Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Selective Eating Disorder (SED)



Few days back I was reading an article on selective eating disorder. It is an eating disorder that prevents the consumption of certain foods. It is often viewed as a phase of childhood that is generally overcome with age. Children may not grow out of the disorder, however, and may continue to be afflicted with SED throughout their adult lives. 

I was really shocked to know that people can survive on single food item throughout their life. There is a girl who lives on chips and cheese and the very thought of fruits and vegetables makes her vomit. As a result, she has become overweight and is suffering from many deficiencies. Some psychiatrists attribute it to anxiety around past traumatic experiences such as choking on a food with a particular texture. Others suggest it could stem from an ingrained phobia of trying unfamiliar things, or liken it to the extreme sensitivity to textures and smells that coincides with autism or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Picky eating is commonly associated with children, a handful don’t outgrow it once they hit adolescence. French fries, pizza, sandwiches and other “kid” foods often make up their primary staples, while fruits and vegetables are almost always seen as inedible. For kids, not being able to eat cake at a birthday party means they might be too embarrassed to attend. But as they grow older, a limited diet can have life-altering consequences. They can’t “just try it,” as many say they’re pressured to do. In a culture that revolves around food, everyday activities such as dates, business dinners and weddings are stressful for picky eaters, who say they often make up excuses to refrain from eating and to avoid uncomfortable questions. 

Kids are at greater risk of becoming picky adults. Family meals should be fun. They are not a time to argue, reprimand about grades, or harass about eating habits. And dining together needs to happen regularly, so kids can watch others enjoying a variety of foods and be exposed to different smells — even if they don't eat much themselves. Only in this supportive context may a picky eater feel safe enough to try something new — but there is no guarantee they will like it.

Regards

Friday, September 21, 2012

Is this the correct way to make kids disciplined?



All parents want their kids to be disciplined. But it’s a herculean task to make kids follow discipline all the time. Some kids are born to break rules and it is really difficult to make them follow rules and regulations. It is tough to control the behavior of kids. Parents use all kinds of tricks to make their little ones listen to them and follow their orders but they do not succeed every time. 

Some parents use threats to make their kids disciplined. For example, “If you will not wear this dress, I’ll lock you in the cupboard”. However, these types of threats instill fear among the kids and they follow the orders out of fear, not out of respect. My friend has to drop her daughter to playschool every day and whenever she resists going to playschool, she says, “If you will not go to playschool, I’ll lock you alone in the home with the ghost”. Now, her daughter cries whenever she finds herself alone in the home and is scared to death by the thought of staying alone. 

Another method which parents use is giving bribes to their kids. For example, “If you will finish your vegetables, I’ll give you chocolate”. Well, this trick actually works but then the kids start expecting chocolates every time they finish their vegetables. Soon they start expecting some reward in return of doing everything which they resist.

Threats or bribes cannot make the kids disciplined. Parents need to use different techniques to encourage their kids to be disciplined. They need to reinforce good behavior among kids by appreciating their work or through encouragement. They should make the kids understand in a way they can understand, without using complex statements.  Kids emulate their parents’ behavior, hence first parents need to be disciplined, then only they can expect their kids to follow rules. 


Regards

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Kindergartners can solve relatively complex addition and subtraction problems if allowed to use their intuitive grasp of approximate quantities

It’s probably an exaggeration to say that kids are natural math geniuses. But kindergartners can solve math problems with large numbers long before they officially learn how to add and subtract. By using their instincts to estimate values, researchers report, kids can avoid the confusion of exact calculations.
Psychologists from the University of Nottingham in England recently tested kids from a variety of backgrounds to make sure that wealth or level of education didn’t get in the way of their results.

In the new study, kids faced approximate-arithmetic problems involving addition, such as this one.
In the new study, kids faced approximate-arithmetic problems involving addition, such as this one.
Camilla K. Gilmore 

The first study involved 20 5- and 6-year-olds from wealthy, well-educated families. The kids sat in front of computers that showed a series of three-part math problems. One problem, for example, showed a girl’s face in one box and a boy’s face in another box. Above the girl’s face was a bag labeled “21.” Words on the screen read, “Sarah has 21 candies.”

The next screen showed a bag labeled “30″ above the girl. Words read, “She gets 30 more.” Finally, a bag marked “34″ appeared above the boy. Words read, “John has 34 candies. Who has more?”
Nearly three-quarters of kindergartners got the answer right. If the kids had just guessed who had more candies, only half of them would have been correct.

In a second experiment, the scientists tested 37 kindergartners from poor and middle-class families. The kids had to answer questions in a hallway outside their public school classroom, meaning there were more distractions than in the first study. Still, almost two-thirds of these kids got the answers right.

Subtraction problems presented to kids in the study included this one.
Subtraction problems presented to kids in the study included this one.
Camilla K. Gilmore
In a final experiment, 27 kindergartners from wealthy backgrounds faced a subtraction problem and a comparison problem. Again the text was accompanied by boxes showing girls and boys. Subtraction questions looked like this: “Sarah has 64 candies. She gives 13 of them away. John has 34 candies. Who has more?”

Comparison questions asked things like: “Sarah has 51 candies. Paul has 64 cookies. John has 34 candies. Who has more candies, Sarah or John?”
Again, the young math whizzes came through. They correctly answered two-thirds of the subtraction problems and four-fifths of the comparison problems.

The results of these tests suggest that kids have a natural ability to estimate numbers. Scientists have already observed similar abilities in other animals.
Knowing their students have such math skills might help teachers better teach arithmetic.
“The teachers . . . were skeptical about our experiments,” says lead researcher Camilla K. Gilmore. But in the end, she adds, teachers were “surprised both by their students’ success and by their enjoyment of the tasks.”—Emily Sohn

Source: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2007/06/math-naturals-3/

Monday, September 10, 2012

Funny Math Quotes :)




·         Mickey Mouse: "Arithmetic is being able to count up to twenty without taking off your shoes."

·         Charles Darwin: "A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there."

·         Philippe Schnoebelen: "Algebraic symbols are used when you do not know what you are talking about."

·         Paul Harvey: "If there is a 50-50 chance that something can go wrong, then 9 times out of ten it will."

·         "Decimals have a point."

·         "Natural numbers are better for your health."

·         "To a mathematician, real life is a special case."

·         "This is a one line proof, if we start sufficiently far to the left."

·         "Mathematics is like love, a simple idea, but it can get complicated."

·         "I heard that parallel lines actually do meet, but they are very discrete."

·         "A tragedy of mathematics is a beautiful conjecture ruined by an ugly fact."

·         "These days, even the most pure and abstract mathematics is in danger to be applied."

·         "The highest moments in the life of a mathematician are the first few moments after one has proved the result, but before one finds the mistake."

·         If you liked those then check out some of Albert Einstein's math quotes as well as famous math quotes from other mathematicians and philosophers.
·         If humor is more your thing then we've got some math jokes for kids and funny math riddles too.

Regards

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Conversion Table :)



Standard Units
Unit
Symbol
Definition
Time
second
sec
1 s
minute
min
60 s
hour
hr
60 min
hour
hour
1 hr
hour
h
1 hr
day
day
24 hr
shake
shake
10 ns
Hertz
Hz
1 s^-1
Length or Distance
international foot
ft
0.3048 m
inch
in
1.0/12.0 ft
international mile
mile
5280.0 ft
international mile
mi
1 mile
milli-inch
mil
0.001 in
Parsec
pc
3.085678e16 m
League
league
3 mile
Astronomical Unit
ua
1.49598e11 m
Astronomical Unit
AU
1.49598e11 m
yard
yd
3 ft
Angstrom
Ang
1e-10 m
Angstrom
\\AA
1 Ang
furlong
furlong
220 yd
fathom
fathom
6 ft
Rod
rd
16.5 ft
U.S. survey foot
sft
(1200./3937.) m
U.S. survey mile
smi
5280 sft
point
pt
1./72. in
pica
pica
1./6. in
Temperature
Celsius
C
1 K -273.15
Rankine
R
5.0/9.0 K
Fahrenheit
F
1 R -459.67
Mass
gram
g
0.001 kg
gram
gm
g
pound mass
lbm
0.45359237 kg
Troy pound
lbt
0.3732417 kg
carat (metric)
carat
0.2 g
slug
slug
1 lb sec^2/ft
snail
snail
1 lb sec^2/in
Short Ton
ton
2000 lbm
Long Ton
ton_l
2240 lbm
Ounce
oz
28.34952 g
Grain
gr
64.79891 mg
Pennyweight
dwt
1.55174 g
Force or Weight
Newton
N
1 kg m/s^2
Dyne
dyn
1e-5 N
pound force
lb
lbm G
pound force
lbf
lbm G
poundal
poundal
1 lbm ft/sec^2
kilopound
kip
1000 lbf
kilogram force
kgf
kg G
Energy
Joule
J
1 N m
British Therm. Unit
BTU
1055.056 J
British Therm. Unit
Btu
1 BTU
British Therm. Unit
BTU_th
1054.350 J
calorie
cal
4.1868 J
calorie
cal_th
4.184 J
Calorie
Cal
4.1868 kJ
electron volt
eV
1.602177e-19 J
erg
erg
1e-7 J
Ton of TNT
TNT
4.184e9 J
Power
Watt
W
1 J/s
Horse Power
hp
550 ft lb/s
Pressure
bar
bar
1e5 N/m^2
Pascal
Pa
1 N/m^2
Pounds per sq. inch
psi
1 lb/in^2
Pounds per sq. ft.
psf
1 lb/ft^2
kilo psi
ksi
1000.0 psi
atmospheres
atm
1.01325e5 N/m^2
inches of Mercury
inHg
3.387 kPa
millimeters Mercury
mmHg
0.1333 kPa
Torr
torr
1.333224 Pa
Volume or Area
Liter
L
1/1000.0 m^3
gallon
gal
3.785412 L
Pint (U.S. liquid)
pint
1/8. gal
Quart (U.S. liquid)
qt
2 pint
Pint (U.S. dry)
dpint
0.5506105 L
Quart (U.S. dry)
dqt
2 dpint
Acre
acre
1/640.0 smi^2
Hectare
ha
10000 m^2
Barrel (petroleum)
barrel
158.9873 L
Fluid Ounce
oz_fl
29.57353 mL
Gill (U.S.)
gi
0.1182941 L
Peck (U.S.)
pk
8.809768 L
Tablespoon
tbl
1/32. pint
Teaspoon
tsp
1/3. tbl
Cup
cup
16. tbl
Coulomb
Co
1 A s
Volt
V
1 W/A
Ohm
ohm
1 V/A
Ohm
\\Omega
1 V/A
Faraday
faraday
96485.31 Co
Farad
farad
Co/V
Stokes
stokes
1e-4 m^2/s
Oersted
Oe
79.57747 A/m
Webber
Wb
V s
Tesla
Tesla
Wb/m^2
Henry
H
Wb/A
Siemens
S
A/V
Lux
lux
cd/m^2
Lux
lx
cd/m^2
Lumen
lm
cd
Stilb
sb
10000 cd/m^2
Phot
ph
10000 lx
Becquerel
Bq
s^-1
Gray
Gy
J/kg
Sievert
Sv
J/kg
pound mole
lbmole
1 mol lbm/g
poise
poise
1 g /sec cm
Gravity's accel.
G
9.80665 m/sec^2
Degree
deg
Pi/180
Percent
%
0.01
Knot
knot
1852 m/hr
Miles per Hour
mph
1 mi/hr
Gallon/minute
gpm
1. gal/min
Revolution/minute
rpm
360 deg/min


Regards