A Seperate Peace :: essays research papers

Devon is a safe haven away from the rest of the world. A war is going on, but at Devon the boys are playing around a river and creating new games like blitzball and not worrying about the problems boys only a few years older than them are facing. Devon is at peace, separate from the fighting and loss many people in the world are facing while Finny, Gene, and other boys are forming a special club just for their group of friends. At Devon the boys know about the war and even have people coming to get them to enlist, but still the war does not hit home. They are still at peace and do not see the reality of the war. What they see are mostly videos brought to them to encourage them to enlist, and those do not come close to showing then the true terror of war. At the beginning of the novel, the boys have not yet been drafted like those a few years ahead of their class. They have not trained for war, and most do not see it as much of a threat. A few boys are ready to enlist, and some do not even consider it. Phineas says he does not even believe there is a war at all, and he partly convinces Gene of this idea as well. The war doesn’t hit any of them until Leper, the first to enlist, goes to war and comes back a complete mess. Although not children, they are not quite adults, and they share a rare time of carefree play that is completely isolated from the war. These young boys are separate from the reality of the world while they continue their studies just as they had always done, with the only difference being an extra school session in the summer. They have no concept of the danger many people are facing. At such a young age, the war seems so distant and unreal, maybe even fake. According to Witherington, "War is only make-believe on the fields and rivers of Devon.

Developmental Profile †Cognitive

The classroom is the venue with which a child learns how to use his/her cognitive abilities for greater understanding and mastery of educational skills like reading, problem solving, critical thinking and hypothesis testing. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development shows that each person undergoes cognitive milestones which have to be attained by a child before he/she can go into the next stage. Each stage is composed of cognitive skills that have to do with the cognitive processing of information (Atherton, 2005).For example, in the early stages a child first knows that he/she is separate from other people. Next, he/she is able to use language and can identify objects and what they represent. The school age child normally is able to think logically; makes use of number, mass and weight conservation and classify objects in terms of various characteristics. The last stage is when the child can think abstractly and test hypothesis as well as be concerned with ideological thinkin g and problems (Atherton, 2005).The classroom offers different activities that promote the learning of this cognitive sills, as well as delivering information and knowledge in ways that are cognitively appropriate for their age. This developmental profile report shows how the teacher supports the cognitive development of her students through the instructional approaches he/she uses in the classroom. Ms. Lisa is a 4th grade teacher, she is well aware that children are still in the concrete stage and that they are more able to understand the lessons if it is presented using concrete examples and models that the children could touch and feel or observe.For today’s lesson, Miss Lisa is introducing the concept of classifications; she has Amber, Stacy and Luis to help her in the lesson presentation. Ms. Lisa presents the 3 children with colored balls and in different shapes, She firsts asks Amber to describe what she sees and then to arrange the balls in size. Amber seems to smile because she knows that her task is very simple, she first places the golf ball in the line, followed by the baseball, then the volleyball and the basketball. Ms.Lisa check Amber’s work and is satisfied, she then asks the class why the balls are correctly lined up. Now Ms. Lisa tells Stacy to arrange the balls by color, Stacy claps gleefully as she proceeds to arrange the balls with the golf, baseball and volleyball on one side and the basketball on the other side. Stacy seeks the approval of her teacher as she asks whether her answer is correct. Ms. Lisa tells her it is correct and she smiles even more. Finally, Ms. Lisa tells Luis to arrange the balls in shape.The class fell silent and Luis scratched his head and made inquisitive looks to his teacher. He approached the balls not really sure of what to do since all the balls looked the same. Then Ms. Lisa encouraged him to go and try out his answer so he would know if it was right or not. In an instant, Luis eyes brightened a nd became rounder, he then went to the balls more confident and then went on to lump the balls in one pile. He smiled and said â€Å"that’s it, they are all round, and they are balls†. Ms. Lisa smiles and tells the class that Luis is right. The process that Ms.Lisa used to demonstrate classification of different characteristics using the same objects showed that the children have achieved the ability to classify objects, in the process the teacher have contributed to the self-esteem and confidence of the student in working with her class demonstration. Amber definitely knows she has the right answer and Ms. Lisa did not have to encourage her, on the other hand Stacy was unsure but tried her best, and Ms. Lisa affirmed her answer. Ms. Lisa however spent more time with Luis since he had difficulty with the task, but in a moment of insightful thinking, he was able to give the correct answer. Reference Atherton, J. (2005).   Learning and Teaching:   Piaget's developmental theory. Retrieved November 12, 2007, from http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm   

How To Make a Ketchup Packet Cartesian Diver

How To Make a Ketchup Packet Cartesian Diver Place a ketchup packet in a bottle of water and make it rise and fall at your command, as if by magic. Of course, the magic involves some basic science. Heres how to do the diving ketchup trick and how it works. Diving Ketchup Magic Trick Materials Plastic bottleKetchup packet from a fast food restaurantWater Perform the Diving Ketchup Magic Trick Drop the ketchup packet into the bottle.Seal the lid of the bottle.Fill the bottle with water. The ketchup packet should float somewhere in the middle of the bottle. If it sinks, either try using a different packet (the size of the air bubble inside the ketchup packet varies slightly) or else dump out the water and ketchup, bend the packet slightly so that it can hold an air bubble when you fill the bottle again, and refill the bottle. My packet was heavy, so I trapped an air bubble on the packet and tapped the bottle with a fingernail until I knocked off just enough air bubbles to get the packet to sit in the middle of the bottle.Squeeze the bottle to cause the ketchup packet to sink.Relax your grip on the bottle to cause the packet to float. With a little practice, you can make it appear that you arent squeezing the bottle. If you are performing this demonstration as a magic trick you can say you are using the power of your mind to move the ketchup. Pretend to be concentrating very hard, using your incredible powers of telekinesis. How the Diving Ketchup Magic Trick Works An air bubble is trapped inside a ketchup packet when it is sealed at the factory. If the bubble is big enough, it makes the packet float in water. When you squeeze the bottle, the water wont compress but the air bubble inside the ketchup packet is squeezed and becomes smaller. The size of the packet is reduced, but its mass remains unchanged. Density is mass per volume, so squeezing the bottle increases the density of the ketchup packet. When the density of the packet is more than the density of the water the packet will sink. When you release the pressure on the bottle the air bubble expands and the ketchup packet rises.