Ecology Essay Example for Free

Ecology Essay There has been a growing concern for the rise of environmental problems around the world. Ecology students from the University of Georgia came up with a list of the top ten environmental problems of the world. Based on this list, I came up with my top five environmental problems that people consider to be pressing problems in the environment. First in my list is human overpopulation. While it is part of human nature to procreate and multiply, the unchecked growth of the human population has led to the over consumption of goods and resources, thereby leading to poverty – a culprit as well of environmental problems. The over consumption of resources by human population can take its toll on the limited resources that the world can provide. Next in my list of the world’s top environmental problem is the pollution of our water quality and quantity. Sewage from cities, unregulated releases from industrial and agricultural sites, and dumping of wastes in the oceans collectively exacerbate the worldwide problem of water pollution (Gibbons). If left like these, we may have a serious water problem in the coming years. Following the problem of water pollution is the problem of air pollution. As more and more cities and countries are industrialized, the use of fossil fuels has also risen. Such has led to acid rain, dissolution of the ozone layer, smog, and the general elimination of clean air (Gibbons). The top 4 environmental problem is global climate change, which is admittedly interconnected with water and air pollution. Global warming has already received a lot of press mainly because such phenomenon has been going on for the past 4 billion years and it has steadily risen in the past decades. Water level has risen and as air pollution worsens, so does global warming. Lastly, the loss and degradation of habitats have been considered by ecologists as one of the most pressing environmental problems as human advancement and development as well as deforestation has led to the decline of the biodiversity. There are many species which are on the brink of extinction because their natural habitats are already destroyed or perished.

The Catcher In The Rye :: essays research papers

The Catcher in the Rye By J.D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye was an interesting and controversial book. I chose to read the book because of the negative status it has with parents, teachers, and school. I wanted to discover what the roots of this controversy are.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main character who narrates throughout the book, Holden Caulfield, tells about his life before and after he is kicked from Pencey Prep. At Pencey, the only subject he got a decent grade in was English, all others he failed and didn’t show up to regularly. The meat of the book consists mainly of what Holden does and thinks after he leaves Pencey. His internal conflict after leaving is what his parents will think when they find out he had been kicked from another college. The title of the book portrays the best idea of what Holden wants to do with his life. He imagines a group of children playing in a rye field that’s adjacent to a cliff. He described himself to his sister as the person that would catch the kids if they ever got near the edge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book was truly enjoyable to read, to see Holden’s strange and peculiar outlook on life. He had very distinct things that he hated and liked. For example, the only kind of books he enjoyed were books written by his brother, who wrote short stories. In many parts of the book, he is remembering a girl he once went out with or liked at one time. In one instance he called a girl he had the number of in the middle of the night from a drab hotel room. I think he did this solely to hear a girl’s voice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The controversy that has arisen from this book also became clear after reading it. Holden has an overall negative attitude about everything and the way he lives his life. Also, his being kicked from colleges numerous times doesn’t set a good example either.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This novel by J.D. Salinger about a troubled teen is one that’s controversial and fun to read at the same time.

Is Children’s Development a Universal Staged Process or a Social and Cultural Process?

There are three main approaches to child development, the scientific, the social constructionist and the applied approach. Each of these approaches look at children’s development from a different stand point. I will go on to explore each approach in turn and how they can help us answer the above question. The scientific approach to child development seeks to explain the facts about child development. It does this by devising theories which are then tested through observations and experiments. A classic example of this is Jean Piaget (1896-1890) who was one of the most influential theorists in child development. Piaget built up a theory about how children’s thinking developed; this is usually referred to as his theory on Cognitive development. He proposed that children do not gradually increase their thinking capacity but that they go through a series of stages or transformations in their thinking. Piaget (1932) proposed that there are 4 main stages in a children’s development; sensor-motor (approximately 0-2yrs), pre-operational (approximately 2-6 yrs), concrete operational (approximately 6-12 yrs) and formal operational (12 yrs and over). His approach can be seen today in how the curriculum is sequenced in schools and in the rise of children’s centres across the UK. Piaget used many similar experiments to support his theory. Examples are, children were asked to compare balls of plasticine after one had been rolled into a sausage; another was for children to compare rows of counters where one row had been stretched into a longer line. In each case the younger children appeared to reason that the amount of counters or plasticine had also changed. (Light and Oates, 1990, PP. 101-106). He was trying to show that children aren’t less cognitively developed than adults but they actually think differently. In many of Piaget’s experiments he tried to show how & at what stage do children see things from another’s point of view. One very famous experiment was a construction of a model of 3 mountains. The largest gray and snow capped, the middle sized brown with a red cross on it and the smallest was green with a house on top. Children were then asked to sit on one side of the model with a doll at the opposite side. They were asked to arrange three pieces of cardboard shaped like the mountains. They they were asked to chose the doll’s view from 10 pictures and finally what the doll would see from other view points. Children younger than about 7 were unable to see things from another view point. Piaget’s claims were bold and his theories and experiments have been criticized by developmental theorists. Developmental theorists now recognise that a child’s development is far more complex than the 4 stages Piaget supported. Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) used Piaget’s stage of development as a starting point to suppose a theory about children’s moral development. He used moral dilemmas to study how children develop the capacity to make moral judgments. Kholberg (Kholberg 1967) proposed that there are 6 stages or levels to a child’s moral development, these are grouped into 3 levels with 2 stages in each; preconventional, conventional and principled. It is extremely rare to progress back in stages and each stage must be completed to move onto the next as each stage is more complex than the last. In Kholberg’s experiments children were given moral dilemmas about right and wrong to discover at what stage a child reaches different levels of cognitive capacity. Kholberg and his team started testing 75 boys in the US and went back and tested them at intervals as they grew into adulthood. However, this was not a cross section of US children as no girls were tested. The data from these scientific studies can be used to assess when a child knows right from wrong. These and similar techniques are used today to carry out assessments for courts deciding whether a child can be held criminally responsible. The social constructionist view of child development looks at the ways that childhood is experienced in different situations and circumstances. Different cultures, religions and social economic conditions have different expectations and beliefs around childhood. These have also been different throughout history. For example in Victorian Britain, children were expected to work in the home, field, streets or in factories. However in modern Britain we expect our children to spend much of their childhood learning at school. Another example is, Maya’s (U212 Video 1, band 1) experiences of childhood in the poor area Chittagong being different to the twins Yasir and Yamin’s experiences in middle class Chittagong. Each have different expectations of their roles within society according to their social boundaries, gender, family and beliefs. Central to the social constructionist approach is the concept of competing discourses of childhood. A discourse is a particular way of thinking or a particular view point that is influenced by our gender, language, history, beliefs, experiences and social boundaries. There are numerous discourses but a romantic discourse sees children as inherently good; a child would only do terrible things if damaged in some way. Contrary to this is the puritanical discourse which sees the child as inherently evil, doing evil things because they are wicked and need punishing. Using the social constructionist view allows us to recognise that a child who is a killer can be seen through these two very different discourses either needing therapy or needing punishment. Social constructionists are not about applying facts and time frames to child development, neither is it just about there being different ‘realities’ created by the way people think and make sense of children. It goes far deeper by exploring what these different ‘realities mean in terms of our moral consequences, what we expect, what we believe our outcomes can be and more importantly what our outcomes can’t be, what is hidden from our view and what we are prevented from doing by our constructed society. Rex Stainton Rogers (1992) says of a socially constructed world: ‘But what about childhood?†¦ For example. The children of Longwitten have come to understand that they ‘have to go to school’, that the human made ‘thing’ down the road is a school, that certain activities belong in he classroom, and others in the playground, and so on. The social world works because we share common understandings. ’ Stanton Rogers says (1992) that it is taken for granted that children will go to school and that this appears normal and the right thing to do in our socially constructed world, and that sometimes we fail to question or imagine anything els e outside of this. The third approach is the applied approach. This focuses on practical issues of childhood such as how should we parent out children, what support and services might we need in order to protect them. The applied approach relies on both the scientic and social constructionist approaches when applying theory and research to social policy, the law and professional practise. I have already looked at the romantic and puritan discourses. The romantic discourse believes that children are naturally good, therefore children who commit crime should be rehabilitated which Stuart Asquith (1996) describes as the Welfare model and the puritan discourse the ‘Justice’ model. The welfare model looks at children who do wrong as doing so because they have been mistreated / deprived or having been disadvantaged in some way. These children need nurturing and need our care to overcome these disadvantages. The Justice model looks as children as being responsible when they reach an age where they can be held partially accountable for their crimes. These children need to be treated as criminals and punished accordingly. Asquith’s applied approach draws on both the scientific aspects of children’s moral development and the social constructionist view on how culture and society affect us as humans.. In looking at all three approaches it is clear that they are all complex and interplay greatly with each other. The scientific approach concentrates on identifying universal stages of children’s development. These are a series of stages which all children pass through from immaturity to maturity. The danger is that these can result in a picture of a universal child which is mainly based on a western culture. There is scientific research to determine when a child can be morally responsible for a crime and scientific research has produced lots of data on what reformatory regimes appear to work for young offenders. But we must remember that the child is not a passive participant in this research. The outcomes will depend on both the researchers and child’s social constructions of their worlds. In contrast the social constructionists’ view is that immaturity and maturity are complex constructs that we have made for ourselves depending on a whole range of outside influences, these will be different for each one of us. Children do not develop autonomously from culture and society and take many different routes to maturity depending on many things including gender, culture, religion, and their social and economic circumstances in which they find themselves.

My Experience On My Life - 1202 Words

All I could think of sitting at my desk at work was about the conversation me and my husband had the night before. I sat there staring at my computer screen wondering if it was the right thing to do, or was I just wasting my time on a hope long forgotten. The hours slowly ticked by, and everything I was working on with my customers and their loans were a blur. I couldn’t get that thought out of my head. It was eating away at me. This is something that I have wanted for a long time. I put it on hold for so long because I wanted to be the best wife and mother I could be. That’s just the thing though I thought. My wants, dreams, ambitions had all gone on hold for 10 years. Always there to support everyone else with theirs and never going†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å" I can see how miserable you have been lately. Even if I am not there I know you, and I know that you aren’t happy.† â€Å" Don’t get me wrong ,† I said in a panic. â€Å" I am so happy with our life and our family. I would never trade you or our daughter for anything this world could offer.† â€Å" I know that silly,† he said and I smiled. â€Å" I also know that when I met you you had so many goals and dreams. Dreams that you put on hold for me, and dreams that were put on hold for our daughter.† His voice got softer as he went on. â€Å" You were this independent woman so strong, who wouldn’t let the devil himself stop you from getting where you wanted to be.† â€Å"over exaggerating as usual,† I said with a giggle. â€Å" No its true my love. That is what made me fall in love with you in the first place. You didn’t need anybody to take care of you. You knew what you wanted in life, and were going after it.† He became quiet for a minute, and we sat there in silence. â€Å" Than we fell in love, and decided to get married. We decided we wanted a family, and had our baby girl. I got stationed in Germany, and life just started moving so fast. Than before I know it 10 years has gone by and everything you wanted and all those goals you had had all been put on hold.† â€Å"Well it was for a good reason,† I replied. â€Å"Yes, you have taken such good care of our family. I don’t know where I would be if it weren’t for you, and your support. I just think I haven’t given youShow MoreRelatedMy Experience In My Life742 Words   |  3 Pagesone has a perfect life or even a perfect family. At times I have experienced what losing someone or something that meant so much to me. I always wondered to myself about why these situations happen to me, which also led me to put myself in a depression stage. My father was diagnosed with liver cancer and infection in his stomach area in March 2015. As he was in and out of the hospital. First, Growing up I never had a good life but I was lucky to have both of my parents in my life. It was a bond withRead MoreMy Experience In My Life1013 Words   |  5 Pages At this point in my life , if i review my previous experiences i would say that i am fairly pleased. Ive been able to gain numerous life and academic skills through hard work and determination. Though many of my experiences havent been pleasant ,in a way it has helped me grow and build my character as a person. As individuals we all go through many harsh obstacles , obstacles we sometimes think we will never overcome . but eventually we do . right ? think about it evenRead MoreMy Experience With My Life1356 Words   |  6 Pagesdo not have an abundant number of passions myself. In fact, as I think about it there are really only two subjects of interest that I feel rise to the level of passion for me; my God and sports. These two areas have been integral parts of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up in the church and much of my young life was spent either there or on a sports field of some sort. These two institutions, I feel have shaped me into the adult that I have become and the career I feel myself called toRead MoreMy Experience In My Life942 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout a person’s life, there can be many things, such as friends and family, education, or sports, that help them develop skills to turn them into the person they are today. Without these different skills, it can possibly lead to a lower standard of living, which is not what we strive for. The thing that helped me develop my unique skill set that I can use through the rest of my life, which is also my cultural artifact, is a football. Football has taught many different things that I am ableRead MoreMy Experience Of My Life703 Words   |  3 PagesFor the majority of my life, I had been shy, even though it didn’t seem like it most of the time, I was scared to death when I met new people. I know that it sounds extremely trivial, but I feel that when you first meet someone, you’re ultimately giving them their first impression of yourself and that is a lot of pressure. It seemed almost certain that I would lead a life of being a social wallflower until March 2017, more specifically, March 28th, 2017. This day was and still is important to meRead MoreMy Experience In My Life905 Words   |  4 Pagesmajority of my life I have belonged in the little wo rld, stretching from Chicago to Cleveland and South Bend to Nashville. The boundaries of my known world have always felt like a limiting factor in my life. While my friends ventured to far away lands every year, I would spend the night at my grandparents house or we would make a day-trip to a city. With spring break approaching my family and I were going to change that, we were going to South Carolina. One dreary cold Indiana morning my family andRead MoreMy Personal Experience : My Experience In My Life1003 Words   |  5 Pagesdifficult to write about my life—not because I do not know what to say, but because I am often fearful of sharing my experiences and having them impact how people view me. My identity and upbringing are not necessarily unique, but I have been in situations that society tends to be uncomfortable with. Repeated sexual assaults, psychological abuse, neglect, and financial hardships are factors in my life that I tried to forget when I started college. Now that I am at the end of my undergraduate educationRead MoreMy Writing Experience : My Experience In My Life921 Words   |  4 PagesAs a Human, throughout life there are many skills that are critical to acquire, during childhood and as you become older. One of the most important and useful skill you will need is writing. From first, learning to write words and sentences, to more advanced writing like essays. Everyone learns to write a little differently, some ways are learning from your parents or learning words and letters in kindergarten. As you get further down the path of life you develop higher skills of writing. As peopleRead MoreMy Experience On My Life953 Words   |  4 PagesThe wind was slicing through my hair as my sweat was dripping off my metallic purple frames. I placed each foot on each of the pedals and took off. My whole world was filled with the rattling sounds coming from the dreaded training wheels. Everything would always come to a stop whenever I would hit each bump. â€Å"I need to get these thing off!† I thought constantly. The training wheels were such a nuisance because they gave me a wobble that kept me off balance, and they provided no extra speed. ThereRead MoreMy Experience In My Life718 Words   |  3 PagesS most of my life. When I came to the United States I was two years old. I have gone back to Pakistan only a few times, but my most r ecent visit was in 2012 when I had just finished 8th grade. One of the fun parts was traveling, because it is always fun to go to different airports and cities, but once you were inside of the plane there wasn’t much to do on the long flights. The flight was 12 hours long so I ended up sleeping a lot to make time go by. It was also pretty hard leaving my parents because