Critical Thinking Exercises for Students

Critical Thinking Exercises for Students Critical thinking is a skill that students develop gradually as they progress in school. While the skill becomes more important in higher grades, some students find it difficult to understand the concept of critical thinking. The reason critical thinking can be difficult to grasp is because it requires students to set aside assumptions and beliefs to learn to think without bias or judgment. Critical thinking involves suspending your beliefs to explore and question topics from a blank page point of view. It also involves the ability to distinguish fact from opinion when exploring a topic. These exercises are designed to help develop critical thinking skills. Critical Thinking Exercise 1: Tour Guide for an Alien This exercise provides an opportunity to think outside your normal way of thinking. Pretend that you have been assigned the task of conducting a tour for aliens who are visiting the earth and observing human life. Youre riding along in a blimp, viewing the landscape below, and you float over a professional baseball stadium. One of the aliens looks down and is very confused by what he sees. You explain that there is a game going on and he asks several important questions. What is a game?  Why are there no female players?Why do people get so excited about watching other people play games?What is a team?Why cant the people in the seats go down on the field and join in? If you try to answer these questions fully, it will quickly become apparent that we carry around certain assumptions and values. We support a certain team, for instance, because it makes us feel like were a part of a community. This sense of community is a value that matters to some people more than others. Furthermore, when trying to explain team sports to an alien, you have to explain the value we place on winning and losing. When you think like an alien tour guide, you are forced to take a deeper look at the things we do and things we value. Sometimes they dont sound logical from the outside looking in. Critical Thinking Exercise 2: Fact or Opinion Do you think you know the difference between fact and opinion? Its not always easy to discern. When you visit websites, do you believe everything you read? The abundance of available information makes it more important than ever for students to develop critical thinking skills. Additionally, its an important reminder that you must use trustworthy sources in your school work. If you dont learn the difference between fact and opinion, you may end up reading and watching things that continue to reinforce beliefs and assumptions you already own. For this exercise, read each statement and try to determine whether it sounds like a fact or an opinion. This can be completed alone or with a study partner. My mom is the best mom on earth.My dad is taller than your dad.My telephone number is difficult to memorize.The deepest part of the ocean is 35,813 feet deep.Dogs make better pets than turtles.Smoking is bad for your health.Eighty-five percent of all cases of lung cancer in the U.S. are caused by smoking.If you flatten and stretch out a Slinky toy it will be 87 feet long.Slinky toys are fun.One out of every one hundred American citizens is color blind.Two out of ten American citizens are boring. You will probably find some of the statements easy to judge but other statements difficult. If you can effectively debate the truthfulness of a statement with your partner, then its most likely an opinion.

International and Comparative Employment Law Assignment

International and Comparative Employment Law - Assignment Example The labour laws provide protection for the relationship between the workers and the employers. Laws of contract formed the legal basis for protection of workers. The employment contract provided protection to the full-time employees (Casale, 2011). However, those workers without any contractual relationship remained unprotected during the engagement with their employers. Workers are protected against unfair dismissal and are expected to continue working for the same organization permanently or seasonally and they have right to join trade unions. The standard work arrangement remained in force until 1970s when global economic changes brought forth intense competition and uncertainty between enterprises (Barnard et. al., 2004, p.46). Employment was regulated by restrictive employment protection legislation and collective agreement between workers unions and the employers in the post-war Europe (Blanpain & Baker, 2010). Due to intense global market pressure firms started pushing for larger profits and flexibility of contracts with workers and responding to consumers’ needs. The changes in a global market have necessitated for more flexible and secure labour market that can offer satisfaction to employers and workers needs simultaneously. The International Labour Organization (ILO) had a view that flexibilization of labour market resulted in erosion of workers’ rights which affected their earnings security and the steadiness of working and living conditions (Lansky, 2013). The economists put forward a suggestion t o compensate diminishing job security by expanding employment opportunities and social security. Therefore, it was necessary to protect the labour market by ensuring stable and secure jobs in the marker. The quest to provide flexible and secure labour market in the European States has been adopted as European Employment Strategy (Blanpain & Baker, 2010).

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 138

Essay Example The initiative was launched in 2004 for the companies who agree to follow minimum security procedures. As per this initiative, the companies need to allow audits to ensure that the security procedures are followed. The C-TPAT also enforces on importers that their vendors, suppliers and manufacturers are undertaking security audits on their businesses. The Container Security Initiative (CSI) is a Customs program initiated by the US government to inspect high-risk cargo at the foreign ports before shipping into the US. This necessitates on foreign ports to use tamper-free containers and screen all high-risk containers. Currently, 37 foreign ports follow CSI procedure of cargo security that constitute 60 percent of all the cargo shipped into the US each year. European Union cargo security rules did exist since 2003; however, the security rules and procedures have been further augmented making it effective from April 2010. The European Union has initiated air cargo security that aims at establishing the security control of consignments and securing supply chain. Accordingly, the cargo not handled by regulated authorities will be physically screened before its loading into aircraft. Various methods are used such as X-rays, physical checks, sniffer dogs or trace-detection. Every product must pass through customs where a multilayered risk management approach is applied that include an "Authorised Economic Operator" (AEO) program for traders. All members will have detailed monitoring system and regular checks on known consignors (European Commission, 2010). The secure supply chain in the European Union is identified as known freight forwarders that fall in the category of regulated agents. They are obligated to meet strict standards of controls such as background checks on staff, training aspects and legal compliance. This is to facilitate faster clearance without additional security controls such as screening. By end 2013,

Control room Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Control room - Movie Review Example As they say, there are always two sides of the story, so it is important for me to listen not just to one opinion and make my own opinion based on that of one group’s point of view. I have always believed that the things I see on television are presented as they are but watching the film, I have come to realize that indeed, we are all humans after all so that even professionals bend their ethical views to favor there personal views. The media is expected to be objective at all times as they are supposed to present facts to the people and how they perceive the circumstances they are reporting about but as Joanne Tucker, the manager of AlJazeera.net said, objectivity is almost a mirage. One cannot really get away from taking sides especially in a case like the war in Iraq because it is a global issue that affects lives, not to mention the lives of civilians and most especially, the lives of innocent children. The video has shown that everyone has his or her own propaganda in suc h chaos. While we would all want peace and order, wars break out because of personal agendas of wanting to be the hero, wanting to be at the top and having all the power and fame. Presidents aim for peace and unity with another aim of being a part of a great cause which could be understandable because they are humans. The media have the same objectives as well, wanting to unite the people with the facts they present yet to some extent fail in their cause, and we understand that again because they are humans. What could probably most unacceptable is the fact that the ordinary person on the street, the innocent ones, the helpless mothers and children in their homes are the real victims, the pawns in this game called war. The video may have caused me to think more critically of the news I watch from now on but it will never change my perceptions on who are the true winners and losers in the issues of war. People fight their fellow people. Regardless of cultural backgrounds, we are all still human beings and have to act as one and not like animals killing each other. In wars, there can never be winners but that we are all losers. Millions of dollars are spent for wars and millions of people die in the course and there will always be rage in our hearts even if we continue to try to live in peace. If our money and strength would have been directed to the higher cause of fighting the war against poverty, then we would all be winners, making others live rather than killed. Whatever the truth is behind all the explanations of all the groups of people interviewed, the fact that wars are a losing end, will always remain true to me. Behind the politicians’ agenda to gain power, honor and fame, they are not winners. Behind the media people’s agenda of prospering their network and being recognized to be the best, gaining as much trophies as they can to parade in their offices, there is no honor found in it because behind all these, the victims are us. Who will speak for the child who spoke for the good of his people, endangering his life by being used as a pawn only to get to the conscience of those concerned? Would you not call that as a losing end as I view it? The video is a presentation of the sides of the people or groups of people i

The Management Styles At Coca Cola Business Essay

The Management Styles At Coca Cola Business Essay Coca Cola is one of the leading manufacturer of the carbonated drinks all around the world . Over the past decades , the Coca Cola remained on the top of the industry . The company was able to withstand the World War II and even took it as the business opportunity rather than a liability . It was even able to surpass the Asian Financial Crisis and even gained better access in the markets that it was not able to fully enter . Coca Cola exhibited the efficient change management as the part of the strategic management process . Change management is the process in which it manages the change in the side of the people . Their individual change management and the organizational change management are the theories of the change management . Aside from the theories , there are also four strategies of the change management which are the Empirical rational , the normative reductive , power coercive and the environmental adaptive which the company has been successfully adopted but it is now faci ng major jolts in its business operations and the competitors are gaining the advantage out of the same . Based on the above case-let , analyse the position of the company with respect to : Coca-Cola Corporation Management Strategies with respect to its technological advancement in 21st centaury . Change in Information System due to changes in the world -wide market structures . ANSWER : Management Styles at Coca-Cola http://www.snre.umich.edu/sites/all/files/styles/blog_image/public/images/coca-cola_logo.jpg The success that the management team has in motivating its employees to meet their objectives is based on the management style they adopt . There are three main management styles democratic , autocratic and the laissez-faire style . The  democratic  leadership style  consists of the leader , sharing the  decision making  abilities with the group members by promoting the interests of the group members and by practicing  social equality . The  authoritarian  leadership style  or  autocratic  leader  keeps strict , close control over the followers by keeping close regulation of the policys and procedures given to the  followers . To keep main emphasis on the distinction of the authoritarian leader and their followers , these types of the leaders make sure to only create a distinct  professional  relationship . The  laissez-faire  leadership style  was first introduced by the Lewin , Lippitt and White in 1938 , along with the autocratic leadership and the democratic leadership styles . The laissez faire style is sometimes described as the hands off leadership style because the leader delegates the tasks to their followers , while providing little or no direction to the followers . The North London Coca Cola branch has ethos or culture than is run in the laissez-faire style meaning the hands off approach . If the workers are meeting their KBI , Key Business Indicators , then the managers and the directors of the company take this relaxed style of coordinating their business . They have a vision to refresh everyone everyday and the values to take pride in their work , to be honest , fair and determined to win and have a passion for the action . With the same spirited investment as the worlds premier marketer and beverage industry leader for more than 118 years , Coca Cola are focused on the strategic workplace programs that help assure the success of our commitment to embracing the similarities and differences of the people , cultures and ideas . Diversity Advisory Council the Companys corporate Diversity Advisory Council consists of the representative group of employees from all the levels , functions and the business units of the organization . The Council develops recommendations for all the senior management on advancing the companys efforts , towards achieving our diversity objectives . Employee Forums Coca Cola believe that the sense of community enhances their ability to attract , retain and develop diverse talent and ideas as the source of competitive business advantage . In the United States , through employee forums , the employees can connect with the colleagues who share similar interests and backgrounds . In these forums and elsewhere , the employees support each others personal and the professional growth and enhance their individual and collective ability to contribute to the company . The success at Coca Cola is due to their laissez-faire culture and the culture is important because it can affect the people and the things to do with the business . If the culture of the business is not clear, it can affect the presence and the punctuality . This means that if Coca Cola had a firm and unfriendly culture , it could result in their staff not coming to work because of the poor working atmosphere , or they might not like the work they are given , so they either come in late or take the day of work . This would result in the business losing out on the work and have less time to call in for the replacement . The culture of the Coca Cola could have an affect on the industrial relations between the managers and the workers. So if the Coca Cola didnt have a warm and genial culture , it would cause more disagreements between the staff and the managers and the staff would not be motivated to work . For example staff may have to cut down on the rest days , this could cause arguments as all the staff would be tired from working everyday and would not have time to recover or time to relax down . However if the company had an inviting culture then the managers and the staff would get very well as the staff , would have less stress to compete with and would have the friendly environment to work in and the work could be done more efficiently . Team working is the sub culture within the Coca-Cola Company . Teams are accountable for the activities like :  · Quality  · Utilisation and  · Yield Within the system , there needs to be a balance of Utilisation , the speed the factory works at and the Yield . The Yield is the amount of raw materials lost or wasted . Teams also vary in the number and are lead by the team leader . A part of the culture and the management style in the Coca Cola Company in Edmonton , is its Employee Engagement . This consists of the following five points : * Realizations , delivery of the hard stuff is simply not enough . * Openly acknowledge this to the workforce . * Do what it takes to engage every employee in the space of 16 days . * Involved everyone in the design of the management style consistent with our vision and the values . * Identified talented individuals across the operation act as the internal facilitators to train out the new behavioral standards . On the factory floor at the Coca Cola , there is an autocratic system of the management where the employees are controlled by the managers and follow their procedures . There are also the elements of the democracy by the team work and uniform . Employees of the company all wear the same uniform , even if they are a manager , a director or a team leader . This means that there is no demarcation and there is the same uniform for the each level of the hierarchy , so nobody feels intimidated . The CCE have also adopted a Quality Culture and to maintain the quality within their products , they have the TQM department . This means the Total Quality Management where they have the staff , who deals with the quality of the Coca Cola . TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT AT COCA COLA http://www.mobile-ent.biz/cimages/05dc7b5069fb141e89bda2d6ccd00217.jpg Over the past decade , the Coca Cola Company has invested around $60 million in the research and development to advance the use of the climate friendly , hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) free cooling technologies . HFC gas is the well known contributor to our planets global warming . The Company has improved their energy efficiency of the cooling equipment by around 40% , transitioned to HFC free insulation foam for the new equipment , eliminating around 75% of the direct GHG emissions and is phasing out the use of HFCs in all the new cold-drink equipment as of 2015, with more than 500,000 units of the HFC free refrigerated equipment already in use throughout the Coca Cola system . In the bottling plants , the Coca Cola has stabilized the emissions system wide and is working to return to the 2004 levels , while also achieving the 5% absolute emissions reduction below the 2004 baseline in the developed countries by 2015 , with the commitment to grow their business without growing the carbon in its manufacturing operations . Till date , the Coca Cola system has improved its energy efficiency of the global manufacturing operations by around 14% since 2004 . In 2010 the global greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing were reduced by around 2% , even as the sales volume increased by 5% . The emissions reductions can also be realized outside of the plant walls where the Coca Cola operates the largest heavy duty hybrid electric delivery fleets in North America with more than around 700 hybrid electric delivery trucks on the road . These trucks reduce fuel and the emissions by nearly 30% . There also are more than 800 light duty hybrid vehicles deployed in North America for the sales representatives . The Company also participates in the consumer facing cause campaigns related to the climate protection measures . In 2011 , with long-term conservation partner WWF the Coca Cola Company helped launch the Arctic Home , the largest cause marketing initiative ever executed by the Company or WWF . Active in the US and Canada , the campaign aimed to raise the widespread awareness and the funds to help protect the polar bear and its habitat . On related fronts , the climate change will alter the amount of available fresh water , further increasing demand for this critical natural resource . The sustainability of the Coca Cola Company products depends on the reliable access to the sources of water , as water is the main ingredient in every product the Company makes . It also is critical to the agricultural ingredients for its beverages . The Company set a global goal is to safely return to the nature and communities an amount of water equivalent to what is used in its beverages and their production by 2020 . To achieve this goal , the Coca Cola is focused on reducing its water use ratio , while increasing the product volume , recycling the water used in the manufacturing processes and returning it to the environment at the level that supports the aquatic life and replenishing or offsetting the water used in the finished beverages by participating in locally relevant community water projects . The Company is also working in innovative the ways to prevent waste over the life of its packaging . In 2009 , the Company launched PlantBottle packaging , the first ever fully recyclable PET plastic beverage bottle made partially from the plants . In 2011 , the Company introduced more than 6 billion PlantBottle packages in the 20 markets , helping save the equivalent annual emissions of around 100,000 metric tons of the carbon dioxide . By 2020 , the Companys goal is to use the Plant Bottle packaging for all of its PET plastic bottles . INNOVATION AT COCA COLA http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Coca-Cola_Products_-_soon_in_more_environemtally_friendly_bottle.jpg Coca Cola has been able to survive in the this changing market because of its ability to systematically innovate and to deliver the new products . It was apparent that the market was changing and in order to keep up with these changes , the Coca Cola had to move from the single core product to the total beverage company . The company began operating in the decentralized environment that was unfeasible in the previous years . Now the Coca Cola offers around 400 different products and is dominating the beverage industry . This is made possible by the companys ability to innovate and adapt to the changing markets . Globalization : Technology is continually changing the business and these constant changes have been making it more feasible and profitable for the businesses to expand their operations globally . Now the Coca Cola is taking the advantage of the large revenue opportunities , made possible by participating in the global market and it now offers products in nearly 200 countries around the world . TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS : Technological Analysis for the Coca-Cola : Technological change creates the opportunities for the new products and product improvements and of course the new marketing techniques . Some factors that cause companys actual results to differ materially from the expected results are as follows : The new technology of the internet and television which use special effects for the advertising through the media. They make some products look very attractive . This helps in the selling of the products . Introduction of the cans and the plastic bottles have increased sales for the Coca Cola as these are very easier to carry and one can easily bin them once they are used . Due to the introduction of these machineries , the production of the Coca Cola company has been increased vastly then it was a few years ago . The Coca Cola has started the operations of its RD facility in India , with a view of localizing its product portfolio . The major focus would be on the non carbonated drinks and the flavours . The companys RD team has already rolled out the drinks such as Maaza aam panna and also athe Maaza mango milk drink and is also exploring the options to enter some new categories in India such as the juices in the localised flavours , energy drinks , sports drinks and the flavoured water . These initiatives are taken by the company to further expand their product portfolio . With the increasing importance of the 360 degree media tools and the overall ad spend on the social media sets likely to grow by around 44% , the Coca Cola has increased its ad spend on the internet . The case in point is the recent 2009 Sprite campaign , which was first launched on the internet .

A Saxon Noble serves King William the First :: Papers

A Saxon Noble serves King William the First About twenty years ago I made my submission to William of Normandy when I saw that we Saxons could no longer resist the rule of William and his knights and men-at-arms; they were simply too strong and well organized to be effectively resisted. My friend Hereward, known as the Wake, held out of for eight years in the Isle of Ely, in the Fens but then even he had to submit. I realised that if we Saxon nobles continued to resist we would lose our land, our animals, our crops, our houses and possibly our lives. Several of the Saxon lords in Yorkshire and Northumbria had all their land laid waste and the peasantry who served them barely survived and many died from starvation. They called it the Harrying of the North. That showed just how ruthless William could be. In the year 1069 we seven gesiths of Warwickshire and the West Country held council together to decide what we should do. We decided not to play heroics since that would be like sentencing most of the geneats, geburs and kotsetlas to starvation and death. These were our people; they depended on us. We seven gesiths decided to go to William’s court together and discuss terms. William was surprisingly generous to us, although he did insist that we should all pay homage to him and give him whatever service he would demand. For example he wanted our help in bringing criminals to justice and he also wanted us each to raise a troop of knights and men-at-arms to give him military service when he needed it. He wanted provisions too from our estates. He re-organized some of our estates, taking away some of our lands for his Norman, Poitevin and Angevin knights, but giving us other land in its place. This had the effect of mixing our Saxon ruling class with the new foreign ruling class of Normans and others. I didn’t particularly like this but I couldn’t see any alternative.

Museum Paper

The purpose of this paper is to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art and write a reaction paper about art works at the museum based on my impressions about them. To begin, I will start by giving you a little of background information about this interesting museum. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens. It opened on February 20, 1872 and was originally located at 681 on Fifth Avenue. Also known as â€Å"The Met†, the museum is located on the eastern edge of Central Park in New York City. It has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art.The main building of the Met is one of the world’s largest art galleries. The museum permanent collection includes art from classical antiquity and Ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all of the European masters and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The Met also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanic, Byzantine, and Is lamic art. The museum is also home of encyclopedic collections musical instruments, costumes and accessories and antique weapons and armor from around the world.As of today, The Met measures almost a quarter mile long and occupies more than two million square feet. When I went to the museum I was amazed by it size. It’s a huge building. It has so many steps at the main entrance and you almost can’t walk because so many people are seating at the steps. It is incredible how many people go to the museum. I was surprise. I didn’t think so many people were going to be there from so many places from the city and all across the world. You cannot walk without bumping another person. It is very interesting seeing and learning about all the arts and sculptures you see in there.I saw a â€Å"Bone Doll† that I found very interesting because it was made with bones incised with schematic anatomical feature formed from a series of geometric shapes and has short arms. Th ere are more elaborate examples that have hair. I also saw a mummy with an inserted panel portrait of a youth from Hawara a part of Egypt. His downy moustache indicates that he was no older than his twenties. I found a Seated Statue of the monarch Idu II Dendera funny because to look at the statue you have to look through a rectangular hole that is in the wall. I think that also makes people curious to look, to see what’s inside there.I didn’t like the painting â€Å"The Man of Sorrows† by Michele Giambono because the man in the painting was bleeding real badly. It was an image of Saint Francis receiving the stigmata with a figure of Christ as the man of sorrows. The painting was done using tempera and gold on wood. I liked the painting of Girolamo dai Libri called â€Å"Madona and Child with Saints† because it was a very peaceful environment. Tempera and oil on canvas was used in the painting. The drawing â€Å"A Hunting Scene† is a very interesti ng painting but I didn’t like it because too much violence was involved. The whole drawing is base on killing.Tempera and oil transferred to masonite were used. The drawing â€Å"Hercules and Achelous† is very interesting because Hercules is fighting Achelous who transformed himself into a bull in order to fight Hercules for the favors of Deianeira. In the struggle, one of his horn snapped off and Nymphs filled it with flowers and fruits creating the Cornucopia, Horn of Plenty. In conclusion, I will talk about the most interesting place in the entire museum for me, The Temple of Dendur. It’s amazing how beautiful this place is. At the entrance, you encounter yourself with two big statues that make it looks like if they were guards of the temple.It also has a very interesting pool aria as part of a landscape of the temple. It’s very beautiful and it gives another look to the temple. At the center, they have two little buildings that you go inside and look at them, and around, they have these kind of benches that you can seat and rest if you have been a while in the museum because trust me, you will get tired. The museum is so big and interesting that you just want to see every little corner like I did. I recommend people to take some time and visit the Met museum because it’s worth going to.