Mini Position Paper Essay Example for Free

Mini Position Paper Essay Many schools exist that don’t create student success. In too many school systems today, students are deprived of the education they need to become successful in life. What is society doing to make sure these students find their way? What does it take for them to become successful participants of society? After reading Freire’s, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, I must say there is some truth to students being oppressed for they are being forced to matriculate in an educational environment they aren’t familiar with; can’t survive in; or don’t want to be in. Students who are in the predicament noted above are not able to thrive in a strong academic environment because, as Freire states, they don’t know their reality. If they knew their reality, they would be better prepared to adjust to what they need for academic success. My position is that students that will better succeed in vocational or magnet schools. The vocational option is best suited for students that are not college bound and need to learn hands-on job skills to work right out of high school. For the nontraditional student the magnet option can work well. As a dancer, I attended magnet performing art school and this opportunity allowed me to learn about my craft and move on to earning a scholarship to Temple University in dance and theater. It allowed me the option to get involved in a field that I love and having a love for what you do makes the difference in which you become. There is no denying that people are mentally in different places at different times in their lives. Whether they have been raised in a single parent home, or whether they grew up in an environment that isn’t conducive to learning, it is important that students know what they can handle in an educational setting. For some students, an advanced math class or AP courses may not be reasonable. There are some students that understand where they stand academically and know that they aren’t able to learn under the same conditions as other students. These students need to develop other avenues in which to become successful. Vocational and Magnet schools are a great source for students that aren’t ready for a rigorous academic curriculum. Although students will still get the core courses they need to graduate, they will also have a trade that will at least keep them employed and able to take care of them after graduating. There are students that have a love for cosmetology, auto mechanics or even plumbing. One important fact is that there are colleges that offer two year degrees in these vocational trades. It is crucial that today’s generation know that there are options outside of becoming a doctor or lawyer. While we always need lawyers, doctors, and teachers, the world also needs mechanics to fix cars, a plumber to fix leaks the correct way or even a specialist to make sure a heating or air conditioning system is properly working. It is important that today’s student be comfortable in knowing that being academically challenged is okay, and that choosing a vocational education is an option. Vocational Magnet educations are just as important and should be interjected in all of today’s schools for they too serve a vital function in preparing our students in life. â€Å"The Guardian†, a newspaper printed in the U. K. , ran an article in 2013 regarding vocational educations. It questioned the validity of the concept of vocational educations by asking the public if they value vocational skills. The article allowed people to give their opinions. Although most people were in support of vocational education, there were some that weren’t. One person commented that though he didn’t look down on vocational education, he would not consider the vocational route if he didnt get the grades needed to attend a university. He finished by explaining he would definitely go for A-levels because in his opinion, â€Å"they are far more respected by employers and universities†. In his opinion, having a career rather than a skill is more esteemed. After reading the article, I was stunned at the idea that vocational educations aren’t respected. That a plumber or custodian is not valued is a disrespectful and cocky position to take. Society will always needs someone to make sure offices are clean and bathroom toilets run properly. People underestimate that diverse careers are needed for the world to effectively revolve. Unfortunately vocational skills like plumbing, carpentry, and electricians have been downgraded in social status over the years. One of the biggest issues in education today is low graduation rates, low college entry and a growing rate of unemployment. Vocational education can be the resolution to this problem. What are missing in schools are alternatives like a technical baccalaureate, which offers valuable learning and real skills, and leads to real jobs for young people. Getting children in the right program for their learning needs is what leads to success. Vocational qualifications serve a need for particular kinds of students and are very important skills. Vocational education training provides career and technical education for students interested in jobs that are based upon labor-intensive or real-world jobs. The plus side to vocational education is that students have the opportunity to work in their field while in school; it requires less education than four year degree programs; the vocational fields are vast and varied such as, pharmacy and medical technicians, paralegals, medical assistants, office assistants, cosmetologists, mechanics and construction workers; it assists in higher graduation rates; increased employment; and overall student achievement. The objective in education is to assist students in their quest of having a stable life. A vocational education reinforces the connections between secondary and postsecondary education, and improves accountability for students.

African Mythological Commonalities :: African Creation Myths Essays

African Mythological Commonalities Creation myths vary among African ethnic groups highlighting similarities and differences in belief systems and societal constructs. There are many factors that contribute to creation myths for each individual group. Survival issues dominate many my ths, suggesting the origins of land, the ability to cultivate land, and the benefit of existing off of what one has cultivated. Questions of where land came from, the purpose of man, and the relationship between the creator and the created are evaluated. The important issues of each African ethnic group became the focal point of their creation and origin myths. A predominant theme among African creation myth is the people's relation to the land, as a means of survival and origin. The shilluk myth, "An African Story of the Creation of Man" and the Yoruba people's myth, "The Creation of the Universe and Ife" state that man was first made from clay. Both creation myths indicate an awareness and a need for explanation of the physical differences among human beings. The Shilluk myth claims that there are different colored people because of the varying colors o f clay that Joak, the creator according to this myth, encountered as he wandered the world. The Yoruba people's myth explains the differences in the shapes of humans as a result of the god Obatala being drunk when he shaped man out of clay. In both myth s, the action of the creating god caused the variation in man's physical characteristics. The Shilluk myth attempts to explain why man's body is designed as it is. Each part of the body is designed, according to this myth, to fulfill a purpose related to survival.

Past Paper

NSS MATHEMATICS IN ACTION HONG KONG DIPLOMA OF SECONDARY EDUCATION EXAMINATION MOCK PAPER MATHEMATICS Compulsory Part Paper 2 Time allowed: 1 hour 15 minutes 1. Read carefully the instructions on the Answer Sheet and insert the information required in the spaces provided. 2. There are 45 questions in this book. All questions carry equal marks. 3. Answer ALL Questions. You are advised to use an HB pencil to mark all the answers on the Answer Sheet. Wrong marks must be completely erased with a clean rubber. 4. You should mark only ONE answer for each question. If you mark more than one answer, you will receive NO MARKS for that question. . No marks will be deducted for wrong answers.  © Pearson Education Asia Limited NSS MIA 2012 Mock Paper (Compulsory Part) – Paper 2 There are 30 questions in Section A and 15 questions in Section B. The diagrams in this paper are not necessarily drawn to scale. Choose the best answer for each question. Section A 1. If n is an integer, then 33 n = 9 n ? 1 6. Which of the following statements about the equation 3( x ? 2) 2 ? 6 x ? 2 is true? A. It has distinct, rational real roots. B. It has distinct, irrational real roots. C. It has equal real roots. D. It has no real roots. 7. It is known that a polynomial g(x) is ivisible by 2x + 3. Which of the following must be a factor of g(4x – 3)? 2 n ? 1 A. B. C. D. 2. x 2 ? y 2 ? 2 xy ? 4 ? A. B. C. D. 3. A. B. C. D. 8. 1. 5. 8049. 8053. a = 3, b = ? 2 . a = 3, b = ? 3 . a = ? 2, b = ? 2 . a = ? 2, b = ? 3 . B. C. D. 9. Let p be a constant. Solve the equation ( x ? p )( x ? p ? 1) ? x ? p . A. B. C. D.  © Pearson Education Asia Limited NSS MIA 2012 Mock Paper (Compulsory Part) – Paper 2 –2– 1. 1 . 6 –1. –2. ? Peter sold a vase to Mary at a profit of 15 %. Later, Mary sold the vase to David for $ 6400 and gained $ 420. What was the cost price of the vase for Peter? A. B. C. D. x ? ?p x ? p ? 1 ? ? p or x ? p ? 1 x ? ? p or x ? p 2x ? 3 4x ? 3 8x ? 3 8x ? 9 If x is an integer satisfying 4x ? 1 , then the 2(1 ? x) ? 6 x and x ? ?2 greatest value of x is A. If 5a ? 2b ? a ? 4b ? 11 , then A. B. C. D. 5. ( x ? y ? 2)( x ? y ? 2) ( x ? y ? 2)( x ? y ? 2) ( x ? y ? 2)( x ? y ? 2) ( x ? y ? 2)( x ? y ? 2) If f ( x) ? x 2012 ? 2012 x ? 2012 , then 2 f (? 1) ? 3 = A. B. C. D. 4. ?1? . ?3? 3n ? 1 . 3n ? 2 . 35 n ? 2 . $ 5200 $ 5970 $ 6877 $ 7780 10. The scale of a map is 1: 250. If the area of a playground on the map is 20 cm2, what is the actual area of the playground? A. B. C. D. 11. 5000 cm2 125 m2 625 m2 5000 m2 A.B. C. D. Let an be the nth term of a sequence. If a1 ? ?2 , a2 ? 1 and a n ? 2 ? 4a n ? 1 ? a n for any positive integer n, then a5 = A. B. C. D. 14. The circumference of a circle is measured to be 10 cm, correct to the nearest 0. 5 cm. Which of the following is a possible area of the circle? 15. 86. 66. 46. 26. In the figure, CDE and BDF are straight lines. If DF = DE and AB // CE, find ?ABD. 12. It is given that s varies jointly as t2 and u. If t is increased by 15% and u is decreased by 20%, then s A. B. C. D. is decreased by 8 %. is decreased by 5. 8 %. is increased by 5. 8 %. is increased by 8 %. 13. If z ? y and y 2 ? 4. 2 cm2 8. 55 cm2 8. 14 cm2 7. 11 cm2 A. B. C. D. 76? 104? 116? 128? 16. In the figure, a = 1 , which of the x following is true? III. z2 ? y2 1 x? y 2 3xz is a non-zero constant. A. B. C. D. I and II only I and III only II and III only I, II and III I. II.  © Pearson Education Asia Limited NSS MIA 2012 Mock Paper (Compulsory Part) – Paper 2 A. B. C. D. –3– 40?. 45?. 50?. 55?. 17. In the figure, ABCD is a rhombus and FBC is a triangle. If FA = 2 cm and BC = 3 cm, find ED. 19. In the figure, a circular cone is cut into two parts A and B by a plane parallel to the base. 4 that of the 9 original cone, find the ratio of the olumes of A and B. If the base area of A is A. B. C. D. A. B. C. D. 1 cm 1. 2 cm 1. 5 cm 1. 8 cm 18. The figure shows a right pyramid with a square base and a slant edge of length 17 cm. If the total length of the edges of the pyramid is 132 cm, find the total surface area of the pyramid. 2:3 8 : 19 8 : 27 19 : 27 20. Through which of the following transformations, would figure A be transformed to figure B? I. Translation II. Rotation III. Reflection A. B. C. D. A. B. C. D. 544 cm2 608 cm2 736 cm2 800 cm2 II III I and III only II and III only 21. If the point P(7, –1) is rotated clockwise about the origin through 90? o Q, what is the distance between P and Q? A. B. C. D.  © Pearson Education Asia Limited NSS MIA 2012 Mock Paper (Compulsory Part) – Paper 2 –4– 5 units 72 units 10 units 128 units 22. If a > 0, b > 0 and c < 0, which of the following may represent the graph of the straight line ax ? by ? c ? 0 ? 23. In the figure, 2BC = 5AC. Find sin ? . A. 2 29 A. B. C. B. D. 24. 29 2 cos(180? ? ? ) 1 ? ? sin(180? ? ? ) tan(90? ? ? ) A. B. C. D. C. 2 5 5 2 tan 2 ? tan ? 1 †“1 25. In the figure, O is the centre of the circle ABCD. Find x. D. A. B. C. D. 36? 40? 42? 45? 26. What is the area of the circle x2 + y2 + 12x ? y + 9 = 0? A. B. C. D.  © Pearson Education Asia Limited NSS MIA 2012 Mock Paper (Compulsory Part) – Paper 2 –5– 9? 43? 52? 61? 27. Two fair dice are thrown once. What is the probability of getting a sum of 4 or 6? A. B. C. D. 1 6 2 9 5 9 5 36 30. The pie chart below shows the distribution of the nationalities of 60 students randomly selected from an international school. It is given that 9 of them are American. 28. The box-and-whisker diagram below shows the distribution of the heights (in cm) of 40 students in a class. Find the number of students whose heights are between 145 cm and 150 cm. A. B. C. D. 5 10 20 30If there are 840 students in the international school, estimate the number of Australian students in the school. A. 196 B. 208 C. 216 D. 224 Section B 31. 29. {a , a, a + d, a + 3d and a + 6d} is a grou p of numbers. Which of the following must be true? A. B. I. The mean of the group of numbers is a + 2d. II. The median of the group of numbers is a + d. III. The mode of the group of numbers is 2. A. B. C. D. C. D. I and II only I and III only II and III only I, II and III  © Pearson Education Asia Limited NSS MIA 2012 Mock Paper (Compulsory Part) – Paper 2 1? –6– ab b ? ? 2 a ? b b? a 2 1 a2 a2 ? b2 b2 a2 ? b2 a 2 ? 2ab ? b 2 a2 ? b2 32. Which of the following best represent the graph of y ? 2 log 3 x ? x 2 x ? 1 34. Solve 16 ? 2 ? A. A. B. C. D. B. 15 ? 0. 2 5 2 5 or –3 2 5 log 8 log 5 ? log 2 log 4 35. If a and k are real numbers and a ? 11i ? (2 ? 3i )(3 ? ki) , then A. B. C. D. C. D. NSS MIA 2012 Mock Paper (Compulsory Part) – Paper 2 ? ? 1 . ? 1. ? ? 1 . ? 1. 36. Find the maximum value of P = 1 – x – 4y subject to the following constraints. 1 ? x ? 3 2 ? y ? 4 ? ? ?2 y ? x ? 2 ? x ? 2 ? ?2 y ? 33. If ? and ? are the roots of the quadratic equation 4 x 2 ? 5 x ? 3 ? 0 , find the value 1 1 + . of 2? 2? 3 A. ? 5 2 B. ? 5 5 C. 8 5D. 6  © Pearson Education Asia Limited a ? 3, k a ? 3, k a ? 9, k a ? 9, k A. B. C. D. –7– 3 4 6 7 37. It is given that three positive numbers x, y and z are in geometric sequence. Which of the following must be true? I. x3, y3, z3 are in geometric sequence. II. 3x, 3y, 3z are in geometric sequence. III. log x2, log y2, log z2 are in arithmetic sequence. A. B. C. D. 40. The figure shows a circle with centre O. BC and BA are the tangents to the circle at C and D respectively. If ? BAC = 42? , find ? BOC. I and II only I and III only II and III only I, II and III 38. Find x in the figure, correct to the nearest integer. A. B.C. D. 66? 72? 84? 90? 41. The figure shows a triangular prism ABCDEF, where both ? ABF and ?DCE are right-angled isosceles A. B. C. D. 12 13 14 15 triangles. If AB = 10 and BC = 5, find the angle between the line AE and the plane ABCD, correct to the nearest degree. 39. Solve 1 + sin? cos ? = 3sin2? for 0? ? ? ? 360?. A. B. C. D. ? = 45? or 225? ? = 135? , 207? or 225? ? = 45? , 153? , 225? or 333? ? = 135? , 153? , 315? or 333?  © Pearson Education Asia Limited NSS MIA 2012 Mock Paper (Compulsory Part) – Paper 2 A. B. C. D. –8– 14? 17? 22? 45? 42. The figure shows a circle which is symmetrical about the y-axis. A(4, –1) nd B are two end points of a diameter of the circle. If the equation of the tangent to the circle at B is 4 x ? 3 y ? 31 ? 0 , find the coordinates of the centre of the circle. A. B. C. D. 3 (0, ) 2 (0, 2) 5 (0, ) 2 1 ( ? , 2) 2 44. A box contains 50 bulbs and 8 of them are defective. Two bulbs are drawn at random from the box without replacement. Given that at least one bulb drawn is defective, find the probability that exactly one bulb drawn is defective. 4 A. 13 3 B. 5 4 C. 5 12 D. 13 45. In a Chinese test, the standard scores of the marks obtained by John and Mary are †“1. 05 and 0. 8 respectively. Which of the following are true? I.II. III. 43. There are 2 different English books and 4 different Chinese books on a table. If all the books are put onto a shelf and the two books at the two ends must be of different languages, in how many ways can the books be arranged? A. B. C. D. A. B. C. D. 32 40 192 384  © Pearson Education Asia Limited NSS MIA 2012 Mock Paper (Compulsory Part) – Paper 2 Mary performs better than John in the test. Compared with John, the mark obtained by Mary is closer to the mean mark of the test. The mark obtained by John is below the 16th percentile of the marks in the test. I and II only I and III only II and III only I, II and III End of test –9–

Virginia During the Civil War

The Confederate States of America (CSA) was founded in February 1861. The actual Civil War began on April 12, 1861. Just five days later,  Virginia became the eighth state to secede from the Union.   The decision to secede was anything but unanimous and resulted in the formation of West Virginia on November 26, 1861. This new border state did not secede from the Union.  West Virginia is the sole state that was formed by seceding from a Confederate state. Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution provides that a new state cannot be formed within a state without that state’s consent. However, with Virginias secession this was not enforced. Virginia had the largest population in the South and its  storied history played an enormous role in the founding of the U.S. It was the  birthplace and home of Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.  In May 1861, Richmond, Virginia became the capital city of the CSA because it had the natural resources that Confederate government so badly needed to effectively wage a war against the Union.  Although the city of Richmond is situated only a mere 100 miles from the U.S. capital in Washington, D.C., it  was a large industrial city. Richmond was also the home to Tredegar Iron Works, one of the largest foundries in U.S. prior to the onset of the Civil War.  During the war, Tredegar produced over 1000 canons for the Confederacy as well as armor plating for warships.  In addition to this, Richmond’s industry produced a number of different war materials such as ammunition, guns and swords as well as supplied uniforms, tents and leather goods to the Confederat e Army. Battles in Virginia The majority of the battles in the Civil War’s Eastern Theater took place in Virginia, mainly due to the need to protect Richmond from being captured by Union forces. These battles include the Battle of Bull Run, which is also known as the First Manassas. This  was the first major battle of the Civil War fought on July 21, 1861 and also a major Confederate victory. On August 28, 1862, the Second Battle of Bull Run began. It lasted for three days with over a combined 100,000 soldiers on the battlefield.   This battle also ended with a Confederate victory. Hampton Roads, Virginia was also the site of the first naval battle between ironclad warships. The USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia fought to a draw in March 1862.  Other major land battles that occurred in Virginia include Shenandoah Valley, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. On April 3, 1865, the Confederate forces and government evacuated their capital at Richmond and troops were ordered to burn all of the industrial warehouses and businesses that would be of any value to Union forces. Tredegar Irons Works was one of a few businesses that survived the burning of Richmond, because its  owner had it protected through the use of armed guards.  The advancing Union Army began to quickly extinguish the fires, saving most of the residential areas from destruction. The business district didn’t fare as well with some estimating at least twenty-five percent of the businesses suffering a total loss.  Unlike General Sherman’s destruction of the South during his March to the Sea,  it was the Confederates themselves who destroyed the city of Richmond. On April 9, 1865, the Battle of Appomattox Court House proved to be the last significant battle of the Civil Was as well as the final battle for General Robert E. Lee. He would officially surrender there to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on  April 12, 1865.   The war in Virginia was finally over.