A Ton of Crap (33 page)

THINKING

Creativity
Creativity is the process where a person creates something new and the end result has some sort of value. The value might be anything from personal growth to monetary value. Some researchers believe creativity is a result of the cognitive processes involved in intelligence. It is believed that the frontal lobe of the brain is the most important area for creativity.

GRAPHS

Pictographs
Pictographs use picture symbols to represent data and compare trends. The symbols used represent a specific quantity, and are repeated a certain number of times along the chart. Pictographs do not provide precise information but rather give a general representation. An example of a pictograph would be a chart showing the amount of apples four students have eaten. The key on the bottom might say that for every picture of an apple, four apples have been eaten. So on the chart, if the students have three apples pictured by their names, it means they’ve actually eaten twelve apples each.

THE EARTH’S LAYERS

The Atmosphere
The final layer is not on the ground, but above it. The atmosphere is what surrounds the planet and what gives life to the planet. There are several layers in the atmosphere, and it is about 500 miles thick. It is composed of various gases, dust, and water. The atmosphere provides warmth and even protection from the sun’s rays and meteorites.

ALBANIAN

Useful Albanian Phrases
Here are some helpful phrases to use when traveling to Albania:

Hello.
Tungjatjeta.

Goodbye.
Mirupafshim.

Thank you.
Faleminderit.

Yes.
Po.

No.
Jo.

I don’t speak Albanian.
Nuk flas Shqip.

I don’t understand.
Nuk kuptoj.

Do you speak English?
Flisni Angisht?

Excuse me.
Më falni.

Good morning.
Mirëmëngjes.

Good afternoon.
Mirëdita.

Good evening.
Mirëmbrëma.

Good night.
Natën e mire.

What is your name?
Si ju quheni?

1. What happened during the Third Crusade?
   

   1. The king and thousands of his troops were captured and defeated by the Egyptian army led by the Ayyubid Sultan, with support from the Mamluks.
      
   2. The king of England and Saladin eventually came to a truce in which Jerusalem would remain under Saladin’s control but unarmed Christian pilgrims were allowed to visit the city.
      
   3. The Ayyubid Sultan launched an attack that would lead to the surrender of the crusaders and an eight-year peace agreement was made.
      
   4. None of the above.
      

2. Which of the following is true?
   

   1. The Crusades were only led by popes.
      
   2. The Crusades were only led by kings.
      
   3. The Crusades were led by popes at first and then kings later on.
      
   4. The Crusades were led by kings initially and then popes later on.
      

3. An awareness or ability to sense feelings, memories, sensations, or thoughts is:
   

   1. Consciousness
      
   2. Creativity
      
   3. Imagination
      
   4. Qualia
      

4. Which of the following represents qualia?
   

   1. The taste of an apple
      
   2. Making up a story in your head
      
   3. An unconscious stream of thoughts
      
   4. Creating something new that has an end value
      

5. What kind of chart would you use to show categorical data or values in proportion to the whole?
   

   1. Bar graph
      
   2. Line graph
      
   3. Flow chart
      
   4. Pie chart
      

6. Which of the following is true?
   

   1. Line graphs are used to show a change in time; bar graphs are used to show different amounts.
      
   2. Line graphs are used to show different amounts; bar graphs are used to show a change in time.
      
   3. Both line graphs and bar graphs don’t use an
      x
      and
      y
      axis.
      
   4. Bar graphs are shaped like pyramids and show how different departments in a workforce are connected.
      

7. What is the uppermost layer of the Earth?
   

   1. The outer mantle
      
   2. The inner mantle
      
   3. The crust
      
   4. The outer core
      

8. What type of rock is continental crust?
   

   1. Basalt
      
   2. Granite
      
   3. Magma
      
   4. Nickel-iron alloy
      

9. What do Albanians call their language?
   

   1. Thracian
      
   2. Dacien
      
   3. Proto-Romanian
      
   4. Shqip
      

10. How do you say “excuse me”
    in Albanian?
    

    1. Më falni.
       
    2. Nuk kuptoj.
       
    3. Natën e mire.
       
    4. Mirëmbrëma.
       

ANSWER KEY: b, c, a, a, d, a, c, b, d, a

HISTORY:
The Renaissance
What Led to the Renaissance, The Medici Family, Early Renaissance, High Renaissance, Northern Renaissance, Advancements in Technology and Science

LANGUAGE ARTS:
Visual Literacy
What Is Visual Literacy?, Why Visual Literacy Is Important, Data Visualization, Typography, Color, The Power of Photography

MATH:
Pi
The Symbol, The Definition, Early History of Pi, Pi Gets More Accurate, An Irrational Constant, The Not-So-Accurate Pi

SCIENCE:
Natural Disasters
Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Avalanches, Tsunamis, Volcanic Eruptions

FOREIGN LANGUAGE:
Portuguese
The Origins, Dialects, Related Languages, The Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990, Portuguese Today, Useful Portuguese Phrases

THE RENAISSANCE

What Led to the Renaissance
The Renaissance was a return to the classicism and humanism of Ancient Greece in Europe following the Middle Ages. Following the Black Death, there was a great change in the European economy. That, along with the invention of the printing press, the fall of the Byzantine Empire, and the Crusades all led to the birth of the Renaissance, where Classic Greek and Roman art, literature, and philosophy were reintroduced into European culture.

VISUAL LITERACY

What Is Visual Literacy?
Visual literacy is a method of teaching based on the principle that visual images are a language that must be learned, and one should be able to understand, apply, and create visual messages. The term was created by Jack Debes. In a world of mass media, visual literacy has become increasingly more important; however, visual literacy is not limited to simply media.

PI

The Symbol
Pi is a mathematical constant. Pi is always equal to the ratio between the area of a circle to its radius that is squared. Pi is represented by the Greek letter
π
. This symbol’s name is pi, and it is the symbol still used today. The letter stems from the Greek word
περίμετρος
, meaning “perimeter.” The first to use the symbol as the mathematical constant was William Jones in 1708. The mathematical constant is always represented by the lowercase
π
, because the capital version,
∏
, has an entirely different meaning.

NATURAL DISASTERS

Earthquakes
The Earth’s crust and the mantle slowly move in separate pieces called tectonic plates. The edges of these tectonic plates are called boundaries, and the boundaries are made of faults. As the plates move, the edges get stuck as the rest of the plate continues to move. When the plate finally moves far enough away, the edges of the plate get unstuck on one of the faults, and this release of energy creates an earthquake.

PORTUGUESE

The Origins
Portuguese is the sixth most-spoken language in the world. It is a Romance language that evolved from Latin, which was spoken on the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula. From a.d. 409 to 711, Germanic people inhabited the land, which led to regional variation. From the ninth to eleventh centuries, Portuguese-Galician was first being used in official administrative documents. In the eleventh century, the Christians of the region took over the land, and Portuguese and Galician split.

THE RENAISSANCE