Start your 13.8 billion-year journey with the Big History Project

Start your 13.8 billion-year journey with the Big History Project The Big History Project is now available on Khan Academy. Whether you’re a solo learner or a classroom teacher, get ready to take a self-paced journey through nearly 14 billion years of history in just 10 tutorials! Big History asks the big questions about our universe, our planet, life and humanity. From the Big Bang to our still-expanding universe, this course, created and maintained by the Big History Project, will lead students on a journey of astounding connections and exciting discoveries.   The lessons also draw upon the insights of history, chemistry, biology, anthropology, physics, and a variety of other disciplines. Teacher-created lessons include downloadable activities, engaging videos, animations, and articles that bring the voices of leading scholars from around the world to you…and bring history to life. Today, there’s more information available to us on our phones than was available in all the great libraries of Alexandria, so how do we decide what claims we can trust? Big History guides learners through examining their intuition, looking at the authority, evidence, and logic of claims. Big History also looks beyond the timeline of human history to explore the connections between distant events billions of years ago and our lives today. From the massive expanse of the universe to the smallest of atoms, Big History guides you to think across temporal and physical scales. Both in articles and at the end of each tutorial, students and teachers can access downloadable and printable classroom resources such as lesson transcripts, video transcripts, worksheets and answer keys. Quizzes and glossary challenges allow teachers to assess student comprehension. Start your journey now!

Main Verb Definition and Examples

Synopsis Of The Speech Announces The Scratchy Pa System

Attention, all higher-ups please report to the meeting hall, announces the scratchy PA system. Juan and Alejandro develop a sly grin and stir up a conversation. Old Paco finally figured how to use that intercom. It ´s a real burden.† Let ´s go get Hector and Adolfo to see what s up. I think I have an idea of what it is. These rumours remind me of grade school, it ´s really getting out of hand. â€Å"Yeah, it’s a joke.† The men casually stroll into the dinky mess hall, which is really more of an empty room with picnic tables. Adolfo is leaning against a scuffed-up wall that emits a pungent odor of rotting meat and old wood. He’s in a slumped position with his grubby hat lazily placed across his forehead and eyes. â€Å"Wake up†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"I thought we were an elite group of military leaders, not a bunch of chit-chatting slackers! We have a huge crisis on our hands, and it demands our immediate attention!† Bright purple v eins pop out of the General’s head, and his loud steady breathing is the only thing that can be heard throughout the cafeteria. â€Å"There are rumours†¦Ã¢â‚¬  starts the General. â€Å"That Mercenaries are reeking havoc throughout the mountain towns of Chile. No one knows who they are, or where they’re from, but they exist. We are supposed to be the only group that’s dominant, and we need to prove it by finding, and eliminating these abominations. Pack your bags folks, we’re going on an adventure!† General Davola leads the group in front with an immense backpack and a grim face. He can’t get over the fact that his power may be threatened. â€Å"Who would dare go up against me and my troop?† he ponders aloud. Meanwhile, Juan and Alejandro take up the back, behind Hector and Adolfo. â€Å"Do you think Davola will have us do any of his dirty work?† asks Juan. â€Å"We haven’t done anything shady in a while, but I do wonder sometimes which side we are on,† answers Alejandro. â€Å"What do you mean by that?† â€Å"It seems that we do more assignments for criminals, than we do for the actual government.† â€Å"I think you re exaggerating a bit, but money talks, dude. Besides, it’s not like we do anything that can harm Chile itself, we

Power in Animal Farm Free Essays

Animal Farm One of America’s most famous presidents, Abraham Lincoln, once said, â€Å"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. † This statement stands through all of history as countless world leaders have abused their power constantly. This also shows in the novel by George Orwell, Animal Farm. We will write a custom essay sample on Power in Animal Farm or any similar topic only for you Order Now The pigs in power, and especially Napoleon, tend to constantly abuse their power and be corrupted by it. Three ways power affects the novel are the corruption of power with Napoleon, the pigs taking advantage of their power, and the eventual outcome of the book. As soon as Napoleon had some power he began to scheme to fully take it. â€Å"Nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the barn. † Napoleon had raised dogs since they were little and readied them so he can one day take over the farm. Napoleon then used these dogs to ensure his power multiple times, especially when an uprising was bound to happen. Napoleon became corrupted with power and used it to do his biddings. It is also seen that the dogs wagged their tail in a similar manner as they used to for Jones. Along with Napoleon, all the other pigs, who were regarded as the most intelligent of animals, soon began to corrupt their power too. â€Å"The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership. † The pigs seemed to have the greatest amount of food and all sorts of luxuries. The pigs would even break the Seven Commandments when they wanted to and used Squealer, Napoleon’s right hand man(pig), to explain to the animals what has happened and take advantage of them. The pigs began to sleep in beds and become more and more humanlike as well. The final outcome of the book is also influenced by the pigs corruption of power. â€Å"Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which. † The pigs began to abuse their power so much they started becoming almost completely humans. They drank alcohol, slept in beds, and walked on their hind feet. With this final transformation into humans, the fate of Animal Farm has been destined for destruction. The pigs will continue fighting for power and then once a rebellion occurs the next animals shall too. Power is certainly a force to be reckoned with. Once obtained the individual or party grows to become more attached to this power and eventually corrupted with it. â€Å"Power Corrupts. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. † (Lord Acton. ) The animals on Animal Farm felt the effect of corruption in power when the pigs started to constantly abuse it. It is truly hard to find a good leader when power does these horrid effects to most people in control. â€Å"Power Corrupts. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. † How to cite Power in Animal Farm, Papers

Music Technology Modern Society free essay sample

I am going to talk about how specific aspects of hip hop have evolved with technology from the period of the sasss up to present time. Hip Hop recordings during the asss mostly consisted of PA system recordings from parties where rappers would perform, and also Dos who used to create the very first mistakes with different artists featuring on them. This was usually recorded on a turntable with a standard dynamic microphone which created the raw old school Hip Hop sound people hear it as today. Cassette recordings were highly popular during the asss before digital tape recorders came the standard use during the asss.This creates a huge contrast between Hip Hop today as it Is now as easy as to ring an engineer and book studio time to have high quality sound recordings created within 30 minutes. This Is due to the technological advancements not only in Hip Hop, but music Itself through the use of electronic software recordings and other equipment and sound effects that are easily used through the software. We will write a custom essay sample on Music Technology Modern Society or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Software such as Logic, Pro Tools and Scubas have almost completely replaced all other styles of recording due to the efficiency of them.Hip Hop production has also changed a vast amount due to the software that is now available to everyone and anyone. In the old school days of Hip Hop, instrumentals were mostly created using hardware and live recordings of instruments using analogue synthesizers and drum machines, whereas now all it takes is to download a program and you can create a simple sequence using default sounds within minutes. I think this has created a pollution type of affect on this genre as there is a lot of bad quality sounding Hip Hop not only on the Internet but radio stations etc. ICC drowns out the sound of the original sampled Jazz, funk and skilled lyricism which was originally Intended for Hip Hop. The advancements of software has not only changed the way Hip Hop is created but the way that it is distributed, bought and listened to. For example, you can turn on your computer and search for your favorite artists and be able to stream their latest music straight to your ears rather than having to go to a record store to buy or listen to an album. You could also go straight onto tunes or any other online music stepsisters and buy the album outright online.The development of the Internet has also created a whole new lane for upcoming artists who are not signed to record labels as you can put projects out on the Internet for free Vela websites such as youth, concluded or bandanna which Is a major factor to boosting your popularity and getting your music known by people not only in your local city but all over the world. Music Technology Modern Society By penmanships This creates a huge contrast between Hip Hop today as it is now as easy as to ring an 0 minutes.This is due to the technological advancements not only in Hip Hop, but music itself through the use of electronic software recordings and other equipment qua lity sounding Hip Hop not only on the internet but radio stations etc.

Companion Essays

Companion Essays Companion Essay Companion Essay Elizabeth Schwartz Blizzard Arianne Zwartjes Companion Essay 4/18/10 The stance that I have chosen to take for the public argument was that I am against the act of piracy and to acquire a program called the Icarus at the University of Arizona. I chose to take this stance because after researching all of the different perspectives, I have personally witnessed the consequences due to illegal file downloading. In the beginning, my view on piracy was that it really isn’t that big of a deal. I agreed with stealing from the media because of how convenient it was for me and for my piers. Illegally downloading files was faster, cheaper, and easier than going out and buying a CD or going to spend ten dollars to see a movie. However, now that I have looked at all possible scenarios of getting caught and now fully understand the moral issue in this crime, I believe schools such as the University of Arizona should adopt programs, especially the Icarus, in order to reduce and completely prevent piracy. In order to try and actually adopt this program, I wrote a letter, almost like a petition, for students and those who also believe that the University of Arizona should eliminate illegal file sharing. I initially had a large black poster board with purple and gold glitter writing saying â€Å"I dare you† on it in order to lure people into seeing my website. It said I dare you across the entire board because I thought it was catchy enough to convince people they wanted to hear my argument and it was so shiny and large that people couldn’t turn their eyes away when they saw it. Once they came over, they were interested in what I was really â€Å"daring† them to do. After I got student’s attention, I showed them my website and tricked everyone by letting students think they could download songs and movies illegally. They read through the cases and realized that they were stealing once they couldn’t actually download any files. The letter I wrote is to the administrative assistant and the members of the dean of students advising that this program should be implemented because it will eliminate all illegal files sharing through the University’s networks. By enabling this program students will not only stop downloading files illegally but will also be penalized for doing so, ultimately ending all use or attempts at even doing so. At the end of the letter are tons of signatures showing the administration that people truly believe in this side of the controversy and that this move is really the best idea for the school. By having all these signatures, the administration will almost feel as if they need to implement this new program. I have chosen to write a letter because I believe that this will truly instill on the board members and show the true affect of the problem. Because other schools have already adopted this program, by the University of Arizona also doing so, it will better this school overall. I have interviewed two of my fellow piers, one, who even attends this school. During these interviews I had noticed that my friend punished at Arizona for illegally downloading files was just one student who was unfortunate, yet there are thousands of other students who do not get penalized for doing this. Max Cohen, the student from Arizona himself states, â€Å"At this University, you would think that because there are around 40,000 students at this school that they wouldnt even bother to try and catch people from downloading music and movies illegally because its just so common. But of course they caught me and now I have to go do community service, pay a fine, and write an essay for why what I did was wrong. Its stupid if you think about it. Everyone does it (Cohen 2010). Rather than forcing someone to pay a fine or write an essay about illegally downloading files, why not just have a program that blocks students from overall doing so, forcing students not to download anything illegally rather than just trying to do so again in the hopes of not getting caught? Implementing the Icarus might be the only option those in the media industry have: otherwise students will continue to try. This program will easily be the first step and when this program becomes more popular at universitie s across the globe, students will eventually realize how wrong it is when they realize they are stealing from the media. Overall, I believe that this letter and petition to the Administration and its board will be the biggest help and the first real step to eliminating the use of file sharing over the Internet. Enforcing this will truly help the media at officially really eliminating their products from being stolen from them. Other universities have already done so and with the addition of the University of Arizona will not only benefit the school itself but also ultimately end piracy at this school. Cohen, Maxwell. Illegally Downloading. Interview by Elizabeth Z. Schwartz. 17 Apr. 2010: 2. Print.

Definition and Examples of Overwriting

Definition and Examples of Overwriting Overwriting is a wordy writing style characterized by excessive detail, needless repetition, overwrought figures of speech, and/or convoluted sentence structures. For writers striving for color, advises author and editor Sol Stein, try, fly, experiment, but if it shows strain, if it isnt accurate, cut it (Stein on Writing, 1995). Examples and Observations Overwriting is the failure to make choices. . . . Linguistic bric-a-brac is literatures Elvis on velvet.(Paula LaRocque, Championship Writing: 50 Ways to Improve Your Writing. Marion Street, 2000)[Andrew] Davidsons approach is scattergun: for every lovely image (the unholy yoga of his crash), there is a horrible, almost parodic piece of overwriting (a cheese strand dangled from her mouth to the edge of her nipple, and I wanted to rappel it like a mozzarella commando).(James Smart, The Gargoyle. The Guardian, September 27, 2008)Even Great Writers Can OverwriteNote that some critics deeply admire the following passages by John Updike and Joan Didion. With uncommon perception, says Thomas L. Martin, Updike offers the beauty of these several figures which, lined up, converge in a significatory pattern as do these dropsin a single figurative mosaic (Poiesis and Possible Worlds, 2004). Likewise, the excerpt from On Self-Respect, one of Didions best-known essays, is frequently quoted approv ingly. Other readers, however, argue that Updikes images and Didions figurative comparisons are self-conscious and distractingin a word, overwritten. Decide for yourselves.- It was a window enchanted by the rarity with which I looked from it. Its panes were strewn with drops that as if by amoebic decision would abruptly merge and break and jerkily run downward, and the window screen, like a sampler half-stitched, or a crossword puzzle invisibly solved, was inlaid erratically with minute, translucent tesserae of rain.(John Updike, Of the Farm, 1965)- Although to be driven back upon oneself is an uneasy affair at best, rather like trying to cross a border with borrowed credentials, it seems to me now the one condition necessary to the beginnings of real self-respect. Most of our platitudes notwithstanding, self-deception remains the most difficult deception. The tricks that work on others count for nothing in that very well-lit back alley where one keeps assignations with oneself: no winning smiles will do here, no prettily drawn lists of good intentions. One shuffles flashily but in vain through ones marked cardsthe kindness done for the wrong reason, the apparent triumph which involved no real effort, the seemingly heroic act into which one had been shamed.(Joan Didion, On Self-Respect. Slouching Towards Bethlehem, 1968) Weltys WordinessSometimes writers get so excited about specificity and description that they begin to confuse them with mere wordiness. This is called overwriting and is a common early malady in apprentice writers. . . .Heres one of Eudora Weltys early first sentences: Monsieur Boule inserted a delicate dagger in Mademoiselles left side and departed with a poised immediacy.The solution to overcoming overwriting . . . is simply to exercise restraint and to remember the notion of immediacy. Weltys sentence, short of its too-fancy verbs and its excess of adjectives, might simply have read, Monsieur Boule stabbed Mademoiselle with a dagger and left the room in a hurry.(Julie Checkoway, Creating Fiction: Instruction and Insights From Teachers of the Associated Writing Programs. Writers Digest Books, 2001)Daniel Harris on OverwritingEven as my prose congealed into epic similes that grew more and more outlandish, I displayed absolute intolerance for the overwriting of others whose prose all owed me to study my own shortcomings at several removes, from a vantage point far above the vendetta I was waging as the self-appointed hatchet man of minority fiction. Often I was so blind to my tendency to write purple prose that I overwrote in the very act of criticizing overwriting, as . . . when I praised Patricia Highsmith, who, unlike other American writers, was so committed to telling her story that she never had any time to single out something for its own sake, to pluck it up from its context, and pet it from head to toe with long, voluptuous strokes of adjectives and metaphors. Far from being smug about my skills as a writer, I was bitterly frustrated, divided between my need to entertain my audience and my abhorrence of the prose that resulted from my acrobatic efforts to maintain my readers interest.(Daniel Harris, A Memoir Of No One In Particular. Basic Books, 2002) Do Not OverwriteRich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating. If the sickly sweet word, the overblown phrase are a writers natural form of expression, as is sometimes the case, he will have to compensate for it by a show of vigor, and by writing something as meritorious as the Song of Songs, which is Solomons.(William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, The Elements of Style, 3rd ed. Macmillan, 1979)