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Fresh Water For The World's Poorest

2008-02-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

ScienceDaily (Jan. 9, 2008) — Lack of water causes great distress among the population in large parts of Africa and Asia. Small decentralized water treatment plants with an autonomous power supply can help solve the problem: They transform salty seawater or brackish water into pure drinking water.

Large industrial plants for the desalination of seawater deliver 50 million cubic meters of fresh water every day – particularly in the coastal cities of the Middle East. However, the technology is complex and consumes large amounts of energy. It is not suitable for the arid and semiarid regions of Africa and India, though these are the very places where it is becoming increasingly difficult to supply drinking water, particularly in rural areas.
“The regions have a very poor infrastructure. Quite often there is no electricity grid, so conventional desalination plants are out of the question,” states Joachim Koschikowski of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg. In various EU-funded projects over the past few years, he and his team have developed small, decentralized water desalination plants that produce fresh drinking water with their own independent solar power supply.
“Our plants work on the principle of membrane distillation,” explains Koschikowski. This can best be explained by the principle of a Gore-Tex jacket, in which the membrane prevents rainwater from penetrating through to the skin. At the same time, water vapor formed inside the jacket by perspiration is passed through to the outside. “In our plant, the salty water is heated up and guided along a micro-porous, water-repellent membrane. Cold drinking water flows along the other side of the membrane. The steam pressure gradient resulting from the temperature difference causes part of the salt water to evaporate and pass through the membrane. The salt is left behind, and the water vapor condenses as it cools on the other side. It leaves us with clean, germ-free water,” says Koschikowski.
The researchers have so far built two different systems, both with their own energy supply. “Our compact system for about 120 liters of fresh water per day consists of six square meters of thermal solar collectors, a small photovoltaic module to power a pump, and the desalination module itself,” explains Koschikowski. In the dual-circuit system, on the other hand, several desalination modules are connected in parallel, enabling several cubic meters of water to be treated every day.
One cubic meter of drinking water – 1000 liters – will cost about 10 euros. “When you think how much the inhabitants currently have to pay for the same amount of bottled water or soft drinks, the plant will pay off very quickly,” claims Koschikowski. The test plants in Gran Canaria and in Jordan have been operating successfully for some time. The researchers are therefore planning to market the plants through a spin-off known as “SolarSpring” from the middle of this year.
Adapted from materials provided by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Power Shirt: Nanotechnology In Clothing Could Harvest Energy From Body Movement

2008-02-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

ScienceDaily (Feb. 14, 2008) — Nanotechnology researchers are developing the perfect complement to the power tie: a "power shirt" able to generate electricity to power small electronic devices for soldiers in the field, hikers and others whose physical motion could be harnessed and converted to electrical energy.

The February 14 issue of the journal Nature details how pairs of textile fibers covered with zinc oxide nanowires can generate electrical current using the piezoelectric effect. Combining current flow from many fiber pairs woven into a shirt or jacket could allow the wearer's body movement to power a range of portable electronic devices. The fibers could also be woven into curtains, tents or other structures to capture energy from wind motion, sound vibration or other mechanical energy.
"The fiber-based nanogenerator would be a simple and economical way to harvest energy from physical movement," said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regents professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "If we can combine many of these fibers in double or triple layers in clothing, we could provide a flexible, foldable and wearable power source that, for example, would allow people to generate their own electrical current while walking."
The microfiber-nanowire hybrid system builds on the nanowire nanogenerator that Wang's research team announced in April 2007. That system generates current from arrays of vertically-aligned zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires that flex beneath an electrode containing conductive platinum tips. The nanowire nanogenerator was designed to harness energy from environmental sources such as ultrasonic waves, mechanical vibrations or blood flow.
The nanogenerators developed by Wang's research group take advantage of the unique coupled piezoelectric and semiconducting properties of zinc oxide nanostructures, which produce small electrical charges when they are flexed. After a year of development, the original nanogenerators -- which are two by three millimeters square -- can produce up to 800 nanoamperes and 20 millivolts.
The microfiber generators rely on the same principles, but are made from soft materials and designed to capture energy from low-frequency mechanical energy. They consist of DuPont Kevlar fibers on which zinc oxide nanowires have been grown radially and embedded in a polymer at their roots, creating what appear to be microscopic baby-bottle brushes with billions of bristles. One of the fibers in each pair is also coated with gold to serve as the electrode and to deflect the nanowire tips.
"The two fibers scrub together just like two bottle brushes with their bristles touching, and the piezoelectric-semiconductor process converts the mechanical motion into electrical energy," Wang explained. "Many of these devices could be put together to produce higher power output."
Wang and collaborators Xudong Wang and Yong Qin have made more than 200 of the fiber nanogenerators. Each is tested on an apparatus that uses a spring and wheel to move one fiber against the other. The fibers are rubbed together for up to 30 minutes to test their durability and power production.
So far, the researchers have measured current of about four nanoamperes and output voltage of about four millivolts from a nanogenerator that included two fibers that were each one centimeter long. With a much improved design, Wang estimates that a square meter of fabric made from the special fibers could theoretically generate as much as 80 milliwatts of power.
Fabrication of the microfiber nanogenerator begins with coating a 100-nanometer seed layer of zinc oxide onto the Kevlar using magnetron sputtering. The fibers are then immersed in a reactant solution for approximately 12 hours, which causes nanowires to grow from the seed layer at a temperature of 80 degrees Celsius. The growth produces uniform coverage of the fibers, with typical lengths of about 3.5 microns and several hundred nanometers between each fiber.
To help maintain the nanowires' connection to the Kevlar, the researchers apply two layers of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) to the fiber. "First we coat the fiber with the polymer, then with a zinc oxide layer," Wang explained. "Then we grow the nanowires and re-infiltrate the fiber with the polymer. This helps to avoid scrubbing off the nanowires when the fibers rub together."
Finally, the researchers apply a 300 nanometer layer of gold to some of the nanowire-covered Kevlar. The two different fibers are then paired up and entangled to ensure that a gold-coated fiber contacts a fiber covered only with zinc oxide nanowires. The gold fibers serve as a Shottky barrier with the zinc oxide, substituting for the platinum-tipped electrode used in the original nanogenerator.
To ensure that the current they measured was produced by the piezoelectric-semiconductor effect and not just static electricity, the researchers conducted several tests. They tried rubbing gold fibers together, and zinc oxide fibers together, neither of which produced current. They also reversed the polarity of the connections, which changed the output current and voltage.
By allowing nanowire growth to take place at temperatures as low as 80 degrees Celsius, the new fabrication technique would allow the nanostructures to be grown on virtually any shape or substrate.
As a next step, the researchers want to combine multiple fiber pairs to increase the current and voltage levels. They also plan to improve conductance of their fibers.
However, one significant challenge lies head for the power shirt -- washing it. Zinc oxide is sensitive to moisture, so in real shirts or jackets, the nanowires would have to be protected from the effects of the washing machine, Wang noted.
The research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Emory-Georgia Tech Nanotechnology Center for Personalized and Predictive Oncology.
Adapted from materials provided by Georgia Institute of Technology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Make Believe or Real - It all happens here

2008-02-10T22:59:00.000-08:00

If you are one of those who rushes home from work because it is time for X-files, or your favorite movie, Alien is being screened, then UFO's and paranormal activities must interest you a lot. Earlier, people would go to libraries to look for information on these aspects, and there weren’t many references available since very few believed in these supernatural powers. But today, with the advancement in technology and the introduction of Internet, anything and everything can be found on the web world.

There are millions of people across the world who believes in Ghosts, and UFO's, doing research or being part of groups. One such concept that has evolved in the recent past is that of social network website. These are a forum whereby like minded people can interact, make new friends from across the globe and connect to learn something new. Some have even sighted crop circles appearing out of the blue, which they believe is to have been done by UFO's or ghosts. For such experiences to be shared and for others who are into it to feel free on expressing their thoughts, this social network site forms a friendly platform. If they are from the same town or city, they could interact online, and then meet up offline as well. There are times when members make friends with other UFO lovers and have a meeting of sorts about the supernatural powers existence.

A place for believers of paranormal science to meet, and a chance for them to discuss, debate over the theories of flying saucer or alien existence. To become a member of the site, one needs to register, and fill out the profile page. This is so others visiting the member's page will know some information about them, and be able to connect better. you could list your favorite books, or TV shows on crop circles or the supernatural or give instances where you witnessed a UFO flying over your roof.

The sites allow members to post pictures, or videos to substantiate their beliefs and experiences. this gives it a very real feeling, and enables other members to identify the one's who share the same interests. Crop circles, ghosts are all make believe for some, whereas for members of the social network site, they are very much a part of reality.

When we tell a friend about Ghosts, or UFO's, they are likely to laugh at us or say we are dreaming. but for those who have unshakeable belief, they are for real. This is why this website is the best place for them to be a part of.

Among the explanations for crop circles are that they are man made, but there are others who firmly believe they are related to paranormal actions, and UFOs. These are the people who will be interested if someone is talking about the Roswell UFO instance, which happened way back in 1947. Due to their strong belief, and faith, these members are completely into UFO's and Ghosts.

Article Source: http://ezinearticle.net

Alpine speaks about Social Network about paranormal and UFO. This Article is intended for everyone who is interested in paranormal phenomena. (UFO, ghosts, crop circles and so on).

The Rise of the Turkish Language

2008-02-10T22:45:00.001-08:00

Turkish is spoken by more than 70 million people throughout the world. Turkish speakers reside primarily in Turkey, though very significant populations of speakers now reside in Germany with smaller communities existing in Cyprus, Bulgaria, and other parts of Eastern Europe.

Kurdish is spoken by approximately seven to ten percent of Turkey's population. Even minorities in Turkey however are usually bilingual, speaking Turkish in varying levels of proficiency.

In more recent years several million Turkish speakers have immigrated to Western Europe, primarily to Germany. Turkish also holds an official status in the Prizren District of Kosovo and several municipalities of the Republic of Macedonia depending on the levels of Turkish-speaking local population.

The Turkish language is a member of the Turkish subgroup of the Oghuz language family which includes Gagauz and Azeri. The Oghuz languages form the Southwestern subgroup of the Turkic languages. This language family comprisesof 30 or so living languages spoken across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Siberia. Interestingly,mutual intelligibility between Turkish Azeri does exist.

The literary and official language during the Ottoman Empire was in fact a mixture of Turkish, Persian, and Arabic that differed considerably from the period's everyday spoken Turkish, and is termed Ottoman Turkish.

The Turkish language has its roots in Central Asia. The first written records date back approximately 1,200 years. The rise of the Ottoman Empire extended the geographical reach of Turkish. Turkic occurred during the Middle Ages from the 6th through the 11th centuries, with people speaking Turkic languages spread across Central Asia, covering a vast geographical region stretching from Siberia to Europe and the Mediterranean.

The aftermath of World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire brought about a number of political and nationalistic reforms. In 1928 the Turkish leader Atatürk initiated a number of reforms which included the modification of the Turkish alphabet by the adoption of a phonetic variant using the Latin alphabet.

The Turkish Language Association was established during this time and attempted to reform the Turkish language by removing Persian and Arabic loanwords in favor of adopting native variations from Turkish roots.

These linguistic changes, including the implementation of the revised Turkish alphabet, shaped the Turkish language as we know it today. The influence of the Turkish Language Association continued though in 1951 in became an independent body. Today Istanbul Turkish is the official standard for Turkish.

Article Source: http://ezinearticle.net

Jacob Lumbroso is an enthusiast for foreign languages, history, and foreign cultures. He writes articles on history and languages for and has used Pimsleur courses to learn various languages.

The Rise of the Turkish Language

2008-02-10T22:45:00.000-08:00

Article Source: http://ezinearticle.net

Jacob Lumbroso is an enthusiast for foreign languages, history, and foreign cultures. He writes articles on history and languages for and has used Pimsleur courses to learn various languages.

How Natural Gas is Stored

2008-02-10T22:41:00.000-08:00

Biological gas consumption commonly climbs and drops with the seasons. In the wintertime, we historically have used a lot more biological gas for warming. We are veering towards using natural gas for electrical energy, in addition to heat. So, we are consuming more and more natural gas year round. Spikes in the summer time are seemly more basic than ever now that natural gas is being used for cooling in our homes and businesses. The high demand for clean burning, energy economic natural gas involves that we constantly extract, process and move natural gas to the areas that need it most. We also must stock redundant gas so that it is ready for use. We store certain amounts based on expected consumption and we store excess amounts that will secure that the supply equals or exceeds the demand when natural gas needs spike higher than expected.

We used to mostly deplete coal gas. Coal gas was stored in gasometers starting in the mid-eighteenth century. These were big, above-ground tanks that slowly slumped into the ground as the gas reserves were used up. Coal gas was used mainly in towns for lighting, heating and sometimes cooking. Coal gas quickly became widely referred to as community gas. Once large biological gas stores were came across in the late 20th century, we finally gave up using coal gas. Natural gas is far safer and cheaper than coal gas ever was.

We distill natural gas from the natural gas stores and move it via pipeline to where it is needed. Natural gas in a gaseous state can take up a lot of room. Therefore, we chill it to a temperature that puts it into a liquid state. Old aquifers are supposed to contain liquid and are a good underground option for housing liquid natural gas. Natural gas is much too dangerous to store above ground in tanks where it can be exposed to heat, so underground choices are preferable.

Biological gas can as well be stored in aged salt mines or old gas reservoirs. Gas stores are beneath the ground and are composed of holey rock. This rock held natural gas at some time and makes a well-suited location for storing natural gas. We usually store natural gas in gas stores that we would expect to consume within about a year's time. It can be extremely complicated to extract the gas that we need from gas reservoirs, so other methods are used for gas demands that are unexpected.

We house natural gas in aquifers and salt mines for unforseen needs. These emplacements offer a quick retrieval of natural gas when we have a sudden demand. The tank of naural gas in an aquifer or salt mine usually lasts a couple of days or weeks tops. Natural gas is often informally referred to as simply gas, especially when compared to other energy sources such as electricity. Before natural gas can be used as a fuel, it must undergo extensive processing to remove almost all materials other than methane. The by-products of that processing include ethane, propane, butanes, pentanes and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons, elemental sulfur, and sometimes helium and nitrogen.

Article Source: http://ezinearticle.net

For More Information, Visit Ashworth College

Scientific Discovery

2008-02-10T22:22:00.000-08:00

The following reports a Discovery made in nature, particularly human nature. Invalidating the theory of evolution of species, the researchers name Intellect, which we used to address as God, or the "supernatural", as being responsible for the living world's diversity. Just as it was discovered a long time ago that the Earth was not flat, this discovery reveals that humans were engineered or, to use widely accepted terminology, arrived by the process of intelligent design.

Intellect alone was the highest cause of the order in nature which with degrees of complexity arrived at the birth of humankind. Initiation of matter to the level of highly structured systematic unity is to be addressed to the action of supreme intellect that exercised, relatively fundamental to our knowledge, power of radiation in the creation of the living world. Simply saying, Intellect was the only quality that created matter, a living organism and human intelligence. Supporting the previous statement, the researchers name the discovered; first, electromagnetic radiation as universal medium of determination and second, electromagnetic intelligence of a man - a "microsoft" data processing unit of the human brain. The living world, with its diversity, was created by the use of electromagnetic radiation. The latest version represents an intelligent tool (similarly to software) of the highest causality for originating living matter, its forms and human intellect. For years, the human brain has been compared to a computer; the discovery reports that the computer is there, detectable by electromagnetic frequencies. Humanity appears to be artificial intelligence of that Supreme Being which contains the conditions of all possible effects and all embracing reality; which, the authors believe, honored a man with intellect of its own (in the image of God). Electromagnetic intelligence of the human brain, so called "self", experiences life by means of frequencies only. It possesses all the attributes of a computer. To name just a few, it downloads information in frequencies, stores and creates abstract ideas on its own; its content, such as lifetime memories of an individual, can be retrieved and modified. "Self" means certain codified frequencies as thought (including devising new thoughts), smell, touch, taste or audiovisuals. The researchers reveal that electromagnetic intelligence of a man is in his capacity to receive a subliminal message in the form of touch by directly impacting the body tissue with radiation, or by receiving certain codified frequencies through "self" that recognizes the touch, at least by the location it occurred and by the type of sensation. What this means is that electromagnetic intelligence of a man, so called "self", possesses information that developed a human organism and integrated all functions of the human body.

By observing actual reality or just by means of electromagnetic frequency, an individual absorbs information in abundance of different variables and characteristics. If analyzed, each variable can be identified within the band of electromagnetic frequency, and it follows that every variable, every characteristic of the message can be manipulated - copied, rendered or modified. Picturing the electromagnetic experiences of life of a man entails that the essence of our existence comes to one end - for "self" to live through as many pleasant events as possible by means of electromagnetic frequencies. These seem have been the reason for our living and enjoyment. Sentiments of a man as the most intelligent being that has ever existed are illusory. Recognition and appreciation should be given to supreme intelligence for granting a man intellect that equals its own.

Should any discipline find these findings purposefully useful they do bring a sufficient criterion for validating the theory of intelligent design as scientific. It should be understood that whoever acquires knowledge of the process of our Creation, receives valuable information of how to replicate the process, regenerate a living organism, cure a human, and develop continuum of his existence to youthful biological immortality.

Copyright (c) 2008 Anatoliy K. and Aurika A. Grynko

Article Source: http://ezinearticle.net

Authors: Anatoliy K. and Aurika A. Grynko, www.cogrynko.com References: Lenin's Collected Works US Congress Office of Technology Assessment from www.surveillanceissues.com Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant

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How to Win at College

2008-01-15T04:31:00.000-08:00

Graduating from high school is one of the most satisfying and simultaneously scary times of your life. For the first time, you are faced with the task of navigating yourself to a successful future. Advice floods in from everybody in all directions and eventually you have acquired so much information about how to do well in college that it starts to become confusing and maybe even contradictory. Counselors and teachers try to generalize college life on a single sheet of paper, but the fact is that college is as unique as the individuals enrolled in it.

Many people say the best way to get through college with the best grades possible is to study most of the time and relax the rest of the time. While this is a terrific strategy, the whole social aspect of the college life is completely ignored. Social life plays a large role in overall well-being. College offers the best chance you will ever have to surround yourself with great people for the rest of your life. Once you build a solid foundation of friends, you will be able to assist each other in achieving the ultimate goal—graduating with good grades.

You will need to create schedules for yourself to manage your time. It is sometimes difficult for students to separate having fun and studying. If you want to make it through college, you must go to class. Oftentimes students fail out because they completely neglect going to class and doing required assignments. And then there’s the complete opposite side, the students who graduate with a 4.0 grade point average but have never been to a social event in their college career. The key to success is balance. What is the point of spending approximately four years in the same place if you build no supportive relationships, good memories or funny stories?

Obviously, college is no cake-walk. You will sometimes need to lock yourself in your room and turn off your cell phone for a few hours to crack down on loaded projects and abandon all contact from the outside world. But after you are finished with the project and you know you nailed it, you should reward yourself by relaxing and having a good time. As long as there is good balance of work and play, you should have few problems. And as long as you have your work-time designated in a time slot before your down-time, you should be able to juggle the two effortlessly and, best of all, happily. To be successful, you need to create your own unique schedule; if one thing doesn’t work, shift your schedule around until it does. When you and your best friends finally graduate, you can reminisce about all the great times you’ve had together, and talk about how college wasn’t as difficult as you once thought it was going to be.

Editorial provided by Mathew Matusek, Journalist, Slippery Rock University Graduate.

www.thehighschoolgraduate.com

Tips for Choosing a College

2008-01-15T04:30:00.001-08:00

So, you’re in high school, which is no doubt a difficult period in your life. You are finally becoming an adult and gaining new responsibilities. On top of these new experiences, you are beginning the college search process, which can certainly add to the anxiety. Well, relax. The process doesn’t have to be that complicated.

First, your main goal right now should be to focus on graduating high school. You cannot go to college without a high school degree, right? So, pay attention in class, do your homework, and make sure you are getting good grades. Additionally, you may want to play a sport or participate in an extra-curricular activity.

Now, here comes the hard part: making sure that college is right for you. Don’t go to college because all your friends are doing it or your parents are making you. Go to college because you want to learn more. College gives you more than just useless facts and student loans. It can prepare you to be a great problem solver, to think better on your feet, and to communicate well. But, like high school, college can be complicated. Make sure that you are prepared for late night study sessions, forty page papers, and living in residence halls. If you are, your college degree can be rewarding. You may have better job opportunities and have the potential to make more money than those people without bachelor’s degrees.

At this point, you may be wondering how you choose the right school for you. Choosing a college is like using the process of elimination skills you learn when you are taking a multiple-choice test. You eliminate the obviously wrong choices first then you pick the answer that seems correct.

What characteristics can you use to eliminate the wrong colleges? Size is a great characteristic that can help you eliminate schools. Do you want a large university or a small college? The choice is yours, but if you want more personal attention, make sure that you choose a school with a small student to faculty ratio. A word of caution, size of the student body has nothing to do with the personal attention that you would receive. Sometimes it is all about making the right connection with a faculty or staff mentor.

Location is another key characteristic of the college search. You may hate the city and want to go to school in the suburbs, or you may want to stay close to home. By narrowing down the kind of environment you want, you can eliminate more of the wrong choices.

Two other key factors to consider are major and extra-curricular interests. If you want to major in biology and be on the swim team, you should go to a school that offers those programs. Other things to consider are religious affiliation, diversity, and graduation and retention rates. Graduation rates are generally the percentage of students that graduate in four years and retention rates is the percentage of freshmen who stay at a school to become a sophomore. Of course, you need to factor in financial assistance. Schools offer financial aid, but you need to make sure you can afford your school of choice.

As you fine-tune your interests, you can begin searching. How do you do this? The internet is a great resource. Go to your favorite search engine and type in “college search” or something more specific like “nursing schools.” The results that generally pop up are specific college search engines. You can ask for colleges in certain states with certain majors, and in some cases ask for a certain religious affiliation.

Another great search tool is your guidance counselor in high school. They are there to help you in this process; take advantage of them. Ask them questions. Also, don’t forget your friends and family; they are great resources too. They may know of a great college that may not even be on your list.

Additionally, go to college fairs to meet with the representatives of the college. These people can answer your questions and help you with this process. Plus, sometimes the representatives of the colleges aren’t employees; they are alumni or faculty representatives. These people are highly invested in a school that you are looking at.

You may even meet representatives during high school visits. These are times when a representative will come to your school. Usually these last a period or throughout the lunch periods.

At this point, you will have plenty of college brochures. These can be helpful because they contain plenty of information about the college. But don’t decide to apply to a school because of their brochure. It may have pretty pictures, but the best way to see if a college is right for you is to visit it. If you feel comfortable when you visit a college and like the people you meet when you are on the campus tour, chances are you are going to like going to school there. And if you don’t feel like you belong, you probably won’t as a student, so you may want to knock that school off your list.

Once you have found the schools that fit your needs and eliminated the schools that don’t, ask yourself the final question: “Can I see myself here for four years?” You may answer yes to more than one school. If you do, talk it out with your family and friends. They know you pretty well and could offer some insight.

In the end, you may choose a school that isn’t the perfect fit. If this is the case, you may need to start this process all over again. This happens frequently and you are not alone, so don’t get discouraged.

One final piece of advice; make this process fun. The college search process shouldn’t be like going to the dentist. If it becomes a chore or stressful, take a break and evaluate if this is really what you want to do with your life. If you want to go to college, you’ll survive.

Editorial provided by Michele Diehl, Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Gwynedd-Mercy College.(www.thehighschoolgraduate.com)

A Strategy for Reading Textbooks

2008-01-14T00:46:00.000-08:00

SQRW is a four-step strategy for reading and taking notes from chapters in a textbook. Each letter stands for one step in the strategy. Using SQRW will help you to understand what you read and to prepare a written record of what you learned. The written record will be valuable when you have to participate in a class discussion and again when you study for a test. Read to learn what to do for each step in SQRW.

Survey.Surveying brings to mind what you already know about the topic of a chapter and prepares you for learning more. To survey a chapter, read the title, introduction, headings, and the summary or conclusion. Also, examine all visuals such as pictures, tables, maps, and/or graphs and read the caption that goes with each. By surveying a chapter, you will quickly learn what the chapter is about.

Question.You need to have questions in your mind as you read. Questions give you a purpose for reading and help you stay focused on the reading assignment. Form questions by changing each chapter heading into a question. Use the words who, what, when, where, why, or how to form questions. For example, for the heading "Uses of Electricity" in a chapter about how science improves lives, you might form the question "What are some uses of electricity?" If a heading is stated as a question, use that question. When a heading contains more than one idea, form a question for each idea. Do not form questions for the Introduction, Summary, or
Conclusion.

Read.Read the information that follows each heading to find the answer to each question you formed. As you do this, you may decide you need to change a question or turn it into several questions to be answered. Stay focused and flexible so you can gather as much information as you need to answer each question.

Write.Write each question and its answer in your notebook. Reread each of your written answers to be sure each answer is legible and contains all the important information needed to answer the question.

As you practice using SQRW, you will find you learn more and have good study notes to use to prepare for class participation and tests.

HINT: Once you complete the Survey step for the entire chapter, complete the Question, Read, and Write steps for the first heading. Then complete the Question, Read, and Write steps for the second heading, and so on for the remaining headings in the chapter.
See our other study skills resources at www.how-to-study.com

Your Preferred Learning Style

2008-01-14T00:43:00.000-08:00

A learning style is a way of learning. YOUR preferred learning style is the way in which YOU learn best. Three learning styles that are often identified in students are the Auditory Learning Style, the Visual Learning Style, and the Tactile/Kinesthetic Learning Style. Read about each of these learning styles to identify YOUR preferred learning style.

Are you an Auditory Learner?
Auditory Learners learn best when information is presented in an auditory language format. Do you seem to learn best in classes that emphasize teacher lectures and class discussions? Does listening to audio tapes help you learn better? Do you find yourself reading aloud or talking things out to gain better understanding? If YES, you are probably an Auditory Learner.

Are you a Visual Learner?
Visual Learners learn best when information is presented in a written language format or in another visual format such as pictures or diagrams. Do you do best in classes in which teachers do a lot of writing at the chalkboard, provide clear handouts, and make extensive use of an overhead projector? Do you try to remember information by creating pictures in your mind? Do you take detailed written notes from your textbooks and in class? If YES, you are probably a Visual Learner.

Are you a Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner?
Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners learn best in hands-on learning settings in which they can physically manipulate something in order to learn about it. Do you learn best when you can move about and handle things? Do you do well in classes in which there is a lab component? Do you learn better when you have an actual object in your hands rather than a picture of the object or a verbal or written description of it? If YES, you are probably a Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner.

Your learning style is your strength. Go with it whenever you can. When you can choose a class, try to choose one that draws heaviest on your learning style. When you can choose a teacher, try to choose one who's teaching method best matches your learning style. When you choose a major and future career, keep your learning style firmly in mind.(www.how-to-learn.com)

How Children Learn vs How Schools Test

2008-01-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

Did you know that kids learn in many ways, but schools test in only one? This ultimately means that the written tests used in school, favors only one kind of learner.

While we all wish that written tests weren’t the only measure of your child’s success in school, it turns out we’ve been in a test crazy world for years.

And what’s worse - it’s likely those written tests are here to stay. These tests are used to get into many high schools, colleges, graduate school and beyond, to obtain licenses in many careers and vocations and often to get a job or job promotion.

So, while I’m in favor of change, I’m also a realist about written tests. Rather than fight the uphill battle hoping that things will be different, your child simply can’t wait that long. He or she needs to do well now.

For 30 years, I’ve been a huge advocate for children, finding as many ways as possible to raise their self-esteem. Teaching them “how to learn” and showing them successful learning strategies while they are in school, benefits everyone – the child, the parents, teachers and ultimately, the society.

It turns out that there is no such thing as a poor test takers. Kids develop this belief based on their past test taking results and basically because their learning style does not match how they are tested. But, with just a couple of tips, you can do your child a lifetime of good by making written tests easier.

Why let your child struggle, or fret over whether he’ll remember all the things he’s studied? Wouldn’t your child be happier if he knew how to “win” the school’s written testing game?

I am not referring to teaching to a test, but rather empowering your child by knowing “how” to learn in such a way that makes taking a written test a painless process, rather than a stressful, sleep-depriving event.

As a mother, I am deeply aware that children are NOT their grades. Kids are so much more. But, as sad as it is, kids tend to measure themselves by how well they do in school.

There’s so much competition to get good grades that kids are pressured by teachers, parents, and even the other kids to get good, if not outstanding grades. If they don’t get good grades, there’s a cascading series of events that often leads to low self-esteem, lack of motivation to try, trips to the doctor to check for ADHD, and even dropping out of school. I live in a state where the drop out rate is 50% - and nation-wide, one child drops out of school every 8 seconds.

We can prevent many of these problems, by simply helping our kids to match their learning style strategies with the ones that get the best results during written tests. Here’s how:

How To Help Your Child Ace His Written Tests

If your child is a visual learner and naturally thinks in pictures, there is a perfect match between how he learns and how he is tested in writing. Turning reading material into pictures makes memory faster and far more efficient. More than likely, your child is already getting terrific grades.

However, some kids simply don’t know how to do that naturally. If your child learns better by listening (auditory) or is more physical (kinesthetic), beware: written tests impose a special problem and school will be much more of a challenge for your child.

To begin helping your child ace those written tests, find out your child’s learning style by taking the free Personal Learning Styles Inventory at http://www.HowToLearn.com

If you discover that your child prefers the more auditory or kinesthetic learning style, most likely there is a mis-match between how he learns and how he is tested.

Developing self-discipline

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Self-discipline
Self-discipline can be considered a type of selective training,
creating new habits of thought, action, and speech toward improving yourself and reaching goals.
Self-discipline can also be task oriented and selective.
View self-discipline as positive effort, rather than one of denial.

Schedule a small task for a given time of the day;
Practice deliberate delaying.

Schedule a particular task in the morning and once in the evening.
The task should not take more than 15 minutes.
Wait for the exact scheduled time.
When the schedule time is due, start the task.
Stick to the schedule for at least two months.

Advantages: Scheduling helps you focus on your priorities.
By focusing on starting tasks rather than completing them, you can avoid procrastination.

Schedule a task and hold to its time;
Avoid acting on impulse.
Track your progress;
At the end of the allotted time, keep a record of accomplishment that builds over time.
Advantage: Building a record will help you track how much time tasks take.

If you begin to have surplus time, fill it with small tasks, make notes to yourself, plan other tasks, etc.

Harness the power of routine.

Instead of devoting a lot of hours one day, and none the other and then a few on an another day and so on, allocate a specific time period each day of the week for that task.
Hold firm.
Don't set a goal other than time allocation,
simply set the habit of routine.
Apply this technique to your homework or your projects, you will be on your way to getting things done

Advantage: You are working on tasks in small increments, not all at once. You first develop a habit, then the habit does the job for you.

Use self discipline to explore time management

Time management can become an overwhelming task.
When you do not have control over your own self, how can you control time?
Begin with task-oriented self-discipline and build from there.

Advantage: As you control tasks, you build self-discipline.
As you build self-discipline, you build time management.
As you build time management, you build self-confidence.

Maintain a self-discipline log book.

Record the start and end times of the tasks.
Review for feedback on your progress

Advantage: This log book can be a valuable tool to get a better picture over your activities in order to prioritize activities, and realize what is important and not important on how you spend your time.

Schedule your work day and studies.

When you first begin your work day, or going to work take a few minutes and write down on a piece of paper the tasks that you want to accomplish for that day.
Prioritize the list.
Immediately start working on the most important one.
Try it for a few days to see if the habit works for you.
Habits form over time: how much time depends on you and the habit.

Advantage: When you have a clear idea as to what you want to achieve for the day at its start, the chances are very high that you will be able to proactively accomplish the tasks. Writing or sketching out the day helps.

Discouragement:

Do not be intimidated; do not be put off by the challenge
If you slip, remember this is natural
Take a break and then refresh the challenge

Tricks:

Associate a new habit with an old one:
If you drink coffee, make that first cup the time to write out and prioritize your tasks.

Advantage: Association facilitates neural connections!

Tick your progress:
On a calendar in your bathroom, on a spreadsheet at your computer, on your breakfast table:
Check off days you successfully follow up. If you break the routine, start over!

Advantage: Visualizing is a ready reinforcement of progress

Role models:
Observe the people in your life and see to what extent self discipline and habits help them accomplish goals.
Ask them for advice on what works, what does not.

Contributed by Mahanthi Bukkapaptnam, Des Moines, Iowa

How does a genius think? (again)

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“Good thinkers do not necessarily think harder, longer, or more exactly; they have simply learned to think in directions that are more likely to be productive.” - Unknown

What is the quality of your thinking? I recently stumbled upon the book “Marketing Genius” by Peter Fisk, who describes the following insights into how a genius thinks:

Original Thinking: A genius starts with an open mind, uncluttered by conventions, taking new perspectives, deconstructing a problem the reassembling it in better ways.
Creative Thinking: A genius is always open to possibility, seeking to solve problems by hypothesis, taking a mental leap and then seeing whether it proves to be true or not.
Analytical Thinking: A genius will work though a problem or idea progressively and rigorously, as well as creatively, challenging the mathematical or scientific logic.
Observational Thinking: A genius has an exceptionally high state of consciousness, a greater awareness of what is going on, and looking for patterns like forensic detective.
Dual Thinking: A genius can think in parallel, to tolerate apparent ambiguities, to bring together opposites and connect the unconnected.
Holistic Thinking: A genius can take a broader perspective, to see the holistic problem in the context of its environment and piecing together its many parts.
Volume Thinking: A genius searches for many solutions rather than just one, building on or challenging each other, constantly searching for a more perfect solution.
Pragmatic Thinking: A genius recognises that ideas and solutions are of little use in the abstract, that the theory or concept must be made real, that it must be practical and useful.
Visual Thinking: A genius is able to express their ideas more clearly, typically visually through diagrams and analogy, to make sense of complexity in comprehensible ways.
Conviction Thinking: A genius must have the inner strength, belief and confidence to stay strong to what they believe, while conventions and colleagues will challenge them.

How holistic is your thinking…..? Deliberately practice using one or more of these thinking styles in your day-to-day problem solving over the next few months.

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week.” - George Bernard Shaw

Thinking Like A Genius

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"Even if you're not a genius, you can use the same strategies as Aristotle and Einstein to harness the power of your creative mind and better manage your future."

The following eight strategies encourage you to think productively,
rather than reproductively, in order to arrive at solutions to problems. "These strategies are common to the thinking styles of creative geniuses in science, art, and industry throughout history."

1. Look at problems in many different ways, and find new perspectives that no one else has taken (or no one else has publicized!)

Leonardo da Vinci believed that, to gain knowledge about the form of a problem, you begin by learning how to restructure it in many different ways. He felt that the first way he looked at a problem was too biased. Often, the problem itself is reconstructed and becomes a new one.

2. Visualize!

When Einstein thought through a problem, he always found it necessary to formulate his subject in as many different ways as possible, including using diagrams. He visualized solutions, and believed that words and numbers as such did not play a significant role in his thinking process.

3. Produce! A distinguishing characteristic of genius is productivity.

Thomas Edison held 1,093 patents. He guaranteed productivity by giving himself and his assistants idea quotas. In a study of 2,036 scientists throughout history, Dean Keith Simonton of the University of California at Davis found that the most respected scientists produced not only great works, but also many "bad" ones. They weren't afraid to fail, or to produce mediocre in order to arrive at excellence.

4. Make novel combinations. Combine, and recombine, ideas, images, and thoughts into different combinations no matter how incongruent or unusual.

The laws of heredity on which the modern science of genetics is based came from the Austrian monk Grego Mendel, who combined mathematics and biology to create a new science.

5. Form relationships; make connections between dissimilar subjects.

Da Vinci forced a relationship between the sound of a bell and a stone hitting water. This enabled him to make the connection that sound travels in waves. Samuel Morse invented relay stations for telegraphic signals when observing relay stations for horses.

6. Think in opposites.

Physicist Niels Bohr believed, that if you held opposites together, then you suspend your thought, and your mind moves to a new level. His ability to imagine light as both a particle and a wave led to his conception of the principle of complementarity. Suspending thought (logic) may allow your mind to create a new form.

7. Think metaphorically.

Aristotle considered metaphor a sign of genius, and believed that the individual who had the capacity to perceive resemblances between two separate areas of existence and link them together was a person of special gifts.

8. Prepare yourself for chance.

Whenever we attempt to do something and fail, we end up doing something else. That is the first principle of creative accident. Failure can be productive only if we do not focus on it as an unproductive result. Instead: analyze the process, its components, and how you can change them, to arrive at other results. Do not ask the question "Why have I failed?", but rather "What have I done?"

Adapted with permission from: Michalko, Michael, Thinking Like a Genius: Eight strategies used by the super creative, from Aristotle and Leonardo to Einstein and Edison (New Horizons for Learning) as seen at http://www.newhorizons.org/wwart_michalko1.html, (June 15, 1999) This article first appeared in THE FUTURIST, May 1998

Michael Michalko is the author of Thinkertoys (A Handbook of Business Creativity), ThinkPak (A Brainstorming Card Set), and Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Geniuses (Ten Speed Press, 1998).