Well deserved summer holiday...

Yes, it does feel good to have finished a year of English studies..

British History #2

The Civil War to the First World War

The Civil War was a result of King Charles' decision to dismiss parliament and rule alone by "divine right" (absolute power to the monarch). It was also a result of two issues: catholicicm vs Protestantism, and Parliament vs monarch. In 1642 the country divided into Royalists (those who supported the king) and Roundheads (those who supported parliament). Eventually the Royalists were defeated, and in 1649 Charles I was beheaded. His last word before his execution was "Remember". Charles I had seen London recover from the Plague (1665) and the Great Fire (1666). 

For a short time England (1649-53) was a republic called The Commonwealth ruled by Parliament. But as it proved impossible to create a stable government, General Oliver Cromwell (a religious puritan) dissolved parliament (he was frustrated with members of parliament), took power by force and established The Protectorate in 1653. He remained "Lord Protector" (like a dictator…) until his death in 1658. He didn't want the title 'king'. 1649-51: led the invasions of Ireland and Scotland.

Consequences: Parliament had learned that is could not rule without a king, but the king had learned that Parliament was the more powerful of the two. The Civil war proved that the monarch could not rule alone, and helped to set the foundation of a "constitutional monarchy" in which the king was given limited power by Parliament. The outlines of modern British democracy can clearly be seen peeking through. The Protectorate strengthened the belief that Parliament is a good idea. Constitutional monarchy: parliament is good, and a monarch is useful as long as his/her powers were limited.

The Bill of Rights is an Act passed by Parliament in 1689. It said that the monarch had to ask Parliament before he did anything. Mary II, the daughter of James II (who abdicated the throne), had married the protestant Prince William of Orange (from Holland). William of Orange was handpicked by Parliament to be the new king as the Stuarts continued to produce Catholic heirs, something that caused opposition from both English and Scottish Protestants. But first William had to sign a very important document: The Bill of Rights. As a result, they never got an absolute monarch – the king never got absolute powers. Had to ask to pass laws, levy taxes, go to war, and there was to be freedom of speech no matter what.
However when the couple died childless, the throne again reverted to a Stuart – Queen Anne, Mary II's sister.

"The Act of Settlement" was passed by Parliament in 1701. This act laid down that that future monarchs had to be Protestants. Queen Anne had no children (all of her 18 died either in infancy or she miscarried), so after her death the house of Stuart had come to an end. The crown passed to George I of the Protestant house of Hanover.

The accession of the House of Hanover marked the end of the period of intense religious and political conflicts. The questions that had driven the conflicts were resolved: The Protestant reform was to go within the church only as far as each individual group wished as long as it was not at the expense of other groups, and the monarchy was to have very little power independent of Parliament. The age of the constitutional monarchy had begun.

"The Act of Union of England and Scotland" in 1707 formed Great Britain – making England and Scotland one country. Scottish Protestants accepted the union in order to avoid any claims by the House of Stuart (Catholics) to an independent Scottish throne. The Scottish parliament was dissolved, but the Scots kept their own legal and religious system.
Wales became part of a Union with England in 1536 (no wars, they grew together – but kept their own language).

Ireland had a big Catholic population. The country rebelled twice (1649 and 1798) as a result of England's attempt to subdue the island and turn it Protestant. They first revolted in 1649, during the Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army massacred large numbers of the Irish. The king invited Protestants in England to settle in Ireland (area of Ulster) where they became land owners and the people already living there became land workers (slaves if you like) à The conflict in Northern Ireland goes back to the 18^th century.
Naturally the Accession of Catholic King James II in 1685 was welcomed with joy by the Irish, but when he was defeated in 1690 and William of Orange took over, all hope of tolerance of Catholicism in Ireland ended. For the next century they were excluded from public and economic life by the brutal rule of the Protestant Ascendancy.  In despair the Irish once again rebelled in 1798, but they were met with torture, suppression and massacres. In 1801 Ireland was forced to join the Union of England, Scotland and Wales – which became The United Kingdom of GB and Ireland. Although the conflict was not ended…

The industrial revolution began in Britain in the 1700s. During industrialisation there was a remarkable population growth caused by the development of modern scientific practises during the Enlightenment. Inventions like the spinning jenny and the steam engine increased efficiency and improved transportation. Science also led to better health care, which in turn was a major factor leading to population growth, which then created expanding markets, which subsequently encouraged new inventions and so on. The free-market economy was created. A consequence was that landowners threw peasants of their land in order to grow cash crops for profits, so the poor and homeless wandered the countryside or made their way to the growing cities.

The forces that were let loose by the industrial revolution also drove the expansion of the British Empire. Countries like America, India, Australia and New Zealand were brought under British rule. The darkest aspect of British economic expansion was the slave trade between Africa and America. (The British government outlawed slave trade in 1807). The imperial expansion cause international conflicts, primarily with France. A series of wars were fought and won against the French in North America in the 1700s.

However as a contrast to the economic growth and military victory abroad, the reality at home was more sombre. There were high unemployment, bad working conditions, no health-, welfare- or unemployment benefits, and children had to work adult hours. In the 1800s a series of social reforms were put into action.

The Victorian Age (during Queen Victoria's reign, 1837-1901) is looked back upon as the time of Pax Britannia – a general peace kept by Britain. This was also a period of economic growth, imperial expansion, new inventions… Countries looked to Britain and copied their infrastructure of roads, canals and railways. The parliamentarian government had helped Britain escape the revolutions that shook governments all over Europe in 1848. The principles of individual freedom and natural rights were beginning to be firmly fixed. The growing middle class became more influential, and the working class was organising. The Victorian age is also known for its puritanical attitudes (respectable, god-fearing, serious behaviour) and also for its hypocrisy and double morals (prostitution, alcoholism and drug abuse).

British History #1

First settlements to Queen Elizabeth I

The very earliest Britons were hunters and gatherers who left no written records. We know them only from the artefacts they left behind, e.g. Stonehenge. The earliest Celtic inhabitants we know primarily through archaeology and the written records of the first literate people to settle in Britain – the Romans.

Roman period: 55 (BC) - 401. They built towns, and "chesters"/castles were established. They also organised areas/lands and administration. The Hadrian Wall (by Newcastle, in Yorkshire) was built and  showed how far north the romans got as part of keeping the barbarians out out Scotland. The Romans also introduced central governments, good roads, laws, Christianity…

The Anglo-Saxons were Germanic tribes from the continent who replaced the Roman-Celtic Britons during the 4^th and 5^th century. Their language, Anglo-Saxon, is the foundation of modern English. The Old Norse spoken by the Vikings was very closely related to it.

The Vikings were another group of Germanic invaders who hit the coast. The Vikings settled in the north, and many became farmers. In 1066 the Anglo-Saxon king Harold II defeated the king of Norway, Harald Hardrada, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
Year 793: Lindisfarne, Holy Island. Viking heritage: York and other cities, and the language (words).

In 1066 the Normans invaded the north eastern England and claimed the English throne. King of Norway, Harald Hardråde, led the army. The Anglo-Saxon king, Harold II, rushed north to meet him and battle, and he defeated and killed Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge (outside York). The same year William, Duke of Normandy, claimed the throne, and at the Battle of Hastings he defeated and killed King Harold. This was the last invasion of the British isles in history. Spain, Napoleon and Hitler tried later, but they all failed.
Consequences: The Normans spoke French, so French is the new language in England. They got a French-speaking upper class. 1066-1085: Domesday book – a cencus (folketelling) and a register of property (showed the Normans as being fantastic organisers).

The Magna Carta (Great Charter) was a charter of liberties granted by King John in 1215. This was a result of the idea of checking the powers on the king. To raise funds for armies and campaigns King John had to turn to the strongest barons in the land. They were willing to finance the king's activities so long as he accepted a limitation on his powers. Gradually an institution developed which eventually became the House of Lords. A similar institution developed from the towns and cities. The met in what would come to be called "Commons", granting taxes to the crown and offering advice on policy. The British parliament is called the "Mother of Parliaments".

The Renaissance: 1500s

King Henry VIII married six times, and beheaded two of his wives because they failed to give him a son. When he tried to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, the pope denied him permission. In response King Henry broke with the Roman Catholic Church and made himself head of a new Church of England (Anglican Church). 

Elizabeth I was King Henry's daughter (her mother was Anne Boleyn). When she succeeded the throne she treaded carefully between the various religious convictions in her realm. She was intelligent, and skilfully played off the powers within her kingdom against one another, maintaining peace at home and strength abroad.  Although, one fight she could not avoid was with Spain, a conflict she had inherited from her father. He sent a fleet of 130 ships – the Spanish Armada – to invade England, dethrone Elizabeth and re-establish the Roman Catholic faith. The attack was a failure. The defeat of the Spanish Armada (the Spanish fleet) marked the beginning of England as a great power and the start of what would eventually become the British Empire. She also re-established the English protestant church (after her sister Mary I). Her reign witnessed a flowering of arts and literatures. It was an era of Sir Walter Raleigh, Christopher Marlow (playwright), Sir Philip Sidney (poet) and William Shakespeare. Her reign was a period of economic and cultural growth, and was also the start of the empire.

Mary Queen of Scots (not to be confused with Mary I) was Elizabeth's rival. She married Henry Stuart, and had a son who would become James I of England. She had many enemies and fled to England to get help from Elizabeth I. There she was taken into custody by Elizabeth. After 18-19 years in custody Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth and subsequently she was beheaded for treason. She was also a catholic.

The Spanish Armada: The Spanish king wanted to punish Elizabeth for what she did to Mary Queen of Scots, and also for supporting the Dutch. At the time Spain was the number one power at sea. Its failure led to Britain becoming the number one power at sea.

A critical analysis of the biography of Nick Vujicic with specific reference to linguistic and structural features

A critical analysis of the biography of Nick Vujicic with specific reference to linguistic and structural features


Nick Vujicic is travelling the world holding motivational- and inspirational speeches in schools, churches and so on. He was born without limbs, and despite his struggles he has been able to cope with this major disability and has become a cultural icon or inspiration to others. I am going to study his biography which provides information about him told in the third person. It is written in a formal style with a serious tone. This accentuates that the audience is people who are interested in learning more about Nick Vujicic, which we can presume (because of his story) are students, teachers, leaders in Christian churches, people with disabilities or other obstacles in life.

In the introduction of the biography interrogative sentence structures are used. “What would you do? How would that affect your everyday life?” This creates a sense of inclusion and engages the reader as he/she is addressed with the second person pronoun “you”. Interrogatives are also used to make the text more dramatic or to influence the reader more. “How would their son live a normal, happy life? What could he ever do or become when living with what the world would consider such a massive disability?” Rhetorical questions like these are used to provoke a thought process in the reader. 

The language used in the biography is emotive, and cohesion can be seen in the lexis used as they are all in the lexical field of motivational speaking or the body, as Vujicic doesn’t have any arms or legs. When looking specifically at grammar the verbs used are associated with positivity (to inspire, to motivate, to realize, to be able to, to accomplish, to overcome), while the nouns are more negative (disability, depression, loneliness, frustration, struggle, problems, failure). In terms of adjectives many of them are superlatives, such as most powerful, biggest, and most effective. They also tend to be attributive (pre-modifying), for example limbless son, happy life, massive disability, amazing ability, and biggest dreams. This enhances the fact that even the biggest obstacles can be surmounted, and it influences the reader more.


Furthermore the text is grammatically cohesive as we can find anaphoric references and conjunctions. The conjunction and is the most important cohesive devise used, and makes the discourse flow more smoothly. Without conjunctions the discourse would seem disjointed. In addition to these grammatical features, modal auxiliary verbs are also used to emphasize the utterances, especially in the interrogative utterances in the introduction where ‘could’ and ‘would’ are used. This suggests the tenor of his message as being enquiring.

The text has a standard structure for a biography or Bildungsroman and the tense change is reflective of his past life and continuing present. It starts with an introduction, where Nick Vujicic is presented, and a direct request to the reader. It continues by telling about Vujicic’s childhood and his struggles and obstacles whilst growing up. This is told in the past tense. Further on the biography relates details, using the present continuous, about his years of studying, and it concludes by telling about his life now and his work, using the present tense and the present continuous. It is structured in this way in order to let us follow Vujicic’s life in a chronological order, which also contributes to make the text cohesive.


English Language Coursework Year 12 - Julie Egeland, 2012
Written text analysis

Survey: Use of laptops in lessons

Hypothesis:

"When laptops are used in the right way, they can be a very useful tool for learning".

Sampling frame: Year 12 students in Kristiansand, Norway and in Bedford, England.

Laptops are used evevrywhere in todays' society, both for private and professional use. Because of this it is a bit artificial if it's not used in schools for educational purposes. A big part of this, I would argue, is because teachers are afraid, for instance that students will  cheat. But why should schools be so different from the world outside the classroom?

Research carried out on Norwegian students
In Norway all students are given a laptop when they start in year 11. In the survey they were asked questions where their answers would help to prove or disprove my hypothesis.

80% of the students said that it is not harder to concentrate when they have laptops and internet access in lessons. 100% of the participants said that they use their laptop to take notes from what the teacher is saying. Many of them also search for information they can't remember etc. on the internet. However, distractions such as music and blogs also occur. Facebook, twitter and online newspapers are also used, but I would argue that this is not a bad thing. As long as it is used for the right purposes it could actually be a good thing.

On a scale from 1-5 (where 5 is the best) the students rate their teachers' digital skills as between 2 and 3. 90% rate their peers as 4 or 5, and 80% rate themselves as 4 or 5. This shows that students see themselves as having extremely good digital skills. However when they are asked what resources/tools they would use to make a presentation together with a group, all of them (100%) included Microsoft Powerpoint in their answer.
The survey shows that the resources all of the students know are resources they have been taught in school (MS PowerPoint, MS Word, It's Learning/VLE, online dictionary) or shown by friends (Facebook/Twitter and blog). Very few have knowledge about Google Docs, Inspiration, WolphramAlpha, Prezi, Geocaching and Flickr.

70% of the students say they prefer typing on the computer. They argue it's quicker, neater, can easily be edited, printed and it is a lot easier to keep a good system. The remaining 30% prefer handwriting, and explain their answer by saying that they learn more and don't get distracted by other things. I would suggest that this shows a level of maturity, both by the students who can use laptops without getting distracted, and by those who choose handwriting because it's for their own good.

Of other things worth mentioning that was found in the survey is;

• 60% of the participants think that the digital skills of their teachers would improve fastest if their teachers dared to open up for the possibility that digital skills are something we learn from each other (also teachers from students).
• When they were asked what they thoight would have the best effect on learning, 50% of the students answered free text books and stationary, while 50% answered free laptop/iPads with all necessary resources installed or avaliable online.

Research carried out on English students

The 'trend' of rating students better than teachers in terms of digital skills also appear among the English students, but here students seem to know about far less resources than the norwegian students. All of the participants said they prefer typing on the computer rather than handwriting, and nearly 70% of them said they would like to use laptops in lessons. When they were asked to mention advantages of this, they suggest it's easier, quicker, and more motivating as it is a different way of learning. The ONE disadvatage they mention is distraction. I would argue that this possible distraction easily could be avoided simply by the teacher who should design the lessons in a way that students can use the computer effectively.

70% of the english participants believe that free laptops/iPads with all necessary resources installed will give the best effect on learning.

AS English Language - #2: Language in social contexts

AS English Language

#2: Language in Social Contexts

Language and Gender

There seem to be a difference between how men and women use language, but no-one seems to be sure exactly what they are or why they occur.  Studies have shown that women tend to use accents from a higher social class than men:

Peter Trudgill (1983) studied men and women’s social accents and found that women’s pronunciation was closer to Received Pronunciation (RP), the accent that is usually seen as the most prestigious. Using Standard English and RP gives a person overt prestige – the prestige of being associated with a respectable, well-off section of society. 

Cheshire (1982) studied the speech of adolescent girls and boys and found that boys tended to use more non-standard grammatical forms than girls. Using non-standard English gives a person covert prestige. They seem a bit rebellious and independent. Men are more likely to seek covert prestige than women. This may be to be respected by friends, colleagues, or others.

Lakoff (1975) identified features she felt were characteristic of women's speech: hedges and fillers, apologestic requests, tag questions and indirect requests. She also pointed out that women tend to speak less than men, use fewer expletives and more intensifiers. She argues that these features reflected women’s inferior social status. She said that women’s language is weak compared to men’s language, and this prevents women from being taken seriously. This explanation is called the deficit model.

O’Barr and Atkins (1980) suggested an alternative explanation to the deficit model. They analysed American courtroom trials, and found that male and female witnesses who were of low social status and/or inexperienced with the courtroom practices, both showed many of the liguistic features that Lakoff labelled female. This suggests that the kind of language Lakoff describes as female is not only found in women, but might be more to do with individuals feeling powerless.

Cameron (2007) argues that there are few differences between men and women’s language, and situation affects how people speak much more than gender.

Language can be explained in terms of dominance and difference. Zimmerman and West (1975) recorded interruptions in conversations between men and women, and found that 96% of the interruptions were by men. This suggested that men are more dominant in male-female conversation, and Zimmerman and West therefore argued that this reflects dominance in society. On the other hand, Tannen (1990) described male and female conversational style in terms of difference. Men are concerned with status and independence, whilst women are interested in forming bods. Men give direct orders and don’t mind conflict, whilst women usually give polite, indirect orders and try to avoid conflict. Also, men are interested in gaining factual information and finding solutions to problems, whilst women aim to show understading by compromising, and offering support rather than solutions.

There are problems with these explanations. Other researchers have cast doubts on some of the explanations of differences in male and female language. Beattie (1982) suggested that interruptions could be supportive and show that the person is listening. Cameron (2007) argues that a lot of research is biased because there has been more focus on the differences between male and female language, rather than the similarities.


Les mer = Read more...

AS English Language - #1: Varieties of English

AS English Language

#1: Varieties of English

Register and Mode

Register is the type of language used in different situations. Deciding which register is appropriate to use depends on several factors: the relationship between the speaker and the audience, the purpose, the field (subject being talked about), and the form. Whether the register is appropriate depends on the context it’s used in. Usin informal language in a formal situation is inappropriate because it could seem disrespectful or rude. Using formal language in an informal situation could sound unfriendly and stuffy.

Registers vary in terms of lexis, grammar and phonology. A conversation between to specialists would contain technical vocabulary that they would both understand. Register can affect syntax - the word order. Some registers even have grammatical constructions that are specific to them, like the legalese. The informal register involves things like dropping the /h/ and missing a /g/. Generally speaking, the more formal a situation is the more likely people are to modify their accent so it’s closer to RP.

Accent and Dialect

A dialect is a variation in language, with it’s own features of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. It is different to accent because it refers to the specific words you use, not just how you say them. The term dialect is usually used to describe language that is particular to a specific geographical region. There are also some variations in terms of social background (sociolect and idiolect).

An accent can be a feature of a dialect, but it just refers to how you say words, not the words themselves. Accents can be affected by regional or social background.

People have different attitudes towards dialects and accents as they highlight social class differences. This was illustrated by Shaw’s comment: “No Englishman can open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him”. Standard English is a social dialect and is usually associated with educated, middle and upper class people. It is the language of formal speech and writing, and what you are taught in school.

Workman (2008) studied people’s perceptions of different accents. The participants listened to recordings of different accents while they looked at photos of people. It was found that participants rated the intelligence of the people in the photos differently, depending on which accent they thought they had. Results: Yorkshire = most intelligent. Birmingham =least intelligent. This shows how strong the stereotypes of different accents can be.

Les mer = Read more.....

Progress Review Day

Vi hadde ingen timer i dag, bare 15 minutters konferanse med tutoren vår (kontaktlæreren). Min konferanse var 7.30am - tidlig! Jeg valgte tiden selv da, fordi jeg egentlig skulle til Wootton og ha spansk kl 8.15am. Men så skulle ikke læreren komme til timen, og hun hadde lagt ut oppgavene på VLE (It's Learning!), så jeg sendte henne en mail og spurte pent om jeg kunne få lov å gjøre oppgavene hjemme siden vi hadde advancement day. Og det fikk jeg lov til, så jeg var hjemme igjen rundt 8.30am - og da måtte jeg begynne på leksene. Spansk og sosiologi. Hjelpe meg så mye vi har å gjøre i de fagene!

Men, tilbake til konferansen da. Jeg fikk selvfølgelig høre den vanlige 'du bør prøve å snakke litt mer i timene' som jeg har hørt sikkert helt siden jeg begynte på skolen.. Så målet er at jeg skal si mer i timene..
English Language: current grade D, excellent contribution in lesson, excellent attitude to learning, good homework, target grade D.
Sociology: current grade D, satisfactory contribution in lesson, good attitude to learning, good homework, target grade D.
Spanish: current grade D, good contribution in lesson, excellent attitude to learning, excellent homework, target grade C.

Noe av dette stemmer jo ikke da. Hallo, spansk..excellent attitude to learning?! Dere som har snakket med meg i det siste vet hvor mye jeg irriterer meg over spansken, og hvor frustrasjon jeg har for dette faget. Men det er jo flott at lærerne har et godt intrykk. Jeg bruker tross alt flere timer på leksene!
Så irriterer det meg at lærerne setter target grade for meg. Det vil jeg sette selv! Lærerne skal ikke dømme min ability og si hvor mye jeg kan oppnå. Så lenge jeg er ambisiøs så kan jeg oppnå akkurat det jeg vil. Attitudes and values, you know. Vi lærer om sånt i sosiologi.........

Talk to you later. Have to go and do some work.

English presentation - How children acquire language

Guess who got a B on her english presentation today?! Kjempefornøyd. Målet var å få en C.. Læreren sa at den var veldig bra og detaljert, derfor ble det en B :)) De andre som presenterte fikk C og D, så min gruppe gjorde det best.
Hvis dere vil se hvordan presentasjonen så ut, take a look:

Language acquisition on Prezi

Da vi satt på biblioteket og gjorde siste finpuss, var det noen som la merke til at vi brukte noe annet enn Power Point. "Is that your presentation?" Jepp. "I have to have a look at that, because it looks bloody good...". Haha :)

English language: Speech varieties and social groups

Et sånn fag skulle vi hatt i Norge! Det kunne inngått i norskundervisningen og erstattet f.eks. norrønt. Hvorfor skal vi lære hvordan de snakket for mangfoldige år siden, når vi heller kan bruke tiden på å lære hvorfor vi snakker som vi gjør, og hva som påvirker hvordan vi snakker!


Hva lærer vi i faget? Vi lærer om hvordan ulike sosiale grupper bruker språk. Hva slags idiolect (language of an individual) og sociolect (language of a social group) vi har. Hva er forskjellen på menn og kvinners språk, og hvordan påvirker alder, yrke, utdanning, religion, kultur, osv. hvordan vi snakker?
Det er veldig interessant, og er uten tvil favorittfaget mitt. Etter å ha hatt dette faget skal jeg kunne høre på en person snakke, og forstå mye om personen bare ut i fra måten han/hun snakker!

Jeg skal poste et innlegg med fagstoff snart, hvis noen skulle være interesserte. Ellers vet dere som har fulgt bloggen min lenge at det er helt normalt å finne skolepensum på min blogg.

Radioaktivitet

Læreplanen sier at du etter VG1 skal kunne:

• gjennomføre forsøk med radioaktivitet, halveringstid og bakgrunnsstråling og forklare fenomenene (dekkes også gjennom forsøk).
• beskrive kjennetegn ved ulike typer ioniserende stråling og forklare hvordan de utnyttes til teknisk og medisinsk bruk.

Begreper

Radioaktivitet: utsendelse av stråler fra atomkjerner.

Halveringstid: tiden som går før halvparten av atomkjernene i det radioaktive stoffet er omdannet til andre atomkjerner.

Bakgrunnsstråling: konstant, ioniserende stråling fra verdensrommet, luften, fjellgrunnen e.l. Radongass gir de største stråledosene i Norge.

Teknisk bruk av ioniserende stråling

Stråling fra radioaktive kilder kan fortelle når det er passe fullt når brus blir tappet på flasker eller når tannpastablir fylt på tuber. Mange virksomheter bruker også stråling til å måle tykkelsen på tekstiler, plastfolier eller papir. Ioniserende stråling kan også sterilisere, og brukes derfor til å sterilisere bl.a. medisinsk engangsutstyr, krydder, og emballasje.

Medisinsk bruk av ioniserende stråling

Helsevesenet bruker ioniserende stråling for å undersøke om en person har spesielle sykdommer og til diagnotisering. De ulike metodene er:

• CT-undersøkelse: det tas lagvise bilder ved hjelp av røntgenstråling. Røntgenrøret og detektoren kan rotere rundt pasienten, og ta bilder fra mange forskjellige vinkler. Ved å sprøyte inn et kontrastmiddel i kroppen (som tar opp strålingen) kan CT-maskinen vise detaljer som blodårer.
• Scintigrafi: det sprøytes et radioaktivt stoff som sender ut gammastråling inn kroppen eller direkte inn i det organet som skal undersøkes. Strålingen registreres av et gammakamera.
• PET: gir nøyaktive bilder helt ned på cellenivå. Også ved denne metoden brukes det en radioaktiv isotop. PET-maskinen registerer fotonpar med et gammakamera.
• MR: bruker et kraftig magnetfelt som påvirker hydrogenatomene i kroppen. Deretter sendes det inn radiobølger i det området som skal undersøkes. I motsetning til de andre diagnosemetodene brukes det ikke ioniserende stråling ved MR-undersøkelser.

Stoffet er hentet fra Naturfag 5, utgitt av Aschehoug i 2005.

Stråling

Læreplanen sier at du etter VG1 skal kunne:

• forklare hvordan elektromagnetisk stråling fra verdensrommet kan tolkes og gi informasjon om verdensrommet.
• beskrive hvordan nordlys oppstår, og hvordan Norge har vært og er et viktig land i forskningen på dette feltet.
• forklare hva drivhuseffekt er, og gjøre rede for og analysere hvordan menneskelig aktivitet endrer energibalansen i atmosfæren.
• gjøre rede for mulige konsekvenser av økt drivhuseffekt, blant annet i arktiske områder, og hvilke tiltak som settes i verk internasjonalt for å redusere økningen i drivhuseffekten.
• forklare ozonlagets betydning for innstrålingen fra sola.
• drøfte spørsmål knyttet til (...) og soling.

Tolking av stråling fra verdensrommet

Ved å se på fargen til en stjerne, kan vi finne ut hvilken temperatur stjernen har. Dersom vi vil vite hvilke kjemiske stoffer stjernene består av, kan vi se på spektrallinjene til stjernene. 

Nordlys

Sola sender hele tiden ut elektrisk ladde partikler, kalt solvind. De ladde partiklene fra solvinden kolliderer med molekyler i jordatmosfæren. Dette gjør at elektronene i molekylene blir eksitert ("hopper" ut og inn igjen), og sender ut et foton (en lyskvant). Fotonene blir ledet ned mot den magnetiske polen, og vi får se nordlys. Hvilken farge nordlyset har avhenger av hvilke gasser partiklene fra sola kolliderer med. Kolliderer de med oksygen vil vi se grønt lys, mens blått og rødt kommer fra nitrogen.

Norge er gunstig plassert i forhold til både forskning på både dagnordlys (Svalbard) og nattnordlys (Nordland).

Avdekkingen av nordlysets gåter er en paradegrein i norsk forskning. Det første store steget ble tatt av Christopher Hansteen, som arbeidet med å kartlegge jordas magnetfelt. Han kombinerte kunnskapen med observasjoner av nordlys, som opptrer i buer. Hansteen konkluderte med at nordlysbuene måtte være en del av en lysende ring, nordlysovalen, og hevdet at denne nordlysovalen hadde sentrum over den magnetiske polen, ikke den geografiske.

Kristian Birkeland var vitenskapsmann og en sentral mann på mange områder i norsk historie. Når det gjaldt nordlysforskning hadde han en hypotese som sa at nordlys oppstår når ladde partikler fra sola kommer inn i jordas magnetfelt. For å teste hypotesen sin lagde han en terella (en liten jord). Birkeland klarte med denne terellaen å gjenskape nordlysovalen i miniatyr. 

Carl Størmer gjorde de første vellykkede høydemålingene av nordlyset, som viste at nordlyset ikke har noe med skydannelse å gjøre.

Drivhuseffekten - grunnlaget for liv

Menneskelig aktivitet har ført til at mengden av drivhusgasser i atmosfæren har økt. Arktiske områder er spesielt sårbare for slike forandringer. Konsekvenser av økt drivhuseffekt kan være temperaturforandring, issmelting, havnivået stiger, arter dør ut (eks. isbjørn), permafrosten tiner... Energibalanse har vi når jorda mottar like mye energi (fra sola) som den selv sender ut (varmestråling). Blir energibalansen forskjøvet vil temperaturen endre seg slik at balansen gjenopprettes.

Internasjonale tiltak som er satt i verk for å redusere økningen i drivhuseffekten er bl.a. FNs klimakonvensjon og Kyotoavtalen. 

Ozonlaget

Ozonlaget beskytter oss mot det meste av UV-strålingen fra sola. Utslipp av KFK-gasser kan bryte ned ozonlaget slik at mer av UV-strålingen slipper gjennom. Man snakker av og til om hull i ozonlaget - dette betyr ikke at det faktisk er et fysisk hull i ozonlaget, men at det er lite ozon på dette området, altså veldig tynt ozonlag. Mange land har forpliktet seg til å stoppe alle utslipp av KFK-gasser gjennom Montrealprotokollen.

Soling - sunt, farlig eller begge deler?

UV-strålingen ved bakken er bestemt av solhøyden, tykkelsen på ozonlaget, bakkens refleksjonsevne og skydekket. Uv-strålingen deles gjerne inn i UVA, UVB og UVC, hvor UVA-strålingen trenger dypest inn i huden. UV-fotonene har så stor energi at de kan skade arvestoffet i hudcellene. I dag er vi oppmerksomme  på faren for hudkreft ved soling. Øyesykdommen grå stær kan også oppstå som en langtidseffekt av for mye UV-stråling på øyet. UV-stråling kan også svekke immunforsvaret og aktivere enkelte virus (f.eks. munnsår (herpes) og virusert HIV).

En positiv helseeffekt ved soling er at UV-strålingen stimulerer produksjonen av D-vitamin i huden. Enkelte hudsykdommer bedrer seg også i sol, f.eks. psoriaris, og UVC-stråler (med kortest bølgelende) kan få sår til å gro raskere. 

Stoffet er hentet fra Naturfag 5, utgitt av Aschehoug i 2005.

Arv, bioteknologi og genteknologi

Arv, Sammendrag av kap. 7 og 8 i Naturfag 5.

Gener og DNA

I cellekjernen ligger arvematerialet som 46 lange DNA-molekyler. Et kromosom er et DNA-molekyl som er nøstet opp på noen spesielle proteiner. DNA-molekylet er bygd opp av sukkermolekyler, fosformolekyler og de fire nitrogenbasene adenin, tymin, cytosin og guanin. Nitrogenbasene danner par; A og T, og C og G. Et gen er en bestemt, avgrenset rekkefølge av nitrogenbaser i et DNA-molekyl. De fleste gener er oppskrifter på proteiner. Vi har fått 23 kromosomer fra far og 23 fra mor. Derfor forekommer kromosomene i par. Kromosomene i et par inneholder gener for de samme egenskapene. To slike gener kalles genpar. Kromosomkopier er to identiske DNA-molekyler som henger sammen i et punkt, og som sammen utgjør et kromosom.

Google Docs - et nyttig verktøy

Er du lei av å sende dokumenter på mail, laste dem ned - og ha 10 forskjellige versjoner av samme dokument? Skulle du ønske det fantes en lettere måte å gjøre det på? Det gjør det!

Med Google Docs kan du laste opp dokumenter, opprette nye dokumenter, lage presentasjoner, regneark, tegninger og skjemaer. Disse kan du gi ulike etiketter, eller legge i ulike mapper. Det som er så fantastisk bra med Google Docs er:

1. Du kan dele dokumentet med andre (f.eks. dersom du har et gruppearbeid).
2. Dem som har tilgang til å redigere dokumentet, kan arbeide samtidig i samme dokument!
3. Dokumentet (el. regneark o.l.) lagres gjevnlig av seg selv.
4. Du kan finne dokumentene igjen på hvilken som helst PC - de ligger på nettet! (Det eneste du må gjøre for å finne dem, er å logge på med din Google-konto)

Har du ikke Google-konto, anbefaler jeg deg å signe up idag. Det er gratis, og bare helt genialt! Med denne Google-kontoen får du tilgang til Google Documents, Google Calendar, Picasaweb - og selvfølgelig Google Mail, ofte forkortet med Gmail.

Bruker du Google Docs?

English accents

Haha, fantastisk! Har en skoleoppgave som heter "English as a global language" - og jeg må jo bare bruke denne i presentasjonen!
Hva synes du?

SÅNN vil jeg lære nynorsk

Synes denne filmen/rappen er kjempekul! Jeg tror jeg kan ha rett når jeg sier at de fleste elever misliker nynorsk - men hvis vi kunne lært på denne måten; laget vår egen rap eller sang eller lignende, hadde det ikke blitt mye mer interessant da? Det tror jeg. Og jeg tror også det hadde blitt mye gøyere!



Hva synes du?

IKT i undervisningen

Senter for IKT i utdanningen - Rom for læring from Howie Arnstad on Vimeo.

Hva synes du?

Ville du likt å lære på denne måten?

Arbeids- og næringsliv

Hva mener vi med arbeid? Hvorfor arbeider vi?

Arbeid er den tiden du utfører lønnsarbeid for andre, resten er fritid. Arbeid er dermed mer knyttet til posisjoner i arbeidslivet eller yrkeslivet som gir deg inntekt. Noen vil være kritiske til å bruke dette begrepet, i og med at det kan nedvurdere betydningen av en rekke ulønnede aktiviteter, som for eksempel omsorgsoppgaver i hjemmet. Hvis du spør noen hva de jobber med, svarer de gjerne det de holder på med på arbeidsstedet sitt. Vi kan kalle dette det formelle arbeidet.

IKT-senteret: Fremtiden starter nå

Senter for IKT i utdanningen - Fremtiden starter nå from Howie Arnstad on Vimeo.

Kulturforståelse

Prøvesammendrag fra kap 8; Hva er kultur?, del 4; Kulturforståelse. Klikk deg inn i innlegget for å lese mer.

Når en gruppe mennesker har en del grunnleggende felles holdninger og verdier, har de en felles kultur. For eksempel så kan de ha samme religion, snakke samme språk, eller mene omtrent det samme om hva som er rett og galt.