Archive for December, 2011
Foreign Language Study–Is Elementary School the Right Time to Start?
According to a popular biblical story, before mankind decided to build a tower that would reach all the way to heaven (the Tower of Babel), there was a single language, universally spoken and comprehended by all. As the story goes, mankind was punished for the hubris of building this tower by having their one universal language turned into dozens of different languages. The inability to communicate in each other’s languages resulted in mass confusion and the ultimate destruction of the tower.
Whether the story as a whole is fact or fiction is not the salient point to consider here: what is true is that today there are between five and six thousand different languages spoken around the world, and that the inability to communicate in each other’s languages can indeed cause mass confusion and, at a minimum, an erosion of goodwill between different cultures.
Being able to speak another person’s language is a critical skill, especially as increased travel opportunities, satellite programming, and international use of the internet have begun to create a truly global community. But when is the best time to begin learning a foreign language? Many experts would say the sooner the better, and in fact, there have been numerous studies and reports, some dating back to the 1960s, indicating that the ideal time to begin studying a foreign language is in elementary school. Read the rest of this entry »
Mathematics in Daily Life
Posted by admin in Mathematics on December 25, 2011
Too often, I go dumbfounded at the billing section in a shopping store, and happen to easily believe whatever the salesman asks me to pay. I never calculate myself, mostly because neither do I have the patience, nor do I have the prowess to add, subtract, multiply, or divide numbers chop-chop in a single go. Calculators are my thing! I never exercised my math abilities in front of others – I was never good at it (actually, I sucked!). But is that all about mathematics? Do you need it only at a shopping store? Is it limited to just adding or subtracting numbers? Absolutely not. I was ignorant, not to have realized the ubiquity of mathematics in daily life, and the reasons behind it being one subject that is known to transcend all boundaries in terms of culture.
So, that really makes me wonder, what actually is the importance of mathematics in daily life? Of course, you need not use the properties of logarithms, algebra, and trigonometry to sort out your daily issues, but then, you need mathematics to sustain from day to night. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the following section.
Use of Mathematics in Daily Life
What time do you wake up in the morning? 7 am? What if it’s 6:50 am? You’ll thank the Almighty for getting 10 minutes of extra sleep, wouldn’t you? Well, did you notice that we used a tad-bit of mathematics here? The watch is the most common and the most wide-spread example of using math in everyday life. Just think about it, had there been no watches and clocks in the world, the word ‘discipline’ would have lost its existence forever. Read the rest of this entry »
What is Biology
I have forever been fascinated by the field of biology. Biology contains the essence of every other field of science like chemistry, biochemistry, even a bit of physics. But, what is biology is a question asked by many students. Biology is the study of life and all other aspects related to life. Anything everything that is alive or dead is studied under biology. Let us go into the details of what is biology about.
What is Biology?
As mentioned above biology is the study of interactions of life. Biology covers a number of subjects under the sun like plants (botany), animals (zoology), marine animals and plants (marine biology), microorganisms (microbiology), genes (genetics), and many more. A biologists investigates the biological processes and phenomena that helps build a correlation between all living things. There are certain characteristics of life that are considered under biology. Let us see some of the characteristics of life that will lead to an answer for what is biology about.
Characteristics of Life
The first characteristics of life is the cell. A cell is the basic unit of life, be it for animals, plants or single-celled organism. All living organisms, single-celled and multicellular organisms are made up of cells. Cells make up tissues, that form organs and organs lead to organ system. An organ system is contained within the organism.
Next, characteristics of life is energy transformation. All living things require energy to function. This energy is transferred from the environment to the organism in the form of food. Metabolic processes are therefore, very important for maintenance of life.
The third characteristics of life is reproduction. If an organism is alive, it will reproduce. Reproduction can be asexual or sexual. A few organisms undergo binary fission. Only living organisms have the ability to reproduce. When there is reproduction then comes in the next characteristics of life, growth. Living organism need to grow in order to complete their life cycle. Single celled organisms grow by increasing their cell volume. Multicellular organisms tend to add more cells to their body in order to grow. Read the rest of this entry »