History of Texas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History of Texas - Essay Example e Indians and the Spaniards, who then decided to adopt the encomienda system, which seemed to be less destructive to the Indians, but was exploitative in nature (Ewers 82). Initially, the Spanish priests and explorers had recorded thousands of ethnic groups who had dominated the region for approximately 300 years. The names of the ethnic groups changed frequently, and they ranged from 100 to 500 persons. In 1690, the population of Indians in Texas and North Eastern Mexico was estimated tom lie in between 86,100 and 999,000 people. 15,000 of the Indians used to live in the Rio Grande delta (Ewers 82). After the introduction of smallpox and slavery, the Coahuiltecans were decimated in the Monterrey region. Since the Spanish expansion was a remote one, the Coahuiltecans did not suffer significantly from the diseases that the Europeans introduced to them as well as the slave raids that they undertook in Northern Mexico. However, in 1718 after the mission that was carried out by the Franciscan Roman Catholic at San Antonio, the population of the Indians went down significantly because of the smallpox epidemics that began in 1739 (Ewers 83). Before 1825, most of the Indian ethnic groups had gone down, and those that remained were rapt by the Hispanic population that was situated in Texas as well as Mexico (Ewers 84). Therefore, it is evident that the introduction of epidemics to the Indians in Texas led to the elimination of the ethnic groups as well as their

Autism Essay examples -- essays research papers

   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several reasons why I chose the topic of Autism. First, autism is intriguing because it is very hard to understand. Medical science is at a loss to explain why and how it occurs. Second, I have had occasion to develop a personal relationship with children who are afflicted with autism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At The Children’s Institute, where I volunteer, I sit and play with many kids, two of whom are very hard to play with. Even though they are five and six years old, they avoid making eye contact with others, and often refuse to play with the other kids. Also, once they start watching something, like television, it is very hard to get them to look somewhere else. They are focused, almost mesmerized by the television, especially if there are flashing lights or colors. One child rocks back and forth, sometimes slowly and sometimes faster. An older child makes noises a lot, hums and randomly laughs for no reason. My observations prompted me to do some research into autism and I found that these were traits which others had also observed in patients afflicted with autism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Autism has mystified scientists and doctors for more than a century. So, what do we know about it now? It is a complex developmental disability that usually appears during the first three years of life, and it arises from a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain. The brainstem of a person with autism is shorter than a normal brainstem, lacks a structure known as the superior olive and has a smaller than normal structure known as the facial nucleus. Scientists who have observed the brainstems of autistic patients have reported that it is though a band of tissue is missing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The symptoms of autism vary from one person to another. Some people can be affected greatly by one symptom, while other may be affected more strongly by a different symptom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This developmental disability impacts normal development of the brain in areas such as social interaction and communication skills. Children with autism cannot interpret the emotional states of others, they don’t recognize anger, sorrow or manipulative intent. Their language skills are limited and they will often fail to initiate and sustain conversations.   Ã‚   ... ...ng.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A child with autism is normal in appearance to the untrained eye. But scientists have identified a few physical anomalies. The corners of the mouth are low compared with the center of the upper lip, and the tops of the ears flop over. Also, the ears are a bit lower than normal and have almost a square shape.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the information I have gathered, we see both how similarly affected the victims of autism are and how much the effects of autism vary from one person to another. New scientific discoveries have served to dispel some of the mystery of this complex developmental disability. Of course, it is frustrating for anyone who has a family member or is a family friend of an autistic person because there is still no explanation for why autism strikes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As a volunteer who works with autistic children, I believe it is important to increase awareness and understanding of this affliction. We can and should reach out to autistic children and help them live lives that are as meaningful and productive as possible. In doing so, I have found that we can enrich not just their lives but our own as well.

Major Life Event Development Through Life

As people live their lives, they usually and often experience various life events that influence their lives. If people suddenly experience a major life change it is likely that they will feel stressed and out of control. For example both Gloria and have experienced life events that have changed their lives forever. These events can either be predicted or unpredicted and these events are explained below. Predictable events Parenthood: As was seen in the case study, Gloria was not married to Ted before she unexpectedly found herself pregnant.Fortunately she had a beautiful baby girl. However, she and her baby daddy Ted have had to cope with being parents. This means that they had to learn new parental skills which involve learning how to take care of their child. For example, Ted, although at first did not assume responsibility, had to changed his old previous lifestyle. That means that both of them have to be able to bond with their daughter, and their free time for going out and â⠂¬Ëœhang out’ with friends are forever reduced, due to the arrival of Sunshine.Both Jason and Jasmine, Gloria’s parents and Lucy have experienced this life event; they had children. Retirement: During old age, usually at sixty five years of age, people are required to retire and leave their job, meaning that they no longer have any role in the society. Well some roles anyway. This also means that people may have more time for them-selves and their family as well as disengaging from work. At this point of people’s life, it may be hard for them to establish a new lifestyle, because they have worked all their lives – for Lucy, she had to join the bingo club.This also means that contacts with friends may be lost. On the other hand, Lucy, although is retired, still keeps active and has contact with people at her bingo as well as having a positive relationship with her family. Unpredictable events Illness or serious injury: It has been noted in the case study t hat Ted, as very young as he is at the age of twenty two, has been involved in motor bike accident, resulting to injury, leading to him lose his job.Due to this injury, it is obvious that Ted has to learn to cope, adapt and live with this physical change – changes may have included broken body parts, leading to disability, although the case didn’t mention that much. This may lead to Ted being depressed and feeling angry and wishing he was his old self. Many people who suffered serious injury – that leads to disability – may find it very hard to adapt to their situation. Bereavement: Due to the loss of their loved ones, people’s, both children and adult, physical, social and emotional lifestyle may change dramatically.People usually feel angry and depressed and are unable to cope with their losses. People who experience bereavement may lose dramatic weight due loss of apetite, they may not be able to concentrate, and their sleep may be disturbed. Re search shows that children who experience bereavement are likely to develop psychiatric disorder in later childhood and are also likely to develop difficult behaviour. References: http://www. pearsonschoolsandfecolleges. co. uk ( accessed on the 31/10/12)

Omnivore Definition and Examples

An omnivore is an organism that eats both animals and plants. An animal with such a diet is said to be omnivorous. An omnivore that youre probably pretty familiar with are humans—most humans (other than those who dont get any nutrition from animal products because of medical or ethical reasons) are omnivores. The Term Omnivore The word omnivore comes from the Latin words omni—meaning all—and vorare—meaning devour, or swallow. Therefore, omnivore means devours all in Latin. This is pretty accurate, as omnivores can get their food from a variety of sources. Food sources can include algae, plants, fungi, and animals.  Animals may be omnivorous their entire lives or just at specific stages of life. Advantages and Disadvantages of Being an Omnivore Omnivores have the advantage of being able to find food in a variety of places. Therefore, if one prey source diminishes, they can fairly easily switch to another one.  Some omnivores are also scavengers, meaning they feed on dead animals or plants, which further increases their food options. They do have to find their food—omnivores either wait for their food to pass by them or need to actively seek it out.  Since they have such a general diet, their means of getting food is not as specialized as carnivores or herbivores. For example, carnivores have sharp teeth for ripping and gripping prey and herbivores have flatter teeth adapted for grinding.  Omnivores may have a mix of both kinds of teeth—think of our molars and incisors as an example. A disadvantage for other marine life is that marine omnivores may be more likely to invade non-native habitats. This has cascading effects on native species, which may be preyed-upon or displaced by the invading omnivore. An example of this is the Asian shore crab which is native to countries in the Northwest Pacific Ocean but was transported to Europe and the U.S. where it is out-competing native species for food and habitat. Examples of Marine Omnivores Below are some examples of marine omnivores: Many crab species (including blue, ghost and Asian shore crabs)Horseshoe crabsLobsters (e.g. American lobster, spiny lobster)Some sea turtles—like Olive ridley and flatback turtles—are omnivores. Green turtles are herbivores as adults, but omnivores as hatchlings. Loggerhead turtles are carnivores as adults but omnivores as hatchlingsCommon perwinkle: These small snails feed mostly on algae but may also eat small animals (like barnacle larvae)Some types of zooplanktonSharks are generally carnivores, although the whale shark and basking shark may be considered omnivores, as they are filter feeders that eat plankton. As they mow through the ocean with their enormous mouths open, the plankton they consume may include both plants and animals. Using that line of reasoning, mussels and barnacles may be considered omnivores, since they filter small organisms (which may contain both phytoplankton and zooplankton) from the water Omnivores and Trophic Levels In the marine (and terrestrial) world, there are producers and consumers. Producers (or autotrophs) are organisms that make their own food. These organisms include plants, algae, and some types of bacteria. Producers are at the base of a food chain.  Consumers (heterotrophs) are organisms that need to consume other organisms to survive. All animals, including omnivores, are consumers.   In a food chain, there are trophic levels, which are the feeding levels of animals and plants. The first trophic level includes the producers, because they produce the food that fuels the rest of the food chain. The second trophic level includes the herbivores, which eat producers.  The third trophic level includes omnivores and carnivores. References and Further Information: Chiras, D.D. 1993. Biology: The Web of Life. West Publishing Company.Harper, D. Omnivorous. Online Etymology Dictionary. Accessed September 29, 2015.National Geographic. Autotroph.  Accessed September 29, 2015.The Oceanic Society. What Do Sea Turtles Eat? SEETurtles.org. Accessed September 29, 2015.