Textos para Prova Integrada 3 Série Médio - Agosto/2015

3ª Série Médio

2º Trimestre 2015

Computers OK? Not in Silicon Valley.

A school plugs into low-tech learning.

   The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school in Los Altos, California. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard.

   But the school's chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home.

   Schools across the US have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policymakers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicentre of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don't mix.

   This is the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, one of about 160 Waldorf schools in the country that subscribe to a teaching philosophy focused on physical activity and learning through creative, hands-on tasks. They are the equivalent of the Steiner schools in Australia. Those who endorse this approach say computers inhibit creative thinking, movement, human interaction and attention spans.

   The Waldorf method is nearly a century old, but its foothold here among the digerati puts into sharp relief an intensifying debate about the role of computers in education.

   ''I fundamentally reject the notion you need technology aids in grammar school,'' said Alan Eagle, 50, whose daughter, Andie, is one of the 196 children at the Waldorf primary school; his son William, 13, is at the nearby high school. ''The idea that an app on an iPad can better teach my kids to read or do arithmetic - that's ridiculous.''

   Eagle knows a bit about technology. He holds a computer science degree and works in executive communications at Google. But he says his daughter, a fifth grader, ''doesn't know how to use Google'' and his son is just learning. (Starting in eighth grade, the school endorses the limited use of gadgets.)

   Three-quarters of the students here have parents with a strong high-tech connection. Eagle, like other parents, sees no contradiction. Technology, he says, has its time and place. ''If I worked at Miramax and made good, artsy, rated-R movies, I wouldn't want my kids to see them until they were 17.''

   While other schools in the region brag about their wired classrooms, the Waldorf school embraces a simple, retro look: blackboards with colourful chalk, bookshelves with encyclopaedias, wooden desks filled with workbooks and pencils.

   On a recent Tuesday, Andie Eagle and her fifth-grade classmates refreshed their knitting skills, making fabric swatches. It's an activity the school says helps develop problem-solving, patterning, math skills and coordination. The long-term goal: making socks.

   Some education experts say the push to equip classrooms with computers is unwarranted because studies do not clearly show that this leads to better test scores or other measurable gains.

   Is learning through cake fractions and knitting any better? The Waldorf advocates make it tough to compare, partly because as private schools, they administer no standardized tests in elementary grades.

   And where advocates for stocking classrooms with technology say children need computer time to compete in the modern world, Waldorf parents counter: what's the rush, given how easy it is to pick up those skills?

   ''At Google and all these places, we make technology as brain-dead easy to use as possible. There's no reason why kids can't figure it out when they get older.''

Ciggies in display ban plan

SHOPKEEPERS could be banned from displaying cigarettes under plans being considered by the Government.

   The Department of Health said it is launching a consultation later this spring to look at ways to stop kids smoking.

   In a bid to cut the number of smokers and prevent children from taking up the habit, ministers have drawn up proposals including a bar on displaying tobacco products and the removal of vending machines from pubs.

   Measures that make it easier to sell nicotine replacement gums and patches are also on the table.

   The proposals follow on from the introduction of the ban on smoking in public places last July.

   According to the Department of Health, the strategy - coupled with the wider smoke free legislation - will save hundreds of lives.

   Someone who starts smoking aged 15 is three times more likely to die of cancer due to smoking than someone who starts in their late twenties, the department said.

   Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said: "Children who smoke are putting their lives at risk and are more likely to die of cancer than people who start smoking later.

   "It's vital we get across the message to children that smoking is bad. If that means stripping out vending machines or removing cigarettes from behind the counter, I'm willing to do that."

   According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, the proportion of adults who now smoke has dropped by 2 per cent from 24 per cent to 22 per cent.

Textos para Prova Integrada 1 Série Médio - Agosto/2015

1ª Série Médio

2º Trimestre 2015

TEXT I: AIR POLLUTION

One of the formal definitions of air pollution is as follows – ‘The presence in the atmosphere of one or more contaminants in such quality and for such duration as is injurious, or tends to be injurious, to human health or welfare, animal or plant life.’ It is the contamination of air by the discharge of harmful substances. Air pollution can cause health problems and it can also damage the environment and property. It has caused thinning of the protective ozone layer of the atmosphere, which is leading to climate change.

Modernization and progress have led to air getting more and more polluted over the years. Industries, vehicles, increase in the population, and urbanization are some of the major factors responsible for air pollution. The following industries are among those that emit a great deal of pollutants into the air: thermal power plants, cement, steel, refineries, petro chemicals, and mines.

Air pollution results from a variety of causes, not all of which are within human control. Dust storms in desert areas and smoke from forest fires and grass fires contribute to chemical and particulate pollution of the air. The source of pollution may be in one country but the impact of pollution may be felt elsewhere. The discovery of pesticides in Antarctica, where they have never been used, suggests the extent to which aerial transport can carry pollutants from one place to another. Probably the most important natural source of air pollution is volcanic activity, which at times pours great amounts of ash and toxic fumes into the atmosphere.

Listed below are the major air pollutants and their sources.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colourless, odourless gas that is produced by the incomplete burning of carbon-based fuels including petrol, diesel, and wood. It is also produced from the combustion of natural and synthetic products such as cigarettes. It lowers the amount of oxygen that enters our blood. It can slow our reflexes and make us confused and sleepy.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the principle greenhouse gas emitted as a result of human activities such as the burning of coal, oil, and natural gases.

Chloroflorocarbons (CFC) are gases that are released mainly from air-conditioning systems and refrigeration. When released into the air, CFCs rise to the stratosphere, where they come in contact with few other gases, which lead to a reduction of the ozone layer that protects the earth from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun.

Lead is present in petrol, diesel, lead batteries, paints, hair dye products, etc. Lead affects children in particular. It can cause nervous system damage and digestive problems and, in some cases, cause cancer.

Ozone occurs naturally in the upper layers of the atmosphere. This important gas shields the earth from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. However, at the ground level, it is a pollutant with highly toxic effects. Vehicles and industries are the major source of ground-level ozone emissions. Ozone makes our eyes itch, burn, and water. It lowers our resistance to colds and pneumonia.

Nitrogen oxide (Nox) causes smog and acid rain. It is produced from burning fuels including petrol, diesel, and coal. Nitrogen oxides can make children susceptible to respiratory diseases in winters.

TEXT II: GLOBAL WARMING

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes, "most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations," which leads to warming of the surface and lower atmosphere by increasing the greenhouse effect. Natural phenomena such as solar variation combined with volcanoes have probably had a small warming effect from pre-industrial times to 1950, but a cooling effect since 1950. The basic conclusions have been endorsed by at least 30 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists is the only scientific society that rejects these conclusions, and a few individual scientists also disagree with parts of them.

Remaining scientific uncertainties include the exact degree of climate change expected in the future, and how changes will vary from region to region around the globe. There is ongoing political and public debate regarding what, if any, action should be taken to reduce or reverse future warming or to adapt to its expected consequences. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol aimed at combating greenhouse gas emissions.

Texto para Prova Integrada 2 Série Médio - Agosto/2015

2ª Série Médio

2º Trimestre 2015

Anabolic steroid use

 in adolescents and high schools

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are extremely powerful drugs.  “Anabolic” means to grow and “androgenic,” pertains to the development of male characteristics.  AAS are a synthetic version of the body’s naturally occurring hormone testosterone, the same chemical responsible for male sexual traits and the fundamental component in muscle development.  AAS are used medically to boost testosterone in males whose natural production is insufficient, to block or eliminate estrogen production in females with breast or reproductive cancers, to aid in anemia, and to preserve lean body tissue in patients with immune system and muscle wasting diseases.  Although AAS usage has the potential for negative side effects, they are often outweighed by the benefits patients receive when administered under a physician’s care.

Though most commonly seen in bodybuilding, AAS are also prevalent in non-bodybuilder circles when there is dissatisfaction with one’s physique, a desire to shed unwanted fat, or the need to gain additional muscle mass.  Jack is a member of a local health club and former football player at Virginia Tech who exclaims, “I wanted the body of a 25-year old pro athlete at eighteen years old.  What I didn’t understand was that at 18, I was still growing.”  A consistent steroid user throughout his high school and college careers, Jack was like many teenagers who seek chemical assistance in fulfilling social and athletic goals.  According to the Monitoring the Future Survey by The University of Michigan, in 2006, 2.7% of high school seniors reported they had tried steroids at least once in their lifetime.  The majority of those who fall victim to teenage steroid abuse are male athletes seeking to better their performance in sports, be more competitive in the pursuit of athletic scholarships, or to gain recognition outside of the arena.  Females as well as males have shockingly admitted trying steroids as early as age 11, and are said to most commonly do so for aesthetic purposes.