighed down. This article hints at the idea that as these nets are being drug across the ocean sea, that they are tearing up the corals and marine life that lives there. Some of these North Atlantic corals are up to 8000 years of age. This information was discovered by oil companies who used sonar and video to search the ocean floor for oil reserves. Fragments of coral life have been found in fishermens nets. After taking video of the reefs, it was also discovered that there were trenches about 10 centimeters deep left by the boards that hold the nets down and open while trawling. This is bad news because it is killing things in hours that took a few thousand years to grow. The corals are home to many fish. This is the main reason why they are trawled in the first place. There are many fishermen who avoid the coral reefs because of the damage caused to their nets. There has also been reports of trawlermen who deliberately destroy the coral reefs so no damage is caused to their nets. This is supposedly done by dragging chains across the ocean floor. There is evidence that supports this because the damage that has been discovered is too much to have possibly been done by a net. A lot of this will hopefully be taken care of by some upcoming laws. These would limit fishing on coral reef while still keeping the fishing industry in mind. This relates a lot to what we have discussed in class. We talked about trawling and its effects on the environment. This article states the same ideas. The fishermen, in essence, are hurting themselves in the long run. While they might rake in mor...

Habits and Traits of Beetles, Order Coleoptera

Habits and Traits of Beetles, Order Coleoptera Coleoptera means â€Å"sheath wings,† a reference to the hardened forewings which cover the insect’s body. Most people can easily recognize members of this order – the beetles. Beetles comprise nearly a quarter of all the described species on Earth. Over 350,000 species are known worldwide. The order is subdivided into four suborders, two of which are rarely observed. The suborder Adephaga includes ground beetles, tiger beetles, predacious diving beetles, and whirligigs. Water pennies, carrion beetles, fireflies, and the beloved lady beetles are all members of the larger suborder Polyphaga. Description Beetles have hardened forewings, called elytra, which protect the delicate hindwings folded beneath them. The elytra are held against the abdomen at rest, meeting in a straight line down the middle of the back. This symmetry characterizes most members of the order Coleoptera. In flight, a beetle holds the elytra out for balance and uses its membranous hindwings for movement. Beetles feeding habits are widely varied, but all have mouthparts adapted for chewing. Many beetles are herbivores, feeding on plants. The Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica, causes heavy damage in gardens and landscapes, leaving skeletonized leaves on the plants it devours. Bark beetles and borers can do considerable damage to mature trees. Predatory beetles attack other invertebrates in the soil or vegetation. Parasitic beetles may live on other insects or even mammals. A few beetles scavenge decaying organic matter or carrion. Dung beetles use manure as food and to shelter developing eggs. Habitat and Distribution Beetles are found worldwide, in virtually all terrestrial and aquatic habitats on Earth. Major Families and Superfamilies in the Order Carabidae – ground beetlesDytiscidae – predacious diving beetlesScarabaeidae – scarab beetlesElateroidea – fireflies and click beetlesCoccinellidae – lady beetlesTenebrionoidea – blister beetles and darkling beetles Families and Genera of Interest Bombardier beetles, genus Brachinus, spray hot quinines when threatened, with visible puffs of smoke.Cotalpa lanigera, the goldsmith beetle, starred in a short story by Edgar Allen Poe, The Gold Bug.Glowworms (family Phengodidae) are not worms at all - theyre beetles! Mature females retain their larval form, and glow between their body segments, appearing like a glowing worm.The invasion of the Asian Long-horned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, caused the preemptive removal of thousands of trees in New York and New Jersey. The beetle was introduced from Asia in 1996, arriving in wooden crates and pallets. Sources: Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity, Stephen A. MarshallKaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, Eric R. Eaton, and Kenn KaufmanGarden Insects of North America, Whitney Cranshaw

Joan of Arc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Joan of Arc - Essay Example This clearly shows that she was set up and convicted of the offence of heresy (Halsall, 2013). The trial shows that Joan was merely set up by the religious leaders who were merely after political power who organized how she could be sentenced on trumped-up charges. The bishop had also made sure that he chose biased and timid assessors who misquoted the defense of Joan with the sole aim of finding her guilty (Halsall, n.d).. This also included the falsification of evidence and the threatening of the assessors, which just led to her conviction despite her pleas to be tried by an unbiased tribunal headed by the pope. After being found guilty, the court further prepared for her execution through burning at the market place. Joan therefore died a martyr as recorded on May 30 by Maugier Leparmentier who writes... â€Å"And in the fire she cried more than six times "Jesus,". The usher Jean Massieu also weighed in that Joan had died to â€Å"proclaim and confess aloud the holy name of Jesus†. This clearly shows the conviction that Joan had in whatever she had carried out as t hat bordering on martyrdom. Therefore, it can be seen from the trial that it was carried out through intimidation and putting her under duress in order to swear allegiance to the church as it was then constituted. It is also important to note that the trial of Joan of Arc was mainly inspired by the interests of the English to claim that the coronation of Charles as king had been under the guidance of the devil and so they convicted her of witchcraft. This development in the trial process was also informed by the desire of the English troops to demoralize the French troops who had made some victories in some wars while at the same time curtail the dwindling fortunes of the English troops (Halsall, 2013). These were confirmed by the confirmation of Joan as a saint as an inquiry ordered by the Pope found that the sentence made by Cauchon