Archive for June, 2009

Final Evaluation

{ June 11, 2009 @ 6:27 am } · { Learning Style }
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Over two months ago, we took a quiz that showed us what our ‘preferred’ learning style is based on our answers. I discovered that my learning style was ‘Reading.’ From then on, I started finding study habits that are considered most compatible with people whose learning style is Reading. Helpful study habits include reading the study materials over and over again (repetition helps the brain remembers easier), simply reading your text book (works great if you actually pay attention to what you read), and making note cards that you can read from (necessary if you’re quite forgetful).  I found that I have been using those study habits all along, especially this school year. Through more research, I learned more about the way I work and what my interests are. Now that I know what works and what doesn’t work for me, I have a head start for next school year. Studying should be easier for me next year, considering all the challenging classes that next year will offer. I will try working on developing and expanding the other three learning styles: Visual, Aural, and Kinestheic because I believe that will come in handy in the future.

And The Final Verdict is…

{ June 11, 2009 @ 6:01 am } · { Human Cloning }
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we find the defendant: human cloning guilty as charged on accounts of human rights violation,  danger to society, and so forth.

Based on the cons that I have researched during the past six to seven weeks, I’ve decided to be against human cloning. Human cloning will only end up hurting us more than help us. It will take away our uniqueness and identity, our limited resources, and perhaps even our future. In my previous post, I found out that human cloning would lead to a population boom which will end up taking away our resources that could lead to the destruction of the human race. We would not have enough supplies like food, water, etc. to keep the world from starvation or deaths. However, back to the main point, human cloning creates duplicates of human which ends up taking away the uniqueness of our DNA. So since there would be another person living with our DNA, it will be impossible to figure out who actually committed the crime: the human or the clone? Furthermore, clones can become smarter and stronger, creating a high chance that they may take over the world and vanquish the human race.  So why should we give science a chance to hurt us? Why should we give other humans (scientists) the power to create another dangerous race?

Although, scientists have argued that these clones may be able to save the lives of human beings who are in need of organs. However, killing a clone for the benefits of a human is just as wrong as human cloning. I suggest that scientitsts should find a way to produce cloned organs that are a perfect match to the human being instead of producing a clone.

Links:

Based on the research done in previous blogs.

What Works, What Doesn’t

{ June 9, 2009 @ 7:50 am } · { Learning Style }
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This is based on what works and what doesn’t work for me.

Studying Sessions
+ Studying individually allows you to learn the materials easier because it’s more quiet. You get to study at your own pace and you won’t need to be overwhelmed by other people’s questions.
- Studying in groups usually results in messing around and not getting things done. Although, studying in groups can be beneficial because other people can help you out. But, as for me, I prefer independent study over group study.

Relaxation Activities
+ Taking a day off allows the brain to relax from a stressful school week. This gives the brain a chance to recuperate and you will do better the next day. Taking time off to go play a sport can take your mind off all the things that have been bothering you or stressing you out.
- Forcing your brain to study and learn when you’re tired or frustrated will only cause your brain to repel the information. You won’t get anything down and it will be a waste of time.

The Environment
+ The places where you study are key to what you will get out of studying. A quiet place that will not distract is the best place to study because you can get your work done and no one will bother you. An advice from a website stated that you should change up the places where you study, so you won’t feel tired of being in one spot all the time.
- Studying at home with your younger siblings screaming and running around will not help you study. In fact, you would get really distracted and nothing will stick in your brain. It will simply be a waste of efforts in the end.

Study Drinks
+ Tea is a great remedy when you’re under stress or studying. Studies show that tea contains less caffeine and is actually healthy for you. So while you’re studying hard, you could also be energizing your body and mind at the same time. You can also drink hot chocolate when you’re studying during the winter. Hot chocolate helps you stay warm and keep your taste buds happy. Of course, you could never go wrong with water either.
- Students often choose to drink coffee while they’re studying because all the college students do it. But the truth is coffee hurts more than it helps. Coffee contains plenty of caffeine which could either make you too hyper or make you fall asleep faster. It varies for different people; nonetheless, coffee has a higher chance of making it harder for you to study well. Energy drinks are said to be ‘harmful’ in a manner of having too much caffeine which could cause problems like anxiety or loss of sleep.

Sleep, Sleep, Sleep
+ The recommended hours of sleep a teenager should get each night is about 8 1/2 hours to 9 1/2 at least. This allows your body time to rejuvenate for the next morning. Without sleep, you will have a hard time functioning the next day and that will greatly affect your learning and studies.
- Staying up till 1:00 am to watch your favorite TV shows is not the way to go on a school night. You’ll wake up with the feeling of not wanting to wake up, which is not very pleasant. Moreover, staying up late to study for a test that’s tomorrow is a horrible idea. You will forget more than you will learn. Instead of using that time to study, go to sleep and you’ll do better on the test.

Links:

http://studyingmethods.com/tips.php

http://www.soundfeelings.com/free/studying.htm

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/fitness/articles/2007/01/29/are_energy_drinks_bad_for_you/

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/Sleep/

Population Alert!

{ June 7, 2009 @ 6:31 am } · { Human Cloning }
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As of May 2009, the world population had reached about 6,783,421,727 people and is still growing every second since. Now imagine if human cloning has been legalized and every person on Earth has a clone, then the population will change to more than 13,566,843,454. Scientists and researchers have predicted that Earth does not have enough resources or space to house our current growing population by the year 2050. This is because pollution will have increase since more people will use cars that is powered by gas which will destroy the ozone layer. Nonetheless, our supply of oil is also becoming scarce and with more car usage, the supply will disappear even faster. With cloning, our nonrenewable resources will soon disappear through overuse. The problem is can we come up with new resources to replace those nonrenewable supply? Can we keep up with the demand?

The world has been to trying to control pollution and waste. But if our population were to increase within a short amount of time because of cloning, then all efforts will go in vain. So unless we find a way to house 13,566,843,454 people on our Earth and a way to create more resources that are efficient and economical, cloning should not become effective yet.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population

http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/greatc.html#birdatrate

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/jul/07/research.waste

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090418075752.htm

A Man-Made Miracle

{ June 6, 2009 @ 8:10 pm } · { Human Cloning }
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Dolly was the first, female sheep to be created through the cloning of a somatic cell by Scottish scientists at Roslin Institute. She was born on July 5th, 1996 and died on February 14th, 2003. However, Dolly is not an exact copy of the original sheep that she was cloned from. The method that was used to clone Dolly is different from the idea of human cloning. Human cloning is creating an exact copy of the human being cloned which brings a whole new meaning to the word twins. On the other hand, Dolly experienced nuclear transfer technology which means Dolly only shares the nuclear DNA of the original sheep with variations in its genes. The creation of Dolly was a remarkable scientific phenomenon because she was formed through an egg that had its DNA removed and then was reconstructed by scientists. Evidence that proved that Dolly was a success include the fact that Dolly was a healthy, normal sheep and she even had six lambs by reproducing the classic way. Despite of that, she was put to death through lethal injection because she was suffering from lung cancer and a really bad case of arthritis at age six.

Other animals have been cloned through nuclear transfer technology throughout the world. Nonetheless, not all cases of animal cloning have been successful and resulted in some animals ending up with strange mutations or illnesses. This is one of the many reasons why human cloning should not be legalized or attempted yet.

Links:

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_(sheep)

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