Use Fake Facts on Explorers to Teach Internet Research

If you Google the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, one of the top results youll get is a web page from the website  All About Explorers  that states: In 1519, at the age of only 27, he was supported by  several wealthy businessmen, including Marco Polo, Bill Gates, and Sam Walton, to finance an expedition to the Spice  Islands. While some facts in this information are accurate -namely the year of Magellans expedition to the Spice Islands- there are others that might set off alarms. Educators would know that Microsofts Bill Gates or Wal-Marts Sam Walton would not be around for another 500 years, but would students? There is recent research that suggests that many students in our middle schools, high schools, or  college would not question the information given about the life of this 15th Century explorer. After all, this website  looks  like a credible source! That is exactly the problem that the  Stanford History Education Group  (SHEG) discovered in a report titled  Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning. This report released November 2016 tracked the research skills of students in middle, high school or college using a series of prompts. The study prototyped, field tested, and validated a bank of assessments that tap civic online reasoning. (see 6 Ways to Help Students Spot Fake News) The results of SHEGs study indicated that many students are  not prepared to distinguish accurate from inaccurate accounts  or  decide when a statement is relevant or irrelevant to a given point. SHEG suggested that  when it comes to evaluating information that flows through social media channels, they are easily duped  pronouncing  our  nations  students ability to research in one word: bleak.   But that  AllAboutExplorers website  is one bogus website that  should not be shut down. Use The AllAboutExplorers Website  for Internet Research Practice Yes, there is plenty of misinformation on site. For example, on the webpage dedicated to Juan Ponce de Leon, there is the reference to  an  American multinational cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company that was founded in 1932:   In 1513 he was hired by Revlon, a cosmetic company, to search for the Fountain of Youth (a body of water that would enable you to look young forever). In truth, the  misinformation on the  AllAboutExplorers  website is intentional, and all of the misinformation on the site was created to serve  an important educational purpose-to better prepare students in intermediate and middle schools to understand how to research accurately and completely using evidence that is valid, timely, and relevant. The about page  on the site states: AllAboutExplorers  was developed by a group of teachers as a means of teaching students about the Internet. Although the Internet can be a tremendous resource for gathering information about a topic, we found that students often did not have the skills to discern useful information from worthless  data. The AllAboutExplorers  site was created in 2006 by educator Gerald Aungst,(  Supervisor of Gifted and Elementary Mathematics in the Cheltenham School District in Elkins Park, PA) and Lauren Zucker,(Library Media Specialist in Centennial School District). Their collaboration 10 years earlier confirms what the SHEG research has recently concluded, that most students cannot tell  good information from bad. Aungst and Zucker explain on the website that they created  AllAboutExplorers in order to develop a series of lessons for students in which we would demonstrate that just because it is out there for the searching does not mean it is  worthwhile. These educators wanted to make a point  about  finding useless information on a site that was designed to look believable. They note that  all of the Explorer biographies here are fictional and that they purposefully mixed facts with  inaccuracies, lies, and even downright absurdities. Some of the absurdities that have been mixed with facts on famous explorers on this website include: Lewis Clark:...in 1795, they became the charter subscribers to the National Geographic Magazine. Both were so mesmerized by the stunning color photographs in the glossy publication that they determined–completely separately–to become world-famous  explorers. It wasn’t until 1803, when Thomas Jefferson saw an intriguingly brief posting by Napoleon Bonaparte on Craig’s List for a large tract of  land:  For Sale:  Louisiane, a tract of land in the middle of the North America. Acreage unknown. Contains the fourth longest river in the world. â‚ ¬60,000,000 OBO, local shipping included. Serious inquiries  only.Christopher Columbus: He  knew he had to make this idea of sailing, using a western route, more popular. So,  he produced and appeared on infomercials  which aired four times daily. Finally,  the King and Queen of Spain called his toll-free number  and agreed to help  Columbus. The authors have provided readers the cautions not to  use this site as a source of reference for research. There is even a satiric  update on the site that mentions a lawsuit settlement on a  (fake) claim that the information unfairly caused failing grades for students who used the information via the website.   The authors can be followed on  Twitter: aaexplorers.  Their website confirms SHEG reports that states there  are scores of websites pretending to be something they are not. In addition to the elaborate hoaxes on explorers there are more serious and credible  lesson plans designed to introduce students to the skills and concepts of good Internet researching: Just Because Its Out There Doesnt Mean Its GoodSo How Do You Find the Good Stuff?Google, What?Where Exactly Am I?How Could They Be So Wrong? Research Standards for Social Studies Research is not exclusive to any discipline, but the  National Council for the Social Studies has outlined specific standards for research in their  College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History   There is the standard:  Dimension 4, Communicating Conclusions  for grades 5-12,   the intermediate and  middle school grades levels (5-9) that could benefit from the lessons on the  AllAboutExplorers: D4.2.3-5. Construct explanations using reasoning, correct sequence, examples, and details with relevant information and data.D4.2.6-8. Construct explanations using reasoning, correct sequence, examples, and details with relevant information and data, while acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of the explanations.D4.1.9-12. Construct arguments using precise and knowledgeable claims, with evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging counterclaims and evidentiary weaknesses.   The European explorers are generally studied in grades 5 as part of American Colonial History; in grade 6 7 as part of European exploration of Latin and Central America; and in grades 9 or 10 in the study of colonialism in global studies classes.   The website AllAboutExplorers provides educators an opportunity  to help students  learn how to negotiate the Internet in research. Teaching students to better explore the web can be improved by introducing students to this website on famous explorers.

What Is a Constitutionally Limited Government

In a â€Å"limited government,† the power of the government to intervene in the lives and activities of the people is limited by constitutional law. While some people argue that it is not limited enough, the United States government is an example of a constitutionally limited government. Constitutionally Limited Government Key Takeaways The term â€Å"limited government† refers to any central government in which that government’s powers over the people are limited by a written or otherwise agreed to constitution or overriding rule of law.The doctrine of limited government is the opposite â€Å"absolutism† which bestows all power over the people to a single person, such as a king, queen, or similar sovereign.The English Magna Carta of 1512 was the first legally binding written charter of rights to encompass the concept of limited government.The central government of the United States of America is constitutionally limited government.   Limited government is typically considered to be the ideological opposite of the doctrines of â€Å"absolutism† or the Divine Right of Kings, which grant a single person unlimited sovereignty over the people. The history of limited government in Western civilization dates back to the English Magna Carta of 1512. While the Magna Carta’s limits on the powers of the king protected only a small sector or the English people, it did grant the king’s barons certain limited rights they could apply in opposition to the king’s policies. The English Bill of Rights, arising from the Glorious Revolution of 1688, further limited the powers of the royal sovereignty. In contrast to the Magna Carta and English Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution establishes a central government limited by the document itself through a system of three branches of government with limits over each other’s powers, and the right of the people to freely elect the president and members of Congress. Limited Government in the United States The Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781, embodied a limited government. However, by failing to provide any way for the national government to raise money to pay its staggering Revolutionary War debt, or to defend itself against foreign aggression, the document left the nation in financial chaos. Thus, the third incarnation of the Continental Congress convened the Constitutional Convention from 1787 to 1789 to replace the Articles of Confederation with the U.S. Constitution. After great debate, the delegates of the Constitutional Convention conceived a doctrine of limited government based on a constitutionally required system of separation of powers with checks and balances as explained by James Madison in the Federalist Papers, No. 45. Madison’s concept of limited government maintained that the powers of the new government should be limited internally by the Constitution itself and externally by the American people through the representative electoral process. Madison also stressed the need for an understanding that the limitations placed on the government, as well as the U.S. Constitution itself, must provide the flexibility needed to allow the government to change as required over the years. Today, the Bill of Rights – the first 10 amendments -- forms a vital part of the Constitution. While the first eight amendments spell out the rights and protections retained by the people, the Ninth Amendment and the Tenth Amendment define the process of limited government as practiced in the United States. Together, the Ninth and Tenth Amendments spell out the difference between the â€Å"enumerated† rights expressly granted to the people through the Constitution and the implied or â€Å"natural† rights granted to all people by nature or God. In addition, the Tenth Amendment defines the individual and shared powers of the U.S. government and the state governments forming the American version of federalism. How is the Power of U.S. Government Limited? While it never mentions the term â€Å"limited government,† the Constitution limits the power of the federal government in at least three key ways: As expressed largely in the First Amendment and throughout the rest of the Bill of Rights, the government is prohibited from directly interfering in certain areas of the lives of the people, such as religion, speech and expression, and association.Certain powers forbidden to the federal government are granted exclusively to the state and local governments.Powers and rights not reserved by either the federal or state governments are retained by the people. In Practice, Limited or ‘Limitless’ Government? Today, many people question whether the restrictions in the Bill of Rights ever have or ever can adequately limit the growth of the government or the extent to which it intervenes in the affairs of the people. Even while complying with the spirit of the Bill of Rights, the government’s reach of control in controversial areas such as religion in schools, gun control, reproductive rights, same-sex marriage, and gender identity, have stretched the abilities of Congress and the federal courts to justly interpret and apply the letter of the Constitution. In the thousands of federal regulations created annually by dozens of [link]independent federal agencies, boards, and commissions[link], we see further evidence of how greatly the government’s realm of influence has grown over the years. However, it is important to remember that in almost all cases, the people themselves have demanded that the government create and enforce these laws and regulations. For example, laws intended to ensure things not covered by the Constitution, like clean water and air, safe workplaces, consumer protection, and many more have been demanded by the people over the years. Sources and Further Reference   â€Å"limited government.† Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press.Barth, Alan. â€Å"The Roots of Limited Government.† The Future of Freedom Foundation (1991).Jay, John; Madison, James; Hamilton, Alexander. â€Å"The Federalist Papers.† Rutgers Universityâ€Å"Unenumerated Rights—Ninth Amendment.† U.S. Government Printing Office.â€Å"Reserved Powers—Tenth Amendment.† U.S. Government Printing Office.

Essay about hamlet - 1270 Words

Hamlet: Ophelia and Gertrude Ophelia and Gertrude, two different women who seem to be trapped in the same situation when it comes to Hamlet. Gertrude, Hamlets mother and the Queen of Denmark is married to Claudius, who is suspected by Hamlet to have killed his father, King Hamlet, who is Claudiuss brother. Gertrude ended up in the plot of King Hamlets death and in the eyes of her son, is a monster and helped with the murder. Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius who is the Kings counselor and is later killed in the play and has forbidden his daughter to see Hamlet. She truly loves Hamlet and is devastated when he disowns her and pretends to be mad. Hamlets treatment towards these two women brings their characters to life and†¦show more content†¦He threatens her and after some confusion, Hamlet kills Polonius who is hiding behind the curtain listening to the conversation. This gets Laertes in the plot to kill Hamlet. In this scene even though Hamlet threatened her, she still loved him and treated him the sa me way that she had treated him before the confrontation. Ophelia is a young lady born to the Kings faithful advisor, Polonius and sister to Laertes. The first time we see Ophelia in the play is in scene III, when she is saying goodbye to her brother who is going back to Paris. She is warned, by her brother, that she should beware of Hamlets love because he is not just any regular man. In this scene, Ophelias love is still strong towards Hamlet. She seems not to care too much when her brother is talking to her, but when her father talks to her, and she tells him about the strong love between them, Polonius makes her believe that there is not such thing. He orders Ophelia to end the friendship and, like the obedient daughter she is, she does. Later in the play Polonius is convinced that Hamlet is truly in love with Ophelia and as soon as he sees the Queen and King he starts telling them about the love between the two and how strong it is and he also reads a love letter, from Hamlet to Ophelia, that he has found: â€Å"Doubt thou stars are f ire, Doubt that the sun doth move, Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love. O dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers. I have not art toShow MoreRelatedHamlet Madness In Hamlet1293 Words   |  6 Pages When reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a class, the first thing that most teachers or professors point out is the argument/idea of sanity, specifically Hamlets sanity. I believe that Hamlet is, in fact, feigning his madness. What I do not know is if I believe this because it is what I was taught or if I came up with the idea myself based on my own interpretation. When I was taught Hamlet there was no argument it was just fact that he was faking his madness. 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The King asks Hamlet How is it that the clouds still hangRead MoreHamlet : William Shakespeare s Hamlet1259 Words   |  6 PagesOmar Sancho Professor Christopher Cook English 201-0810 Hamlet Paper 23 May 2016 Hamlet Character Analysis â€Å"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.†(Act 2, Scene 2, 239-251) Hamlet by William Shakespeare is one of the most famous plays written that conveys a multitude theme. But most predominant is the presence of Hamlet s obsession with philosophy of life, throughout the play Hamlet philosophy reviles his point of view love, loyalty, the importance of family and friendsRead MoreOphelia and Hamlet in The Tragedy of Hamlet Essay1559 Words   |  7 PagesOphelia and Hamlet In 1600, William Shakespeare composed what is considered the greatest tragedy of all time, Hamlet, the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark. His masterpiece forever redefined what tragedy should be. 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Claudius, who is Hamlets uncle, has recently become the new king and as well married Hamlets fathers wife, GertrudeRead More Hamlet Essay1107 Words   |  5 Pages Perhaps the most famous soliloquy in literature, these words reflect the state of desperation in which Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, finds himself as he contemplates suicide. His father, the King, has died. His mother, the Queen, has remarried within a month of the Kings passing, an act which has disturbed young Hamlet in and of it. To make it worse, she has married the Kings brother, Hamlets uncle, who is now the King of Denmark. As Hamlets despair deepens, he learns through the appearance

Managing Organization

Question: Describe about the environment of an organization. Answer: At present days, the environment of an organization where it is operated is becoming more complex and changeable. Therefore, the theorists even cannot ignore its impact on the structure of the organization and its function. An open system is defined as a system that exchanges the feedback with the external environment regularly (Griffin 2013). For the open systems, inputs, outputs, processes, assessment, goals and evaluation all are important and plays a vital role in an organization. The most important aspects that are necessary for the open systems involve external environment, boundaries and equifinality. According to the Open System Theory, an organization is surrounded by its environment, where the resources are imported from the particular environment and the services and the products are exported to the environment. Opined to Giraldi and Petruccione (2012), in the earlier period, the environment was not considered as an important variable in order to take into consideration at the moment of describing the function and structure of an organization. All the systems that come into contact with the environment are all considered as the open systems and when the management of an organization implements this system within an organization in order to run the business successfully, it is termed as Open System management approach model. The characteristics of the open systems that is applied and implemented to the organization include: Firstly, the open systems help in importing the resources from the environment in the form of information, raw material and energy. Secondly, all these resources are transformed in order to serve a service or to produce a product. Thirdly, the services that are provided or the products that are produced are exported back to the systems environment. Fourthly, the reaction of the environment is then fed back as an input to the system and therefore it completes a cycle. Fifthly, the negative entropy characterizes the open systems that are obtained by acquiring huge resources in order to replace the spent ones. Sixthly, the systems can obtain a state of equilibrium by vibrant homeostasis and also by monitoring the environment carefully (Hellriegel 2012). Seventhly, the increasing elaboration and differentiation is also considered as the characteristic of the open systems. Eighthly, the systems are considered hierarchical and are made up of various subsystems that exist in relatively larg er systems. Every single subsystem has prominent and clear boundaries (Tracy 2014). Lastly, the open systems are distinguished by the principle of equifinality. This principle of equifinality is defined as a system that can reach the similar final state from the point of differentiating the initial situation and also by several types of paths. It can also be said that there is no single way that can be considered as the best one in order to organize, differentiate situations that generally lead to various ways of organizing. Therefore, it can be said that the theory of open systems do not negate entirely the prior theories of organization. Nevertheless, this mainly put emphasizes on the vital role of the environment in order to determine the performance of the organization and the structure of the organization (Schermerhorn 2013). Nowadays, it has been found that there are many organizations that failed to survive still after implementing the open system management approach model. I have recently been an intern in an organization and was doing my internship. From there I have gained practical knowledge that is totally different from the theoretical knowledge. This practical knowledge will help me in my future. During my internship, I have gained an experience and have also acquired practical knowledge that helped me to understand the reason for which some of the organizations fail to run successfully even after implementing Open systems within the firm. I have learned from the operation and regulation of the organization that open system theory should be implemented within some specific departments like the department of marketing and human resource management. As this system helps to gather data and also to analyze them in order to increase the sales of the firm. Additionally, the innovative ideas of the employees also help the firm to modify or produce some new products or services. Similarly, by collecting more data the HR managers can easily resolve the co nflict within the organization and thus can run the organization successfully. However, the departments like research and development should not implement the open system theory as the free flow of information might leak the privacy of the organization and thus can cause harm and can affect the firm adversely (Ryerson.ca 2016). Therefore, it can be said that the open system model has both positive and negative aspects. However, the organization should implement it in proper way in order to get the positive result. References Giraldi, F. and Petruccione, F. (2012). Open System Approach to the Internal Dynamics of a Model Multilevel Molecule.Open Syst. Inf. Dyn., 19(02), p.1250011. Griffin, R. (2013).Management. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning. Hellriegel, D. (2012).Management. Cape Town: Oxford University Press. Ryerson.ca. (2016).ryerson - Ryerson University - Ryerson University. Schermerhorn, J. (2013).Management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons. Tracy, B. (2014).Management. New York: AMACOM.