ANIMALES EN PELIGRO DE EXTINCIÓN

LAURA RIAL-MARIANA TOMÁS-GABRIELA VARELA

5 Animals Closest to Extinction

Throughout history, many species of animals have gradually disappeared from the Earth. Unfortunately, this process of extinction seems to be accelerating, as there are many endangered species today than ever before and experts give warning that their number is on the rise. Several man made factors are pushing animals towards extinction; climate change, hunting and poaching, loss of habitat, pollution and a changing environment are among the most common.

Here are some of the species closest to extinction, according to the list made public by the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Tigers

Believe it or not, this fearsome predator, revered by man for its power and beauty, is threatened with extinction. Apparently there are only about 3,200 tigers left in the entire world. Three subspecies are already extinct and the other 6 are all facing the same danger. Why? Poaching is one major factor and destruction of their habitat by deforestation is the other.

Polar Bears

If the climate continues to warm at the current rate, the polar bear, one of the most beloved species in the world, will soon face extinction. Although at present the population of polar bears is relatively stable, it will soon start decreasing if the trend of global warming is not reversed.

The Pacific Walrus

In the same boat (if only they had boats) as the Polar Bear, the melting of ice in the Arctic poses a threat to the habitat of this species and places it in danger of extinction.

Magellanic Penguin

Climate change is again the reason why this species is threatened to disappear. The migration of fish caused by warming currents makes it harder for them to find food and could result in the extinction of the magellanic penguin.

Leatherback Turtle

Although the species has survived for over 100 million years, these marine turtles, which live in the Pacific, are now on the brink of extinction. This is because, having to face numerous threats, many of their offspring won't be able to reach maturity.

Read more at http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-five-animals-closest-extinction#eUkjETCiTP4vJmc7.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356418,00.html

1- CONCEPTOS QUE PUEDEN APARECER  EN EL TEXTO:

EXTINCIÓN

CAUSAS

ESPECIE

ANIMALES EN PELIGRO DE EXTINCIÓN

2- PREDICCIÓN DE CONCEPTOS

EXTINCIÓN: desaparición,sin posibilidad de volver a verlo.

CAUSAS: motivos por los cuales estos animales se están extinguiendo.

–        Cambio climático: el cambio en la temperatura en diferentes zonas.

Aumento del agujero de la capa de ozono.

 Deshielo  de los polos.

Caza indiscriminada.

ESPECIES: grupo de individuos que comparten características comunes, por ejemplo el Homo sapiens.

ANIMALES EN PELIGRO DE EXTINCIÓN: Oso polar, tortuga, tigre de bengala, corales.

3. LO QUE DICE EL AUTOR...

CAUSAS:

-Cambio climático

-Caza

-Caza furtiva

-La pérdida de habitat

-Contaminación

-Medio Ambiente cambiante

ANIMALES EN PELIGRO DE EXTINCIÓN:

-Tigre

-Oso polar

-Tortugas Marinas

-Pinguino magallanes

-La Morsa del Pacífico

Los términos especie y extinción no han sido desarrollados por el autor.

4. A BUSCAR LAS SIGUIENTES PALABRAS EN LA SOPA DE LETRAS…

Pingüino, Morsa, Oso, Polar, Extinción, Especie, Tigre, Cambio, Climático, Caza

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CLIMATE CAUSES

 Analìa Guerrero - Cecilia Cela - Florencia Deluca
1. Texto:

A blanket around the Earth

	A layer of greenhouse gases – primarily water vapor, and including much smaller amounts of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – act as a thermal blanket for the Earth, absorbing heat and warming the surface to a life-supporting average of 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius).

Most climate scientists agree the main cause of the current global warming trend is human expansion of the "greenhouse effect"¹ -- warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space.
Certain gases in the atmosphere block heat from escaping. Long-lived gases, remaining semi-permanently in the atmosphere, which do not respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature are described as "forcing" climate change whereas gases, such as water, which respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature are seen as "feedbacks."
Gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect include:

• Water vapor. The most abundant greenhouse gas, but importantly, it acts as a feedback to the climate. Water vapor increases as the Earth's atmosphere warms, but so does the possibility of clouds and precipitation, making these some of the most important feedback mechanisms to the greenhouse effect.

• Carbon dioxide (CO₂). A minor but very important component of the atmosphere, carbon dioxide is released through natural processes such as respiration and volcano eruptions and through human activities such as deforestation, land use changes, and burning fossil fuels. Humans have increased atmospheric CO₂ concentration by a third since the Industrial Revolution began. This is the most important long-lived "forcing" of climate change.

• Methane. A hydrocarbon gas produced both through natural sources and human activities, including the decomposition of wastes in landfills, agriculture, and especially rice cultivation, as well as ruminant digestion and manure management associated with domestic livestock. On a molecule-for-molecule basis, methane is a far more active greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but also one which is much less abundant in the atmosphere.

• Nitrous oxide. A powerful greenhouse gas produced by soil cultivation practices, especially the use of commercial and organic fertilizers, fossil fuel combustion, nitric acid production, and biomass burning.

• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Synthetic compounds of entirely of industrial origin used in a number of applications, but now largely regulated in production and release to the atmosphere by international agreement for their ability to contribute to destruction of the ozone layer. They are also greenhouse gases .

	Not enough greenhouse effect: The planet Mars has a very thin atmosphere, nearly all carbon dioxide. Because of the low atmospheric pressure, and with little to no methane or water vapor to reinforce the weak greenhouse effect, Mars has a largely frozen surface that shows no evidence of life.
	Too much greenhouse effect: The atmosphere of Venus, like Mars, is nearly all carbon dioxide. But Venus has about 300 times as much carbon dioxide in its atmosphere as Earth and Mars do, producing a runaway greenhouse effect and a surface temperature hot enough to melt lead.

On Earth, human activities are changing the natural greenhouse. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂). This happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon with oxygen in the air to make CO₂. To a lesser extent, the clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities have increased concentrations of greenhouse gases.
The consequences of changing the natural atmospheric greenhouse are difficult to predict, but certain effects seem likely:

• On average, Earth will become warmer. Some regions may welcome warmer temperatures, but others may not.

• Warmer conditions will probably lead to more evaporation and precipitation overall, but individual regions will vary, some becoming wetter and others dryer.

• A stronger greenhouse effect will warm the oceans and partially melt glaciers and other ice, increasing sea level. Ocean water also will expand if it warms, contributing further to sea level rise.

• Meanwhile, some crops and other plants may respond favorably to increased atmospheric CO₂, growing more vigorously and using water more efficiently. At the same time, higher temperatures and shifting climate patterns may change the areas where crops grow best and affect the makeup of natural plant communities.

The role of human activity

In its recently released Fourth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of 1,300 independent scientific experts from countries all over the world under the auspices of the United Nations, concluded there's a more than 90 percent probability that human activities over the past 250 years have warmed our planet.
The industrial activities that our modern civilization depends upon have raised atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from 280 parts per million to 379 parts per million in the last 150 years. The panel also concluded there's a better than 90 percent probability that human-produced greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have caused much of the observed increase in Earth's temperatures over the past 50 years.
They said the rate of increase in global warming due to these gases is very likely to be unprecedented within the past 10,000 years or more. The panel's full Summary for Policymakers report is online at http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf.

Solar irradiance

It's reasonable to assume that changes in the sun's energy output would cause the climate to change, since the sun is the fundamental source of energy that drives our climate system.
Indeed, studies show that solar variability has played a role in past climate changes. For example, a decrease in solar activity is thought to have triggered the Little Ice Age between approximately 1650 and 1850, when Greenland was largely cut off by ice from 1410 to the 1720s and glaciers advanced in the Alps.
But several lines of evidence show that current global warming cannot be explained by changes in energy from the sun:

• Since 1750, the average amount of energy coming from the Sun either remained constant or increased slightly.

• If the warming were caused by a more active sun, then scientists would expect to see warmer temperatures in all layers of the atmosphere. Instead, they have observed a cooling in the upper atmosphere, and a warming at the surface and in the lower parts of the atmosphere. That's because greenhouse gasses are trapping heat in the lower atmosphere.

• Climate models that include solar irradiance changes can’t reproduce the observed temperature trend over the past century or more without including a rise in greenhouse gases.

2. Conceptos que pensamos que va a manejar el escritor:
- Zonas de insolación, entendiendo por el mismo a la forma que inciden los rayos solares en la tierra teniendo en cuenta la forma, la inclinación y los movimientos  de la misma.
- Factores del clima influyen sobre las diferentes zonas modificandolas. Estos son: corrientes de agua que pueden ser frías y cálidas, altitud con respecto al nivel del mar, etc.
- Elementos del tiempo atmosférico, son los que determinan el estado del tiempo en un momento y lugar determinado. Estos son: precipitaciones, vientos, temperatura, presión atmosférica.
- Cambios climáticos, considerando a los mismos como transformaciones que se dan en el clima debido a la acción del hombre como puede ser : contaminación, deterioro de la atmósfera (agujero en la capa de ozono, efecto invernadero).

4. Nosotras consideramos que se podía tratar en el mismo todas las causas que repercuten en el clima, desde lo natural: sus elementos y factores hasta lo provocado por el hombre: la contaminación que genera fallas en el efecto invernadero natural además del agujero en la capa de ozono.
En este texto en particular se trata solamente la influencia que ejerce el hombre en el clima, haciendo principal hincapié en el efecto invernadero.
A nosotras nos aportó conocimientos acerca de que existe un efecto invernadero natural que el hombre se ha encargado de transformar negativamente.

5.

Referencias: 1) Fenómeno producido por la ruptura de la capa de ozono y el aumento del efecto invernadero. ____________ global. 2) Capa gaseosa de la Tierra afectada por la acción humana. 3) En la tierra, las actividades ________ ___son las que están cambiando el efecto invernadero. 4) Los ___________ que contribuyen en el efecto invernadero son: vapor de agua, metano, dióxido de carbono, entere otrosl 5) La principal consecuencia del calentamiento global se ve plasmado en el aumento de la ___________. 6) Actividad humana que ha elevado los niveles de dióxido de carbono en la atmósfera

SWIMMING SPORT

Clara López - Francisca de Cabrera

SWIMMING SPORT

Swimming is a sport consisting of the displacement of a person in the water, without touching the ground. It is regulated by the International Swimming Federation. Offers a number of physiological benefits and also provides many positive effects on the mental health of its practitioners.

What are the advantages of swimming?

There are many well documented physical and psychological benefits associated with exercises and physical activity. Swimming causes an increase in your heart rate making you fitter. It exercises both your upper and lower body improving strength. You tone up your legs and arms and heart rate becomes better equipped for events such as running. Another advantage of swimming is that it has low impact on the body unlike running, or other forms of exercises on land, thus reducing physical stress on the body. That is why swimming lends itself so well to people with physical disability or injury, making the movements possible that would otherwise be difficult or impossible on land.

What do you need for swimming?

You need very little. Proper attire: speedo or swimming trunks, and a towel. If you have sensitive ears and/or eyes you can get ear plugs and/or swimming goggles. If you have long hair you may want to tie it or ware a swimming cap.

What are various swimming techniques?

Butterfly Stroke: it is the toughest and the most exhausting swimming stroke, encompassing windmill like arm movements and dolphin kick. While performing this stroke competitively, the swimmer should avoid underwater swimming.

Backstroke: One advantage of this style lie in the ease of breathing since the nose and mouth remain out of the water. The head is carried by the water, making the muscles of the spine and neck more relaxed. The movements are similar to the crawl. The legs are stretched out, feet move up and down and the arms are moved in similar manner to crawl. The head should not be lifted on the chest, because of the strongly increased stress on the cervical spine.

Breast Stroke: this is one among the different swimming strokes that involves arm movements on the front side, from your head to shoulder level. It is the frog kick that can be associated with this stroke. The swimmer should keep his/her head above the water surface, while carrying out this swim stroke.

Crawl: flutter kick and alternating over arm movements are the features that characterize crawl-swimming stroke. While doing crawling, the swimmer has to keep his head in the water, alternating the face side.

Dog paddle: it is one of the simplest swimming strokes, making use of modified flutter kick. In dog paddling, your forward motion takes place with your arms underwater. Usually it is the first swimming technique learned by new swimmers.

Can an adult learn to swim if they never learned as a child?

Absolutely yes; swimming can be learned at any age. Adults can however have a tougher time as we are more in tune with our muscles and how our bodies move and function. Water is a non gravitational environment so we are more likely to become tenser which can affect our ability to swim competently. The more time you spend in the water the more your body will get used to the new environment and the faster you will learn.

How does a pools temperature affect someone’s swimming ability?

If the water is too cold it can cause muscles to tighten making it difficult to swim. On the other hand if the water is too hot it cause muscles to overheat get tired.

What are recommended maximum pool water temperatures?

Competitive swimming & diving; Fitness swimming, Training: 27 deg C

Recreational, Adult teaching; Conventional main pools: 28 deg C

Children’s teaching; Leisure pools: 29 deg C

Babies; Young children; Special Needs: 30 deg C

KNOW	WANT TO KNOW	LEARNED	HOW TO LEARN MORE
- Es uno de los deportes más completos que genera grandes beneficios para la salud física y mental. - Se practican 4 estilos: crol, espalda, pecho y mariposa. - El estilo mariposa es el más complejo de realizar y el que requiere mayor entrenamiento físico. - Se puede entrenar para competir o realizar como actividad recreativa.	- ¿Por qué la natación tiene efectos tan positivos para la salud? - ¿Cuáles son los beneficios que produce? - ¿Es cierto que es más difícil aprender a nadar de adulto que de niño? ¿Qué entrenamientos se pueden realizar una vez que ya sabemos practicar todos los estilos?	- La natación tonifica piernas y brazos facilitando la realización de otros ejercicios de fuerza o resistencia. - Tiene menor impacto sobre el cuerpo, generando menor estrés físico. Por ello es beneficiosa para personas con lesiones o discapacidad. - Como primera técnica de nado, se considera un 5º estilo: “perrito”. - Si bien un adulto puede presentar dificultad para aprender a nadar por tener mecanizado el uso de los músculos, puede lograrlo con éxito. No hay edad para este deporte. - La temperatura del agua influye considerablemente en la habilidad del nadador.	- Recurriendo a otros lugares de búsqueda que amplíen información con respecto a posibles entrenamientos según las edades y la capacidad física. - Observando videos que muestren técnicas para la realización de estilos. - Buscando artículos que refieran específicamente a los beneficios físicos y terapéuticos de este deporte.

Connectivismo

                        Laura Rial, Gabriela Varela, Mariana Tomás

Text 1

Connectivism was introduced as a theory of learning based on the premise that knowledge exists in the world rather than in the head of an individual. Connectivism proposes a perspective similar to the Activity

theory of Vygotsky as it regards knowledge to exist within systems which are accessed through people participating in activities. It also bears some similarity with the Social Learning Theory of Bandura that proposes that people learn through contact. The add-on "a learning theory for the digital age", that appears on Siemens paper  indicates the special importance that is given to the effect technology has on how people live, how they communicate, and how they learn.

 

                                                                           Aspects

One aspect of connectivism is the use of a network with nodes and connections as a central metaphor for learning.  In this metaphor, a node is anything that can be connected to another node within a network such as an organisation: information, data, feelings, images. Connectivism sees learning as the process of creating connections and developing a network. Not all connections are of equal strength in this metaphor; in fact, many connections may be quite weak. The idea of organisations being cognitive systems where knowledge is distributed across a network of nodes can be traced back to the work on the Perceptron. This metaphor is directly borrowed from Connectionism, "a paradigm in cognitive sciences that sees mental or behavioral phenomena as the emergent processes of interconnected networks of simple units" (reproduced from Connectionism).

This network metaphor allows for a notion of "know-where" (the understanding of where to find the knowledge when it is needed) to supplement to the ones of "know-how" and "know-what" that make the cornerstones of many theories of learning. 

Principles of connectivism

§  Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions.

§  Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources.

§  Learning may reside in non-human appliances.

§  Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known

§  Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.

§  Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.

§  Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.

§  Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

Text 2:

Description of Connectivism

---

Connectivism is a learning theory for the digital age. Learning has changed over the last several decades. The theories of behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism provide an effect view of learning in many environments. They fall short, however, when learning moves into informal, networked, technology-enabled arena. Some principles of connectivism:

§  The integration of cognition and emotions in meaning-making is important. Thinking and emotions influence each other. A theory of learning that only considers one dimension excludes a large part of how learning happens.

§  Learning has an end goal - namely the increased ability to "do something". This increased competence might be in a practical sense (i.e. developing the ability to use a new software tool or learning how to skate) or in the ability to function more effectively in a knowledge era (self-awareness, personal information management, etc.). The "whole of learning" is not only gaining skill and understanding - actuation is a needed element. Principles of motivation and rapid decision making often determine whether or not a learner will actuate known principles.

§  Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources. A learner can exponentially improve their own learning by plugging into an existing network.

§  Learning may reside in non-human appliances. Learning (in the sense that something is known, but not necessarily actuated) can rest in a community, a network, or a database.

§  The capacity to know more is more critical that what is currently known. Knowing where to find information is more important than knowing information.

§  Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate learning. Connection making provides far greater returns on effort than simply seeking to understand a single concept.

§  Learning and knowledge rest in diversity of opinions.

§  Learning happens in many different ways. Courses, email, communities, conversations, web search, email lists, reading blogs, etc. Courses are not the primary conduit for learning.

§  Different approaches and personal skills are needed to learn effectively in today's society. For example, the ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.

§  Organizational and personal learning are integrated tasks. Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network and continue to provide learning for the individual. Connectivism attempts to provide an understanding of how both learners and organizations learn.

§  Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning.

§  Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate impacting the decision.

§  Learning is a knowledge creation process...not only knowledge consumption. Learning tools and design methodologies should seek to capitalize on this trait of learning.

What is it? 

Text 1 - Teoría del aprendizaje basada en que el conocimiento existe en el mundo en lugar de la cabeza del individuo. 

Text 2 - Es una teoría del aprendizaje para la era digital. Las teorías del conductismo, cognitivismo, constructivismo y ofrecer una visión de efecto de aprendizaje en muchos entornos.

How is it different from others?

Text 1 - Es diferente a la teoría de Ausubel quien considera que el niño tiene conocimientos anteriores

Which are its principles?

Text 1 - 

El aprendizaje y conocimiento se basa en la diversidad de opiniones.
El aprendizaje puede residir en dispositivos no humanos.

La capacidad de saber más es más importante de lo que se sabe.

Capacidad para ver conexiones entre los campos, ideas y conceptos es una habilidad básica.

La toma de decisiones es en si misma un proceso de aprendizaje. 

Text 2 - 

La integración de la cognición y las emociones en el significado de decisiones es importante. El pensamiento y las emociones influyen entre sí.

El aprendizaje tiene un objetivo final - a saber, el aumento de la capacidad de "hacer algo".

El "conjunto de aprendizaje" no es sólo la habilidad ganando y la comprensión - de actuación es un elemento necesario.

El aprendizaje es un proceso de conexión de nodos especializados o fuentes de información. Un alumno puede mejorar exponencialmente su propio aprendizaje al conectarse a una red existente