My project is about Solidarity, the independent trade union that revolutionised the way the communist government of Poland governed Poland and the working people. Last summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Poland, and Gdańsk, the birthplace of Solidarity. I chose this topic because it is something that does not get much publicity or acknowledgement in the United States of America, but Solidarity, or Solidarność in Polish, revolutionised the country and influenced the world.
For my research I had read various articles from 1980; articles and papers that reflected back on the event; and the Solidarity and the Gdańsk website. I read the articles and papers and took notices for reference. I also looked for some quotes from people such as Lech Wałęsa from 1980 around the time of the strike.
I chose to do an exhibit because I thought it would best display the information that my project contains.
Solidarity is the independent trade union that was set up in Gdańsk, Poland during a time of economic struggles due to the oppression of the Communist government in Poland. Solidarity succeeded in improving the rights of Polish workers, such as employment, compensation, workplace and health & safety conditions, influencing economic and social policies, the protection and promotion of culture and education, and the overall improvement of the human rights of the workers. What made Solidarity so revolutionary was that this was the first time any group of people had successfully changed the way the strict and oppressive communist government of Poland governed. The creation and success of the Solidarity Movement is what led to the downfall of the communist government in Poland. Solidarity was also the influencing factor in reforming the Polish government. Together, with the people of Poland, Solidarity paved the way for other post-Soviet countries to become independent from their Soviet communist rule.Bibliography:
„Count on Me” - „Solidarity” Poster. Digital image. Solidarity. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. „Count on Me” - „Solidarity” Poster. Digital image. Solidarity. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Web. <http://www.solidarity.gov.pl/?document=63>.
As a part of their campaign, Solidarity created various posters promoting their cause. This poster is of two hands grasping each others wrists as if to show that they support each other and that they are there for one another. At the top of the poster is the text „Licz na mnie,” which translates into english to „Count on me.” The posters were used to visually promote the feeling that Solidarity was there for the workers and were trying to improve the working conditions and living quality for them as well as ending the communist rule.
"Europe's Revolution 20 Years on." BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation, 2 Nov. 2009. Web. 5 Mar. 2012. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7879687.stm>.
The Solidarity movement triggered the end of the cold war and the communist rule in Eastern Europe in Poland and Eastern Europe. The relationship between the United States and Poland has been strengthened because of the pro-democracy Solidarity Movement. Solidarity also influenced other countries to revolt and take back their country from the communist government’s rule. Followed by Solidarity’s victory in the Polish election, many other countries began to reform their government. The struggle between Solidarity and the Polish communist government lasted for a decade. But in the end, it really was Poland and the Solidarity movement that lead to the first non-communist government in Eastern Europe.
Górka, W. Anna Walentynowicz, Activist of Free Trade Unions, among Workers. 1980. Photograph. Solidarity, Gdańsk. Solidarity. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Web. <http://www.solidarity.gov.pl/?document=63>.
In the photograph, Anna Walentynowicz is talking to a group of Polish shipyard workers and other civilians. Anna Walentynowicz was the very dedicated shipyard worker who got fired just a few days before she was due to retire. She played an active role in the start of Solidarity. The strike was sparked by the shipyard workers’ outrage over the firing of Walentynowicz. Walentynowicz became a main speaker and advocate for the workers because she had worked so hard for the shipyard and for the defense of the workers. This photograph shows the passion that Walentynowicz had in the concerns for the workers and the interest that others had in hearing her words.
Karta. Gdańsk Memorial Unveiling Ceremony. December 1970. Digital image.Solidarity. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Web. <http://www.solidarity.gov.pl/gallery/gazeta/23/MSWiA%20198-15-113.jpg>.
This picture shows the unveiling of the Monument for the Fallen Shipyard Workers. The monument was erected as apart of the Gdańsk Agreement to pay tribute and honour the 42 workers who had died in the 1970 December strike. The monument is composed up of three large steel crosses with an anchor crucified to the top of each. At the unveiling of the monument, people packed in the surrounding area to see the monument located outside of gate 2 of the Lenin Shipyard. In the photograph, you can see that people were standing on top of buildings, fences, anything that would get them a better vantage point of the monument.
Kulish, Nicholas. "Poland Leads Wave of Communist-Era Reckoning." New York Times. New York Times, 20 Feb. 2012. Web. 5 Mar. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/world/europe/poland-leads-wave-of-communist-era-reckoning-in-europe.html?pagewanted=1&ref=poland>.
The Polish Court is now cracking down on the Communist Leaders and declaring them a part of a criminal group because of their martial law in December 1981. Other Countries that were formerly under the Iron First are taking similar action. Looking at the current situation in the Arab Nations has motivated Poland and other Eastern European countries to look back when the communists still held power. "Poland is wrestling with its past." The Communist government were oppressive and torturous to those under their rule.
Lewandowski, G. V-for-victory Sign Was One of Many Symbols of “Solidarity” (. Digital image. Solidarity. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Web. <http://www.solidarity.gov.pl/gallery/gazeta/40/OK_053.jpg>.
This poster shows the V-for-victory sign, which was one of the symbols of Solidarity for their great success over their first year in existence. This poster was created a year after Solidarity was formed. At this time, people were reflecting back on Solidarity and it’s progress. As the first independent and self-governing trade union of Poland, it was great feat for the workers and people of Poland in overcoming the communist rule. Solidarity had achieved a lot of great things in their first year, and had already become a very influential factor in the workers unions of other countries and the rule of the Eastern European communist countries.
"Poland." New York Times. New York Times, 05 Mar. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/poland/index.html?scp=2>.
Poland was the only post-Soviet country to come out of Soviet rule and not go into economic recession. On October 2011, Donald Tusk triumphed over conservative Jarosław Kaczynski in the Polish elections. Tusk is the new pro-European Union prime minister, who is in support of many contemporary concerns such as gay rights, abortion, and some drug legalisation. Because Poland is apart of the EU, it has embedded itself in Europe economics and politics. However, Poland does not use the Euro, which is considered a Euro-Soviet Bloc trait. Poland is trying to continue to independently raise above their previous oppressors, Russia and Germany.
McIntire, Suzanne, and William E. Burns. "The Value of Human Solidarity." Speeches in world history. New York: Facts on File, 2009. 502-505. Print.
“I belong to a nation which over the past centuries has experienced many hardships and reverse. The world reacted with silence or with mere sympathy when Polish frontiers were crossed by invading armies…” (Lech Wałęsa). “In July and August of 1980 a wave of strikes swept throughout Poland. The issue at stake was then something much bigger than only material conditions of existence.” (Lech walęsa). “In the brief history of those eventful years, the Gdańsk Agreement stands out as a great charter of the rights of the working people which nothing can ever destroy.” (Lech Wałęsa). “Our union—the Solidarity— has grown into a powerful movement for social and moral liberation. The people, freed from the bondage of fear and apathy, called for reforms and improvements. We fought a difficult struggle for out existence. That was and still is a great opportunity for the whole country. I think that it marked also the road to be taken by authorities, if they thought of a state governed in cooperation and participation of all citizens.
Michalak, T. Strike in the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk. 1980. Photograph. Solidarity, Gdańsk. Solidarity. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Web. <http://www.solidarity.gov.pl/?document=79>.
The picture is an aerial view on the shipyard in Gdańsk, where the strike started on August 14th, 1980. In the picture, you can see a mass of people gathering around the entrance of the shipyard. The crowd of people is composed up of both shipyard workers and other citizens who just came out to show their support for the shipyard workers in their strike. The people are crowded around the fence and entrance to the shipyard as well as a cross, located in the middle of the courtyard. The photograph really shows the amount of support the shipyard workers had from their community and fellow Polish citizens.
Poster Commemorating the Unveiling in Gdańsk of the Memorial to Killed Shipyard Workers. Digital image. Solidarity. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Web. <http://www.solidarity.gov.pl/gallery/gazeta/23/plakat.jpg>.
This poster is promoting the unveiling of the Monument for the Fallen Shipyard Workers, honouring the workers who were killed in the strike in 1970. The 1970 strike was violent; 42 people were killed when the security services fired on the workers’ revolting. As apart of the demands of the workers who when on strike in 1980, a monument honouring those who died was to be erected. The poster is of the monument and on the left of it is the word „Grudzień,” which in Polish, means December, which is when the 1970 strike happened. The monument is composed up of three crosses, each with a anchor on the top, to symbolise the shipyard workers.
Składanowski, S./Karta. Lech Wałęsa, Triumphantly Carried Shoulder-high after the Signing of the First Point of the Agreement. Digital image. Solidarity. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Web. <http://www.solidarity.gov.pl/gallery/gazeta/17/7-3,%20MSZ.JPG>.
Lech Wałęsa is held up on the shoulders of Solidarity supporters in celebration of victory after the signing of the agreement. This was a great accomplishment for the Solidarity Trade Union because it was their first break through in the communist bloc of Poland. Behind Lech Wałęsa are crowds of supporters and even people looking out of their windows; this shows the wide spread support that Solidarity had amassed. The first signing of the agreement was something that all Polish citizens in support of Solidarity celebrated, especially the workers of the Lenin Shipyard and other surrounding Shipyards.
“Solidarity” Poster Using the Colours of the National Flag. Digital image. Solidarity. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Web. <http://www.solidarity.gov.pl/gallery/gazeta/19/AOPL_000178.JPG>.
After the signing of the Gdańsk Agreement, posters such as this one were used to promote Solidarity and celebrate their victory. This poster used the colours of the Polish flag, and tie it into a knot as if to illustrate the new found unity of the workers at the Shipyard and the people of Poland. After the agreement had been signed, Solidarity’s main goal was gaining more support and organising itself to become very successful. Posters were used as an advertisement for their campaign, reaching more people than going from person to person.
Tagliabue, John. "Thousands at Gdansk Shipyard Join Polish Strike - New York Times."The New York Times. The New York Times, 3 May 1988. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/03/world/thousands-at-gdansk-shipyard-join-polish-strike.html?pagewanted=all>.
Strikes continued after 1980, demanding higher pay and legalisation of the Solidarity trade union. The government retained regional Solidarity leaders. “A strike wave is covering the country. They are not just local conflicts. They are across Poland because the cause is the economic crisis and lack of convincing reform policies that would offer prospects for the future,” (Lech Wałęsa). Crowds would gather around the shipyards and striking workers and leave flowers to show their support. Police would push the crowds back and away from the striking workers. The strikes were centred around more equal and fair treatment and higher pay as well as their trade union being more acknowledged.
Trybek, Z./Karta. Signature of the Agreement between the Interfactory Strike Committee and the Government Delegation. Digital image. Solidarity. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Web. <http://www.solidarity.gov.pl/gallery/gazeta/18/p-31-1-02,%20Trybek.JPG>.
The workers’ representatives and government commission meet together to sign the Gdańsk Agreement. The Gdańsk Agreement ended the strike and agreed to the demands of the workers, allowing the establishment of self governing trade unions. Lech Wałęsa can be seen signing the Gdańsk agreement with an oversized plastic pen, bearing the face of the pope, Pope Jan Paweł II. The workers’ representatives, MKS, met with Mieczysław Jagielski, who at the time was surviving as prime minister for the communist government. The Gdańsk Agreement was Solidarity’s big breakthrough. Unlike the strike in 1970, which ended in violence, the Gdańsk Agreement was what ended the 1980 strike in peace.
Alex. "1970-71: Uprising in Poland." Libcom.org. Libcom, 31 Oct. 2008. Web. 10 Jan. 2012. <http://libcom.org/history/1970-71-uprising-poland>.
December strikes in 1970, when thousands of shipyard workers in Gdańsk marched into the city in protest of the increased prices on basic consumer goods. Their goal was to reach the local regional office of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR). The protesters were met by police and engaged in fighting. The three port cities of Poland were placed under telecommunications block by the government. By the end of December, most of the shipyards in the main port cities had gone on strike. At the end of January, a more democratic strike committee was formed and an agreement was formed. This uprising was the first time the Polish workers had demanded a change and won. It paved the way for the strikes that changed Poland forever.
Blazejowska, Justyna. "Solidarity 1980-2010." Free Poland. Free Poland, 04 Oct. 2011. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://freepl.info/9-solidarity-1980-2010>.
More strikes continued but Solidarity stood as a mediator for the workers, reducing the amount of strikes but getting the workers their demands. Solidarity became politically involved giving them more power while slowly taking away the power of the communist leaders. Lech Wałęsa was put into power but resigned on December 12, 1990. The Union got about 5% of the support in the elections in 1990, which gave them 27 deputy seats. But the little votes for Solidarity throughout various elections were considered a failure for the Union. But in 1997, Solidarity received 33% of the votes. Then the Union left the political scene, but they had reformed the political scene completely.
Donovan, Jeffrey. "Poland: Solidarity -- The Trade Union That Changed The World."Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. RFE/RL, 24 Aug. 2005. Web. 13 Jan. 2012. <http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1060898.html>.
The strike that began on the 14th of August 1980 changed both Poland and the world. 17,000 workers went on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk in protest of the rising food prices among other things. This was the first time that the Communist government had given into the demands of the workers. In September of 1980, the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarity (NSZZ) was formed. After a year, nearly a quarter of Poland ad joined the trade union. Solidarity was the first breakthrough in the Communist block of Poland. Leader of the shipyard strikes was Lech Wałęsa, who had nearly been arrested by the secret police the morning of the strike, but succeeded in climbing over the shipyard gate and join the rest of the workers.
Moberg, Beata. Solidarity. University of St. Francis - Joliet, Il. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. <http://www.stfrancis.edu/content/ba/ghkickul/stuwebs/btopics/works/Solidarity.html>.
Trade union was formed during the economic and social struggles in communist Poland. Workers of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańśk started the wave of strikes on August 14th. The demand was more freedom from the communist management of the shipyards. Their request was for an increased pay, fair treatment, free trade union, and uncensored media. The strikers got a mass of support from the other citizens around the area and the church. On August 31st Mieczyslaw Jagielski and Lech Wałęsa signed the Gdańsk Agreement. This was a great breakthrough in the communist government and party. Solidarność became a nationwide organisation that revolutionised the communist involvement in industry. This was a big deal because the communist government did not tolerate loss of authority. Together the workers overthrew communism in Poland, and it all started on August 14th with the shipyard strike in Gdańsk.
"NSZZ Solidarność History in Dates." NSZZ Solidarność History in Dates. Multimedia Productions. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://www.solidarnosc.org.pl/en/history-in-dates.html>.
The Solidarity movement has continued to make progress and provide more rights for the workers. They had managed to increase minimum wage up to 40% in 2006. The continue to set up campaigns in support of the workers in Poland and workers all across the world. They have trade union representatives from the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia; all countries that were formally under the Iron Fist. While they have taken a few steps away from directly being apart of the political scene, they are still have a great influence on it and often meet with parliamentary representatives.
"NSZZ Solidarność Objectives." NSZZ Solidarność Objectives. Multimedia Productions. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://www.solidarnosc.org.pl/en/objectives.html>.
The object of Solidarity continues to be the guarantee of workers rights as in all areas, fight unemployment, improve vocational qualifications, protect the interests of the workers and their families, maintain and mediate for a proper management, influence economic and social polices, promote democracy, foster patriotic attitude, help those with special needs and care, strengthen family life, cooperate and collaborate with other international organisations, protect culture and education, advocate for environmental protection, as well as represent the workers. Solidarity will achieve this by continuing to represent their members before their employers, the government and other institutions, monitoring the workplace, provide legal counselling, union training, and just being there for the workers and attend to their needs.
NSZZ Solidarność. Multimedia Productions. Web. 10 Jan. 2012. <
On July 1st 1980, the government introduced commercial prices on food and other everyday objects, provoking the workers to protest. August 14th 1980, the Gdańsk shipyard goes on strike, soon after inspiring other shipyards in the region and country to go on strike as well. Main demands were the reinstatement of Anna Walentynowicz and the erection of a monument for the fallen shipyard workers killed in the December revolt in 1970. On September 13th, the agreement for a free and independent trade union is ratified. Supreme courts and committees begin to adopt and acknowledge “Solidarność.” In December the monument for the Fallen Shipyard was erected outside the Gdańsk shipyard.
Siegelbaum, Lewis. "1980: Solidarity in Poland." Seventeen Moments in Soviet History. Soviet History. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. <http://soviethistory.org/index.php?page=subject&SubjectID=1980solidarity&Year=1980>.
The formation of the Polish trade union, Solidarity, in 1980, disturbed Soviet Authorities. It was considered a embarrassment for the Marxist-Leninists to be confronted by the workers with such widespread support. The start of Solidarity was the Lenin Shipyard, which was the same shipyard whose workers went on strike in 1970 over raised food prices. There were many other protests over raised food and commercial goods prices and unfair treatment between 1970 and 1980. On the 3rd of September 1980, the Politburo came up six “theses.” Solidarity was characterised as an “anti-socialist opposition” which caused for of a threat to the communist government. In December 1981, there was a declaration of martial law, where the Soviet leadership extended economic assistance.
"The Story of the Solidarity Movement." Solidarity Gdansk Poland. Gdansk Life. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://www.gdansk-life.com/poland/solidarity>.
Solidarity was established in September 1980 at the Gdańsk shipyards. It was an independent labour union that was the catalyst in the transformation from communism to democracy in Poland. In 1980, Poland was suffering from an economic crisis, which forced the rise in price of goods and curbing the growth of wages. The firing of Anna Walentynowicz, as well as the previous firing of Lech Wałęsa sparked the shipyard strike at the Lenin Shipyard. The strike started on the 14th of August. On the 16th, many other strike committees joined the strikes. By the 18th the Szczecin shipyard joined the strike, which began a wave of more strikes along the coast of Poland. Solidarity was the first independent labour union in the Soviet Bloc.
"1980: Shipyard Poles Strike for Their Rights." BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/14/newsid_2802000/2802553.stm>.
Shipyard workers in Gdańsk stage strike over the dismissal of Anna Walentynowicz. The strike was apart of the growing campaign to improve the economic situation for the workers and gain political freedom. Around 16,000 workers succeeded in getting Walentynowicz reinstated and a compromise for more accurate media coverage, and the right to form their own representative bodies instead of using official trade unions. In the 1970 riot, the workers succeeded in getting the Communist Party leader, Wladyslaw Gomulka out of office. They also got the authorities to allow the construction of the Monument for the fallen shipyard workers. The workers also got a 40% pay rise.


What is a pulmonary function test?
Pulmonary function test or lung function test is a group of tests that check the workings of the lungs. They are noninvasive test which can determine the functional status of the lung cells and how well the lungs are working.
The tests look for:
- How much air can lungs hold?
- How well can air move in and out of the lungs?
- How well the lungs move oxygen the into bloodstream.
There are several types of lung tests. They include:
- Spirometry: The most common type of lung function test. It measures how much and how quickly air can move in and out of the lungs.
- Lung volume test: It is also known as body plethysmography. This test measures the amount of air an individual can hold in the lungs and the amount of air that remains after exhalation (breathing out).
- Gas diffusion test: This test measures how oxygen and other gases move from the lungs to the bloodstream.
- Exercise stress test: This test looks at how exercise affects lung function.
These tests may be used singly or together, depending on specific symptoms or conditions.
How is a pulmonary function test performed?
Below are the steps for the most common four types of lung function tests.
For a spirometry test:
- The patient is asked to sit on a chair and a soft clip will be put on the nose. This is done so that patient breathes through the mouth, rather than your nose.
- The patient is asked to place lips tightly around the mouthpiece and breathe in and out as instructed.
- The spirometer will measure the amount and rate of airflow over a period of time.
For a lung volume (body plethysmography) test:
- The patient asked to sit in a clear, airtight room that looks like a telephone booth.
- The patient may wear a nose clip and place lips around a mouthpiece connected to a machine.
- The patient is asked to breathe in and out as instructed.
- The pressure changes inside the room help measure lung volume.
For a gas diffusion test:
- The patient may wear a mouthpiece connected to a machine.
- They may be asked to inhale (breathe in) a very small, non-dangerous amount of carbon monoxide or other types of gas.
- Measurements will either be taken as they breathe in and out.
- The test can show how effective the lungs are functioning by moving gases to the bloodstream.
For an exercise test:
Why would my doctor order a pulmonary function test?
- Find the cause of breathing problems
- Diagnose and monitor chronic lung diseases, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema
- See if lung disease treatments are working
- Check lung function before surgery
- Check whether exposure to chemicals or other substances in the home or workplace has caused lung damage.
Testing pulmonary function tests can help doctors diagnose other conditions such as:
What do the results of the pulmonary function test mean?
If a patient has abnormal lung function test results they might have a lung disease. There are two main types of lung diseases that can be diagnosed with a lung function test:
- Obstructive diseases: These diseases cause airways to become narrow, making it hard for air to flow out of the lungs. Obstructive lung diseases include asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema.
- Restrictive diseases: In these diseases, the lungs or chest muscles aren't able to expand enough. This reduces airflow and the ability to send oxygen into the bloodstream. Restrictive lung disorders include scleroderma, sarcoidosis, and pulmonary fibrosis.
- Mixed pattern: Sometimes, a disease may be a combination of obstructive and restrictive patterns, this may need a different management protocol.
Lung Disease/COPD Resources
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Pulmonary function testing: (https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/303239-overview).


How much malt is really in a 1.040 beer? We need to understand how to use the PPG values associated with your malt, regardless of its source as grain, DME or LME. PPG stands for Points per Pound per Gallon. PPG relates the amount of gravity points contributed by one pound in one gallon of water. PPG bridges the gap between a “dry” ingredient (DME or grain) and the anticipated specific gravity of that ingredient once its in solution. Remembering that specific gravity as a number refers to the density of a liquid.
The best way to illustrate and conceptualize this in your mind is to think about a one-pound bag of DME. DME has a PPG of 44, or 44PPG. If you dissolved a one-pound bag of DME in on gallon of water it the resulting gravity would be 1.044 SG (specific gravity). Subsequently, an easier way to use this number is to ignore the gallon part of the equation. Before you add the water to your 1 pound of DME, that dry bag has 44 points in it (or 44 points per pound). Using easy math you can see that if you put that 44-point bag (one pound) in 2 gallons the 44 points would be diluted to a gravity reading of 1.022SG. Likewise, you can put that same 44 points into half a gallon and the resulting gravity would be 1.088SG (44/0.5 is 88). But the total points are always the same regardless of gravity readings. (22*2=44, 44*1=44 and 88*0.5=44)
How do we translate PPG numbers into 5-gallon batches? It may be easier if we think of recipe formulation in reverse. Let’s say you want to make a 5-gallon batch of 1.044 OG. A specific gravity of 1.044 can be taken to mean 44 points per gallon. So in a 5 gallon batch there is actually 5*44=220 total points. So to make that beer you need to get 220 total points of malt in there. If you were to make it entirely using DME, which is 44PPG, then you would need 5 pounds. 220 total points divided by 44 points per pound (ignore the gallon part of PPG because you already accounted for the gallons by calculating total points). 5 pounds makes sense because if 1 pound of DME in one gallon makes a 1.044 gravity wort, then it would take 5 pounds in 5 gallons to make the same strength beer.
Here is a tougher example:
You want to make a 6 gallon batch of 1.064 beer using LME. LME has a 37PPG rating.
The principle is the same for LME; just think of it as if it were a dry ingredient. You can do this because its PPG is lower because the water in the LME has already been accounted for, hence lowering the malts PPG from 44 to 37.
So for 6 gallons of 1.064 that would be 6*64 or 384 points needed. LME provides 37 points per pound, so 384/37 is 10.3 pounds of LME.
Being able to calculate anticipated gravity from the ingredients we use is critical to being able to formulate your own recipes, or more importantly to make changes in recipes you have. If you have a 1.040 beer and you think it would be better as 1.050 you’ll be able to calculate how much more DME to add to get there.
(BTW, for 5 gallons you would need 1.1 pound of DME to boost the gravity to 1.050)


We at the Women’s Museum of Ireland are creating a unique map of Dublin city, to draw attention to sites around the city that are related to women’s history, in the hopes of inspiring preservation and recognition of those sites.
We have commissioned two Dublin-based designers to create the map, but we need your help in mapping the city! Over the next three weeks we will be putting a call out for online submissions, to plot out sites across the city. We will then create a shortlist of sites to include on the physical map, and include a larger database of sites on an interactive map on womensmuseumofireland.ie
This physical map will be made available for you to pick up or print out, to lead you around Dublin’s fair city. Rediscover the residences of Society hostess Lady Jane Wilde and the social activist Rosie Hackett, and the hidden histories of Moore Street and Henrietta Street in the city centre. Out in the suburbs of Dundrum, did you know that the sisters of the artist Jack B. Yeats ran the Cuala printing press, the only Arts and Crafts press to be run and staffed solely by women?
There are still a great many stories to be uncovered, and we are appealing to you to share those stories with us. We want to present these stories to the wider public, and make them accessible to both locals and visitors to our great city. Once the project takes off, we hope to extend it beyond Dublin and around the country.
We are using the hashtag #WomenofDublin to gather data, or you can contact us via Twitter and Facebook to help us plot out these sites around the city!
Alternatively, email us at firstname.lastname@example.org


1. Force yourself to eat, sleep, and exercise. Realize that your ability to be strong and to help in the search for your child requires that you attend to your own physical and emotional needs. If you have trouble sleeping at night or coping during the day, ask your physician for help.
2. Stay away from alcohol, drugs, and harmful medications, which can prevent you from being an effective member of the search team and can even induce depression.
3. Find productive ways to release your emotions, such as keeping a journal, talking with a friend, taking a walk, exercising, cooking, cleaning, or thinking up ways to extend the search. Don't isolate yourself.
4. Don't blame yourself for your child's disappearance or allow yourself to shoulder the blame of others. Treat yourself and others as kindly as you can.
5. Don't feel guilty if you need to return to work. Remember that you are working to provide a home for your child to return to.
6. Stay united with your spouse in your fight to find your child. Don't allow the stress of the investigation to drive a wedge into your family life, and don't misjudge others because their response to the disappearance is different from yours.
7. Don't allow the absence of your child and your deep sense of loss to become a taboo subject. Encourage open discussion of feelings in a safe, caring, nonjudgmental environment during family meetings.
8. Establish different routines for daily life and for celebrating birthdays, holidays, and other events. Find a safe place away from your home -- perhaps with friends or relatives -- where your other children can feel free to play and express themselves, away from the spotlight of the search and the media.
9. If it seems appropriate, allow your other children to participate in the search, perhaps by distributing posters, fliers, or balloons. Remember that both emotional and security issues need to be addressed.
10. Don't be surprised if your other children's behavior changes drastically. Bedwetting, stomach aches, depression, anger, sullenness, quietness, and truancy are common reactions. But remember that children, just like adults, react differently to the disappearance of a child, and some may not show any change in behavior.
11. Help your other children return to some type of normalcy by going back to school, but listen carefully to them before they go. Request that the school bring counselors into the classroom to discuss the situation with the children, and ask your law enforcement contact to arrange for an officer to go to the school to teach the children both how to recognize dangerous situations and how to get away.
12. Extended family members can serve a variety of functions in the search effort -- as spokesperson for the family, coordinator of media events, coordinator of volunteers, or coordinator of searchers. They can also help with posters and fliers, request assistance from missing children's organizations, and gather information to give to law enforcement.
13. Don't try to provide emotional support to everyone in your family. Seek professional counseling for yourself and your children to help you cope.
14. Bring callers up to date on the progress of the search by recording simple messages on your home answering machine.
15. Never stop looking. Dedicate part of each day to your missing child by making phone calls, writing letters, contacting law enforcement, or doing whatever you think will help in the search for your missing child.


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Our genes (or DNA) determine how vulnerable we are to sepsis and other forms of critical illness. We aim to discover specific genes that control the processes that lead to life-threatening illness. If we understand these processes, we think we'll be able to design effective treatments.
To do this we need to get a single DNA sample from lots of criticaly-ill patients with a range of carefully-selected conditions ( see the entry criteria here). The more patients, the better.
Distributed, open-source critical care research
Genetic effects will differ among the many different causes of sepsis, and different ethnic groups. This requires global collaboration among critical care doctors, sharing of data between researchers, and an innovative approach to funding.
GenOMICC in your region
If you want to get involved in
- we will be delighted to collaborate; or
- we can help you set up your own study using our protocol, documentation and REDCap data collection tools as a starting point; or,
- you can copy and adapt the various study documents available on this website to run your own independent
We will support investigators in new regions to establish and lead local research studies using the tools that we have created. Ultimately our motivation is to use
If you are a patient or relative please see our patient and relative information section.
If you would like to read more about this study and its design you can read our rationale which goes into further detail.
Death from critical illness is strongly affected by genetics
Susceptibility to infection, including sepsis and influenza is known very strongly genetically determined. There are strong reasons to believe the same is true for COVID-19.
In critical illness, a complex cascade of immune signals leads to failure of critical organ systems and death. These events are often not specific to a particular type of infection - they can happen to any patient with a severe infection. Although we know that susceptibility to a particular bug, such as the influenza virus, SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that causes COVID-19), or a bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus, is genetic, it is harder to tell if there are specific genes that alter a patient's chance of survival once they are already desperately sick with sepsis. But we do know that the immune system plays a key role in causing organ failure in sepsis, and in other forms of critical illness. Genetic differences have a very strong impact on immune function.
How to look for answers
There are millions of DNA sequence differences between any pair of humans. Any of these could be important in determining the outcome in sepsis. Finding the ones that matter requires us to look at DNA from huge numbers of patients. We need to look at DNA from thousands of people in order to find robust genetic associations with outcomes. This is urgent, because if we can achieve it then we may be able to find treatments that will ultimately save lives.


Multiple forms of photography allow photographers to explore their individual interests and visual goals while still documenting the world in captivating images. This blog will explore a few of the most widely known subgenres of photography in particular, examining what makes them distinctive and inspirational. Whatever the genre is, however, photographers should know Yvette Heiser – The Crucial Role of Light in Capturing Exceptional Images and how it impacts the end result.
1. Landscape Photography
Taking photos of landscapes, or nature in general, is an art form in and of itself. Photographers who specialize in landscapes depict the natural splendor of the Earth in all its forms, from majestic mountains to placid oceans to pastoral farmlands. If you would like to be an accomplished nature photographer, you require patience, a good eye for arrangement, and an authentic appreciation of the outdoors.
2. Portrait Photography
Photographing humans is what portraiture is all about. To do this, one should go to the core of a person or group, pulling out their distinctive characteristics and traits. While studio portraiture is widespread, outdoor portraiture, candid photography, and lifestyle pictures are all popular subgenres for portrait photographers. Communicating with those you photograph while adding life to their tales via photography.
3. Street Photography
Street photography is a method of capturing photographs in public areas. The common objective of street photographers is to photograph candid moments in urban environments. Playing in this manner successfully necessitates extremely quick reactions, covert movement, and precise timing. Photographers who specialize in street photography have the ability to take commonplace locations and turn them into spectacular narratives.
4. Wildlife Photography
Taking photographs of wildlife is similar to going on a safari and capturing wildlife in their native environments. To be successful in this line of work, one has to be patient, have an in-depth knowledge of how animals act, and use gear like long lenses and camouflage. Photographers who specialize in wildlife take photographs that contribute to attracting attention to and funding endangered wildlife.
5. Architectural Photography
Photographs of skyscrapers and other structures frequently qualify as works of art in and of themselves. The style often includes compositions that demonstrate architectural components such as lines, forms, and details. Photographers who specialize in architectural subjects need to have a solid understanding of composition, lighting, and perspective in order to capture buildings at their optimum.
The art of astrophotography records the expanse of space via pictures of stars, planets, and other celestial objects. Long exposures, specialist gear, and acquaintance with the night sky are usually prerequisites. The efforts of astrophotographers are awe-inspiring and intriguing because they provide a view into the universe as a whole.
The various sub-genres of photography all give their own unique chances and challenges for creative exploration. By digging into an extensive range of styles, photographers can improve their abilities and learn to understand the types of work that appeal to them. If you have not found your style afterreading Yvette Heiser Texas – 5 Interesting Photography Types for Beginners, hopefully, you will find your style from the types mentioned above.


There are many sources of data that landscape architects have to collect as a starting point in the landscape and visual impact assessment (LVIA) process.
To make it easier, I sub-divide the data collection into three main strands that help to inform the LVIA. These include:
- Visual amenity receptors
- Landscape relevant designations
- Landscape character
This is the third of three short blogs outlining the sources of data that I use to inform a LVIA.
The starting point for collecting information on landscape character is the national character areas promoted by Natural England (www.naturalengland.org.uk ). Currently being updated, this is an excellent source of data for strategic ‘national’ landscape character areas, which can provide a starting point for a more detailed assessment.
Most county, local or unitary authorities have also undertaken their own landscape character assessment, many of which have been adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG’s). A quick search of the local authority’s website will usually throw up the relevant landscape character assessment.
In addition, many local authorities have also undertaken their own sensitivity or capacity assessments, usually based on the landscape character assessment and often relating to a particular type of development such as wind energy or large scale solar.
This hierarchy of landscape characterisation forms the basis for a more detailed description of landscape character on a site specific basis.


The Human Microbiome Project.
The aim of the HMP is to characterize microbial communities found at
multiple human body sites and to look for correlations between changes
in the microbiome and human health. More information can be found in the
menus above and on the NIH Common Fund site.
In the news:
1. Scientists map bacteria living inside us (CBC)
2. Study seeks to map the microbes that live in and on us
(The Boston Globe)
3. U.S. scientists map genes of microbes in healthy people


When most people hear “fossil,” the first image that springs to mind is of a dinosaur – or perhaps, if you live in North Carolina, a large shark tooth.
Though these creatures were compelling in their own rights, they are not the oldest fossils in North Carolina. For these, we have to go all the way back to the Ediacaran Period (635 million to 542 million years ago). Found in sediments from Stanly and Davidson counties, the oldest undisputed fossils from the state are impressions of soft-bodied marine organisms and the preserved traces of their movements across the seafloor.
These fossils are not particularly showy, but they are nonetheless important because they represent some of the earliest evidence for multicellular life.
Approximately 547 million years in the past, the world was different from the one we inhabit. Imagine a world with no mammals, no birds, not even a cockroach. There was no terrestrial life to speak of, yet the oceans were teeming with living organisms.
Put on your imaginary scuba gear and have a look around. You won’t see seashells, crabs or starfish, but you will see a bunch of soft-bodied creatures with unfamiliar names such as Pteridinium, Swartpuntia and Aspidella. If you put your foot down, you will probably notice that the seafloor is covered in a scum-like layer known as a microbial mat. All the animals around you are living on, in, or slightly under this mat. It is this mat that will ultimately preserve these organisms for millions of years.
Some of these animals look like plant fronds swaying with the currents; some resemble large flatworms. Others just look like tubes. And almost none of them will look familiar to you.
This unfamiliarity is one of the great joys and also one of the great frustrations for paleontologists. Because paleontologists generally use the present as a key to the past, fossils from the Ediacaran Period can be difficult to identify and can stir much debate: Which group of organisms do they belong to (especially when they are just fragments)? Paleontologists who work with fossils from this period have had to do some major adjustments to their worldview, and perhaps now that you’ve read about these enigmatic animals, you will, too.
See for yourself: Some of North Carolina’s Ediacaran fossils are on exhibit on the third floor of the Nature Research Center at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh.
Patricia Weaver is collections manager geology/paleontology for the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. Her research focuses on fossil and extant coleoid cephalopods. In particular, she studies taxonomy of fossil cuttlefish, and biochemistry of fossil and extant squid, octopus and cuttlefish.


Road-related incidents are one of the leading causes of unintentional injury death across all ages in BC.1
Each day, more than 820 crashes occur in BC, and around 170 of them result in an injury or fatality.3 Most of the injuries resulting from collisions involve vehicle drivers and passengers; however, injury also occurs among vulnerable road users—pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. Speeding, distracted driving (e.g., phone use and texting), and impaired driving (using alcohol, drugs, or medications) are the leading contributing factors for motor vehicle collisions.
Transport incidents cost British Columbians approximately $700 million dollars per year.4
BCIRPU supports road safety efforts at the policy, practice, and community levels. Road safety for all is one of the provincial priorities for injury prevention.
The goal of Objective 3 of the CHASE study is to identify implementation strategies for built environment change at the municipal level to encourage safe, active transportation. Key informant interviews are being conducted in Vancouver and the surrounding area with those who have worked on projects involving optimizing the built environment—such as urban planners, researchers, school board representatives, and provincial transportation authorities—in order to identify the facilitators and barriers for implementing built environment change at the municipal level.6
Injury Trends in Cyclists in BC
The objective of this study is to investigate temporal trends in serious injury rates in cyclists, with a focus on understanding changes in crash counterparts. This is a retrospective review of data from the BC Trauma Registry and the Discharge Abstract Database on hospitalized pedal cyclist patients injured in land transport events over the period of April 1, April 2012 to March 31, 2019.
- Injury Insight: Motorcycle Injuries in British Columbia (PDF) (May 2020)
- Injury Insight: Young Drivers: A Population at Risk (PDF) (May 2019, updated from July 2016)
- Injury Insight: Pedestrian Injury from Motor Vehicle Crashes in BC (PDF) (May 2017)
- Injury Insight: Road Safety Among Vulnerable Road Users (PDF) (November 2014)
- Injury Insight: Cycling Injuries in Children (PDF) (June 2011)
- Police Traffic Accident System Data, available on our Injury Data Online Tool (iDOT)
59 communities receive funding for Vision Zero projects
Over $1 million in grants to go towards improving vulnerable road user safety across British Columbia, including in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities.
Dr. Ian Pike receives fellowship from Japanese research society
Dr. Pike will work on a child passenger safety campaign with researchers in Chiba.
New website outlines financial and human cost of injury in BC
costofinjury.ca uses interactive charts and graphs to illustrate the burden of injury in BC.
37 projects funded in this year’s Vision Zero Grant Program
Projects funded include improvements such as crosswalk infrastructure, closed streets, traffic calming, speed limit reduction pilots, and road safety planning.
First-ever Vision Zero Summit in BC
Over 100 road safety experts, municipal government staff, civic leaders, researchers, and public health professionals attended the first-ever Vision Zero summit in BC.
October 15-21 is Teen Driver Safety Week
Youth are over-represented in all road-related injuries and deaths.
Injury Insight: Young drivers, a population at risk
This Injury Insight investigates the circumstances around teen driver deaths in BC.
1.Provincial injury prevention priorities. (2017). BC Injury Prevention Committee. Available at: http://www.bccdc.ca/pop-public-health/Documents/bcipc-provincial-injury-prevention-priorities-2017.pdf
2. Traffic Accident System Tool, Injury Data Online Tool, BCIRPU.
3. ICBC. Quick Statistics for the Media Manual: Crashes and Casualty Crashes. 5 year average from 2014-2018. Available from: https://www.icbc.com/about-icbc/newsroom/Documents/fatal-victims.pdf
4. Rajabali, F., Beaulieu, E., Smith, J., & Pike, I. (2018). The economic burden of injuries in British Columbia: Applying evidence to practice. British Columbia Medical Journal, 60(7), 358-364. [Cost converted to 2020 dollars with CPI].
5. ICBC RoadSafetyBC. Motor vehicle related crashes, injuries and fatalities. 10-year statistics for British Columbia, 2010-2019. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, 2020. Available at: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/driving-and-transportation/driving/roadsafetybc/data/motor_vehicle_related_crashes_injuries_and_fatalities_in_british_columbia_2010-2019.pdf
6. Hagel, B. E., Macpherson, A., Howard, A., Fuselli, P., Cloutier, M. S., Winters, M., … & Hubka, T. (2019). The built environment and active transportation safety in children and youth: a study protocol. BMC public health, 19(1), 1-13.
7. Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators. Canada’s Road Safety Strategy; 2025: Towards Zero: the Safest Roads in the World (2016). Available at: https://roadsafetystrategy.ca/web/road-safety-strategy/files/public/docs/RSS-2025-Report-January-2016-with%20cover.pdf
8. Government of BC. (2016). PHO’s Annual Report: Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Reducing the Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes on Health and Well-Being in BC. Available from: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/reports-publications/annual-reports/reducing-motor-vehicle-crashes-bc.pdf


MALCOLM CALDWELL and LEK HOR TAN, CAMBODIA IN THE SOUTH EAST ASIAN WAR, Monthly Review Press, New York and London 1973, pp 446, ^6.45.
Although now it is nearly one year after the signing of the Vietnam cease-fire, continued US actions in Cambodia reveal the depth of a resolve to hang on to Indochina, come what may. All the same, more than four fifths of the country is in the hands of the liberation forces and the Lon Nol regime in Phnom Penh is in a state of virtual collapse. Aroused by aggression, Cambodia has shown the transformation of a supposedly lethargic people from nationalism to resurgence and revolution.
This book analyses the history of Cambodia and the evolution of US foreign policy leading to the convergence of 1970 : the overthrow of Prince Norodom Sihanouk and the direct invasion of US troops. It contains detailed accounts of Sihanouk's pursuit of independence and neutrality, US intrigues, at home and abroad, which frustrated these efforts and his final emergence as head of state in exile in China, dedicated to Cambodia's national liberation in alliance with North Vietnam, the NLF and the Pathet Lao.
The united resistance of the Indochinese people against foreign aggression has a parallel in the 1884-6 anti-French struggle, one of the first people's wars of independence in Asian history. It was also fought in the name of a king, Norodom. France's 'pacification' campaign forced the various national and regional movements—especially Cambodian and Vietnamese—into a united resistance.
The French won and survived in Cambodia until the 1950s. Cambodia's economic value to France, in addition to the tax revenues, was enhanced with the introduction of rubber cultivation in the 1920s. This was to have a significant consequence. It was plantation workers radicalized and politicalized in the miserable conditions of the rubber estates


TEHRAN, Aug. 13(MNA) – Iranian nanotechnology researchers from Sharif University of Technology have produced a laboratorial sample of nerve conduction channel that can be used in treating nerve injuries.
According to Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council, biodegradable and biocompatible polymers and graphene were used in the production of the channel. The channel can be used in the treatment of nerve injuries after passing the complementary tests and obtaining the desirable results.
Neural system is divided into two local and central parts. Neuron is the main cell in the neural system. Neurons are not able to proliferate but they can recover themselves. This recovery is much more significant in the local neural system. Many people suffer from local neural system injuries every year, and there are different methods to recover the injuries.
The aim of the research which was conducted by Iranian researchers from Sharif University was to design an optimum nerve conduction channel to carry out crack treatment process successfully inside the local neural system. The optimization process focused mostly on the appropriate combination to produce nerve channel.
The conductive composite of polyaniline/graphene (PAG) was synthesized to produce the nerve conduction channel, and it was used in the production of the final conductive scaffolds (PAG/gelatin/chitosan).
This research also studies various bioengineering properties of nerve conduction channels, including mechanical properties, conductivity, porosity, morphology and structure, toxicity and compatibility with human body. It was approved that the product is suitable for the recovery of local neural system injuries. The positive effect of electrical impulse was also approved by carrying out experiments.
Results of the research have been published in International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, vol. 74, issue 1, 2015, pp. 360-366.


Use "LaTex" code. There is a tutorial here: http://www.mathhelpforum.com/math-help/latex-help/.
You can see the code used for
, or any formula, by clicking on it.
Since is the identity matrix, as other have told you, A is just the "inverse matrix to .
There are a number of different ways to find the inverse matrix to a given matrix and, of course, we don't know which you have learned or are expected to use.
One very fundamental way would be to write that matrix equations as four linear equations: Writing A as we can write that matrix equation as
and, setting the same components equal, a+ 2c= 1, b+ 2d= 0, 3a+ 5c= 0, 3b+ 4d= 1, four equations in four values. (Actually, they can be separated- you really have two sets of two equation for two values which is a little easier.) Solve those for a, b, c, and d.


“Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted.” — Jules Renard
“ideas to get your student’s pencils moving”
Writing is and isn’t an easy thing to do in the classroom. Especially nowadays when students don’t have long attention spans and are more and more “digital” and visual learners.
However, it is a vital skill that opens up a world of possibilities for any student. Written communication in whatever language, even with the advent of the internet, is still a necessity. Writing allows communication, controlled and deliberate – POWERFUL, communication. So we have to get our students writing more and better. How?
Below, find a rundown of what I consider the “standard” writing activities for any age group. Just change the topic/theme. Most are for any classroom, EFL / ESL or the regular classroom. My belief is that writing in English is writing in English. Whether it be a second language or first makes no difference because the “eating” is all the same.
I’ve divided the activities into different categories. These are just for the sake of having some kind of organization. I’ve also labeled them
WUP – for a warm up writing activity and something to do quickly.
CP – Controlled practice. Writing activities that help the beginning writer and offer support, repetition and guidance.
F – Free writing activities which activate student learning and allow them to practice what they already know and “test the waters” so to speak.
Where appropriate, I’ve linked to some resources that compliment the writing activity as described.
Listen — Write
There are many ways to “spice” up the standard dictation. The simplest is to have the students fold a blank piece of paper “hamburger” style (Up/down) 4 times. Unfold and they have a nice 8 line piece of paper. Speak 8 sentences , repeating each several times as the students write. Get the students to record their answers on the board and correct. Collect and keep in a portfolio!
There are many online sites where students can do the same but in a computer lab or at home. Or the teacher can even try in the classroom.
http://www.listen-and-write.com/audio – for older students
http://www.learner.org/interactives/spelling/ – for young learners
2. Story Rewriting
The teacher reads a story or the class listens to an audio story. After, students make a story board (just fold a blank page so you have 8 squares) and draw pictures. Then, they write the story based on those pictures. Very simple and powerful! – F
The students close their eyes and the teacher describes a scene. Play some nice background music. The students then write and describe the scene they imagined, sharing their scene afterwards with the class or a classmate.
4. Pop Song Rewrite
Play a familiar pop song. One with a “catchy” chorus. Afterwards, write out the chorus on the board with some of the words missing. Students can then rewrite the chorus and sing their own version. Higher level students can simply write their own version without help. Here’s a very simple example –
He’s got the whole world in his hands
He’s got ___________ and ___________
In his hands. (3x)
He’s got the whole world in his hands
Watch —– Write
Students watch a TV Commercial. Then, they write their own script based on that commercial but focused on a different product. Afterwards, they can perform. F
2. Short videos.
Just like a story but this time students watch. Then, they can rewrite / respond / reflect. Students can choose to reflect on one standard Reading Response question or as part of a daily journal. Ex. The best part was ….. / If I had made the video, I would have ……
Short videos are powerful and if well chosen can really get students writing in a reflective manner. CP / F
How to Videos
Students can watch a short “How to” video that describes a process. There are some excellent sites with User Generated Content. Expert Village and eHow are recommended. After the students watch the video several times, they can write out the steps using transitions which the teacher lists on the board. [First, first off, To begin, then, after that, next, most importantly, finally, last but not least, to finish ] CP / F
3. Newscasts / Weather reports
Watch the daily news or weather report. Students write in groups or individually, their own version of the news for that week/day. Then perform for the class like a real news report! F
4. Travel Videos
Watch a few travel videos (there are many nice, short travel “postcard” videos online). Groups of students select a place and write up a report or a poster outlining why others should visit their city/country. Alternately, give students a postcard and have them write to another student in the classroom as if they were in that city/country. For lower leveled students, provide them with a template and they just fill in the details. Ex.
I’m sitting in a ………… drinking a …………… I’ve been in ……. for ………. days now. The weather has been
……………. Yesterday I visited the ………….. and I saw …………….. Today, I’m going to ………………. I highly recommend ……………….. See you when I get home …………………
CP / F
Look —– Write
1. Pictures / Slideshows
Visuals are a powerful way to provide context and background for any writing. Make sure to use attractive, stimulating and if possible “real” photos to prompt student writing. Students can describe a scene or they can describe a series of pictures from a slideshow.
An excellent activity is to show a nice photo and get students to “guess” and write their guess in the form of the 5Ws. They answer all the 5w questions and then share their thoughts with the class.
Show a picture and get students to write a story or use it as background for a writing prompt. For example, Show a picture of a happy lottery winner. Ask students to write in their journal – If I won a million dollars I would ……
This is a much better way to “prompt” writing than simple script! – CP
Show students a selection of fairly similar pictures. The students describe in writing one of the pictures (faces work really well). They read and the other students listen and “guess” which picture is being described. Similar to this listening activity. CP
Provide students with a series of pictures which describe a story. I often use Action Pictures. Students write about each picture, numbering each piece of writing for each picture. The teacher can guide lower level students like this Mr. X’s Amazing Day example. After editing, the students cut up the pictures and make a storybook. Gluing in the pictures, coloring, decorating and adding their own story text. Afterwards read to the whole class or share among the class. CP / F
Provide students with a sequence of pictures which are scrambled. The students must order the pictures and then write out the process. Ex. Making scrambled eggs. F
Read —- Write
1. Reading Journal / Reading Response
The students read a story and then respond by making a reflective journal entry. Alternatively, the students can respond to a reading response question like, “Which character did you like best? Why?” F
Read a short story and then give students a copy of the story with some text missing. The students can fill it in with the correct version OR fill it in and make the story their own.
These are stories where words are replaced with icons/pictures. Students can read the story and then write out the whole story, replacing the pictures with the correct text. Here are some nice examples. – CP
3. Opinion / Essay
Select an article or OP Ed piece that students would find interesting or controversial. After reading and discussing, students can respond with a formal essay or piece of writing reflecting their opinion. Read them anonymously afterwards and get the class to guess who wrote it! F
4. Giving Advice
Students read a problem provided by the teacher (even better, get students to provide the problem by having them write down what they need advice on). This can often be an Ann Landers style request for advice from a newspaper. Students write their own response, giving advice. F
5. Running dictation
This is a lot of fun but quite noisy. Put students into groups of 3 or 4. For each group, post on the wall around the classroom, a piece of writing (maybe a selection of text you will be reading in your lesson). One student is appointed as the secretary. The other students must “run” to where their piece of writing is on the wall and read it. Then run back and dictate it to the secretary who records it. Continue until one group is finished (but check that they got it right!). CP
Think —- Write
1. Graphic Organizers
These you can make on your own by having students draw and fold blank sheets of paper or by giving them a pre-designed one. Students write out their thoughts on a topic using the organizer. An alphabet organizer is also an excellent activity in writing for lower level students. Graphic organizers and mind maps are an excellent way “first step” to a longer writing piece and are an important pre-writing activity. WUP
2. Prompts / Sentence Starters
Students are prompted to finish sentences that are half started. They can write X number of sentences using the sentence starter. Many starters can be found online. Prompts are also an excellent way to get students thinking and writing. Every day, students can “free write” a passage using the daily prompt (ex. What I did this morning etc… ) Creative writing of this sort really motivates students to write. There are many lists online you can use.
3. Thinking Games
Using a worksheet, students play the game while writing down their responses in grammatical sentences. What the Wordle / Not Like the Other and Top 5 are some games I’ve made and which help students begin to write. Each has a worksheet which students fill out. CP
4. Decoding / Translating
Translating a passage into English can be a good writing activity for higher level students.
Students love their cell phones and Transl8it.com is a handy way to get students interested in writing. Simply put in English text and Transl8it.com will output “text messaging”. Give this to students to decode into standard English and then check against the original. Lots of fun! See the games I’ve designed (Pop Song / Dialogues ) using this principle of decoding text messaging. CP
5. Forms / Applications
Students need to practice writing that will be of use to them directly in the wider world. Forms and filling in applications are a valuable way to do this. Fill in one together as a class and then get students to do this same for themselves individually. – CP
6. Journals / Reflection / Diaries
This type of free writing activity should be done on a regular basis if used in class. Use a timer and for X minutes, students can write upon a topic that is important to them, that day. Alternatively, students can write at the end of the day and record their thoughts about the lesson or their own learning. These are all excellent ways for the teacher to get to know their students. One caution – don’t correct student writing here! Comment positively on the student’s writing – the goal is to get them feeling good about writing and “into” it. – F
7. Tag Stories / Writing
Students love this creative exercise. Fold a blank piece of paper vertically (Hamburger style) 4 times. You’ll have 8 lines. On the first line, students all write the same sentence starter. Ex. A man walked into a bank and ……..
Next, students finish the sentence and then pass their paper to the student on their left/right. That student reads the sentence and continues the story on the next line. Continue until all 8 lines are completed. Read the stories as a class – many will be hilarious! I often do this with a “gossip” variation. I write some gossip “chunks” on the board like; “I heard that..” , “I was told…” “The word on the street is…” “Don’t pass it around but…”. Students choose one and write some juicy gossip about the student to their right. They then pass their paper to the left with everyone adding onto the gossip. Students really get into this! CP / F
8. Describe and guess
Students think of a person / a place or a thing. They write a description of them / it and they are read out and others students guess.
Jokes and riddles are also effective for this. Students write out a joke or riddle they know and then they are read and other students try to guess the punchline. – F
TEXT —– Write
1. Sentence Chains
The teacher writes a word on the board and then students shout out words that follow using the last letter(s). The more last letters they use, the more points they get. The teacher keeps writing as quick as possible as the students offer up more correct words. Ex. Smilengthosentencementality…..
Give students a blank piece of paper and in pairs with one student being the secretary, they play! This is a great game for simple spelling practice and also to get students noticing language and how words end/begin. They can also play for points. Compound words and phrases are acceptable! – WUP
2. Guided Writing
This is a mainstay of the writing teacher’s toolkit. Students are either given a “bank” of words or can write/guess on their own. They fill in the missing words of a text to complete the text. Take up together and let students read their variations. A nice adaptation to guided writing for lower level students is for them to personalize the writing by getting them to draw a picture for the writing passage to illustrate and fortify the meaning. Here’s a nice example. CP
Use a time line to describe any event. Brainstorm as a class. Then students use the key words written on the board, to write out the time line as a narrative. Really effective and you can teach history like this too! Biographies of individuals or even the students themselves are a powerful writing activity and timelines are a great way to get them started. – F
Students are given notes (the classic example is a shopping list but it might be a list of zoo animals / household items etc…) and then asked to write something using all the noted words. This usually focuses on sequence (transitions) or location (prepositions). F
5. Grammar Poems
Grammar poems are short poems about a topic that students complete using various grammar prompts. This form of guided writing is very effective and helps students notice various syntactical elements of the language.
Put the grammar poem on the board with blanks. Here are some examples but it could be on any topic (country, famous person, my home, this school, etc..). Fill out as a class with one student filling it in. Then, students copy the poem and complete with their own ideas. Change as needed to stress different grammatical elements. And of course, afterwards SHARE. Present some to the class and display on a bulletin board. Your students will be proud of them!
SPEAK — Write
1. Surveys / Reports
Students have a survey question or a questionnaire. They walk around the class recording information. After, instead of reporting to the class orally, they can write up the report about their findings.
This can also be used with FSW (Find Someone Who) games. Students use a picture bingo card to walk around the classroom and ask students yes/no questions. They write the answers with a check or X and the student’s name in the box with the picture. After, they write up a report about which student ……. / didn’t …… certain things. CP
2. Reported Speech
Do any speaking activity or set of conversation questions. Afterwards, students report back by writing using reported speech, “ Susan told me that she ………..” and “ Brad said that ………..” etc….. CP
3. Introducing each other
Students can interview another classmate using a series of questions / key words given by the teacher. After the interview of each other is over, students can write out a biography of their partner and others can read them in a class booklet. – F
4. In class letter writing
Writing for a purpose is so important and nothing makes this happen better than in class letter writing. Appoint a postman and have each student make a post office box (it could just be a small bag hanging from their desk). The students can write each other (best to assign certain students first) and then respond to their letter. Once it gets started, it just keeps going and going… – F
4. Email / messaging / chat / social networking
This is an excellent way to get students speaking by writing. Set up a social networking system or a messaging / emailing system for the students. They can communicate and chat there using an “English only” policy. Use videos / pictures like in class – to promote student discussion and communication. Projects online foster this kind of written communication and using an CMS (Content Management System) like moodle or atutor or ning can really help students write more. – F
5. Class / School English newspaper or magazine
Students can gain valuable skills by meeting and designing a school English newsletter. Give each student a role (photographer, gossip / news / sports / editor in chief / copy editor etc…) and see what they can do. You’ll be surprised! – F
WRITE —— Do
Students can write dialogues for many every day situations and then act them out for the class. The teacher can model the language on the board and then erase words so students can complete by themselves and in their own words. Here’s a neat example using a commercial as a dialogue. – CP
Students draw a picture and then write a description of the picture. They hand their description to another student who must read it and then draw the picture as they see it. Finally, both students compare pictures! – F
3. Tableaus / Drama
Students write texts of any sort. Then the texts are read and other students must make a tableau of the description or act out the text in some manner. For example – students can write about their weekend. After writing, the student reads their text and other students act it out or perform a tableau. F
4. Don’t speak / Write!
I once experimented with a class that wouldn’t speak much by putting a gag on myself and only writing out my instructions. It worked and this technique could be used in a writing class. Students can’t speak and are “gagged”. Give them post it notes by which to communicate with others. Instruct using the board. There are many creative ways to use this technique! – F
RECOMMENDED BOOKS 4 TEACHERS
I highly recommend the following two books for ideas and some general theory on how to teach writing. Purchase them for reference.
1. HOW TO TEACH WRITING – Jeremy Harmer
Very insightful and cleanly, simply written. The author explores through example and description, all the facets and theory behind that “looking glass” which we call teaching. I use this as a course text for my methodology class for in-service teachers.
2. Oxford Basics: Simple Writing Activites
- Jill and Charles Hadfield
This book (and series) is a gem! Jill Hadfield knows what working EFL / ESL teachers need and in this book there are 30 simple writing activities which teachers can use with a wide variety of levels and with only a chalkboard and a piece of chalk / paper.
See my Blog post and download the list of my TOP 10 WRITING WEBSITES FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS


Interactive Multimedia and Music
Virtual Instrument research
（1）Human Computer Interaction is becoming a major component in computer science related fields allowing humans to communicate with machines in very simpler ways exploring new dimensions of research.
（2）Kinect, the 3D sensing device introduced by Microsoft mainly aiming computer games domain now is used in different scopes.
（3）We use kinect for controlling sound signals producing aesthetic music.
（1）Kinect is a sensor which is capable of capturing depth and color information of the user in front of it using an array of RGB and infrared cameras. Further it is capable of capturing the sound input though an array of microphones.
（2）Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)
（3）Technical standard that describes a protocol, digital interface and connectors and allows a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers and other related devices to connect and communicate with one another.
（4）MIDI controller is hardware or software which generates and transmits MIDI data to MIDI-enabled devices.
（5）Our Virtual Instrument is a novel MIDI controller design based on Kinect!
（1）Visual C++: Programming Language
（2）OpenNI: Kinect Driver and API functions
（3）OpenCV: Visual Interaction display
（4）MIDI: Music signal to control MIDI instrument
（5）Cubase and VST instrument: MIDI instrument (Audio Library)
（6）Once the depth information is captured using Kinect, user skeleton can be obtained with the available functions of OpenNI with 24 joints.
Midi Programming and Audio
（1）For the MIDI signal, we use the RtMidi API from Gary P. Scavone from McGill .Sending MIDI signals to audio library for controlling the note key, duration and velocity.
（2）VST instrument from Steinberg Company is the audio library which is capable of simulating the sound of real instruments.
（3）Using MIDI as the input mechanism, VST instruments output the sounds vividly as instructed.
（1）Three areas in front of the user is identified as the Kick, Snare, Hi-Hat and Cymbal.
（2）Left Hand ,right hand and right knee are used as the triggers against the above specified regions.
（3）When the coordinate of the triggering point is larger than a specified threshold with respect to the defined regions of the virtual drum sets, program triggers MIDI signals, and then MIDI signals trigger the sound in audio library.
（1）Same like in Drum, using Kinect and OpenNI, user skeleton is captured first.
（2）Then according to the user skeleton coordinates, we set a Chord selection position in front of the user’s left hand. In the Chord selection position, we have defined six different areas, each representing a chord.
（3）To play the virtual guitar, we also set a virtual guitar string in front of the user’s right hand. When the right hand coordinate is in a special value interval, the program sends MIDI signal to the audio library and then triggers the relevant sound.
（1）The program virtually draws a circle around the user. We divide the circumference into several intervals. Then users’ hands are used to control the key and volume.
（2）When the hand is closer to the circumference, the volume becomes louder. The sound is also from MIDI signal as with drum and guitar, and we connect MIDI signals to different audio libraries.
Advanced Spider king
The Virtual Cello
- Use two sensors to play
- Totally with 17 scales for the instrument
- Can use another MIDI signal such as violin or others
- Get the X and Y axis gyroscope values from the sensor
- When a gyroscope value is over the threshold, send a message to the cello program
The Virtual Piano (Leap motion)
- Use OpenGL to design the piano
- Separate keys into the upper and lower arrays
- Pre-selection of key using colors to match keys and fingers
- Use a relative average threshold to trigger sound
- Use the left most two keys at the same time to trigger chords
- Use hand gesture (move left or right) to shift to higher or lower keys
Keynote Speech and Plenary Talk in International Conferences
- Keynote Speech, “The MINE Virtual Band – Music Performance via Sensors,” The third International Conference on Visual Informatics 2013 (IVIC’13), Malaysia, November 2013
All the virtual instruments presented here, Guitar, Drum and Spider King and several other virtual instruments are presented in a live performance concert in NCU. –May,9th,2013
—103 CSIE Concert – MINE Studio Virtual Instrument Performance (2/2)
—103 CSIE Concert – MINE Studio Virtual Instrument Performance (1/2)
—102 CSIE Parent-teacher meeting
—102 CSIE Concert – MINE Studio Virtual Instrument Performance
—102 CSIE MINE Lab – MINE Studio Virtual Instrument Demonstration
—101 CSIE MINE Lab – MINE Studio Virtual Instrument Demonstration


Causes of Forest Fires
Wildfires can be ignited by a variety of occurrences. In addition to lightning, human-related activities start a large number of fires every year. Unattended or out-of-control campfires, a discarded burning cigarette, arson, or even equipment use can set off a blaze.
Once a forest fire has started, many factors contribute to its spread and intensity.
More than 83% of forest fires in 2006 were started by human activities, accounting for the burning of nearly 4.4 million acres. However, lightning-caused fires burned more total area – nearly 5.5 million acres. *
* Source: National Interagency Fire Center
How You Can Help.
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Every card you send
plants a tree in our


The world’s most beautiful and inspired paintings are hot commodities on the international market. However, unscrupulous people waiting in the wings have learned to exploit this demand for their own gain. Over the years, frustrated portraitists and humble art restorers have lined their pockets by imitating great artists. Some have done it for the thrill of being mistaken for a master, while others needed ready cash to prop up their opulent lifestyles.
1. Han van Meegeren
As a teenager in the Netherlands, Han van Meegeren fell in love with the works of Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer. He became well-versed at imitating Vermeer’s style, as well as techniques by other similar artists like Frans Hals and Pieter de Hooch. Although he found success painting portraits for clients, art critics were less complimentary. They declared his style old-fashioned and unoriginal. As a result, van Meegeren turned to forgery in the 1930s, amassing an enormous fortune from fake Vermeers. His most famous work was The Supper at Emmaus, a supposed lost Vermeer that he sold in 1938 for $280,000. However, the advent of World War II was van Meegeren’s downfall. He made the mistake of selling a Vermeer forgery to Nazi leader Hermann Göring, who displayed the work openly alongside stolen artwork and bragged about its value to guests. After the defeat of Germany, the Dutch authorities arrested van Meegeren for collaborating with Nazis and selling the country’s valuable cultural history to the invaders. Facing the death penalty, van Meegeren finally came clean and admitted that he had forged the painting. Upon careful examination, art experts identified van Meegeren’s works as forgeries, but some experts insisted for years that van Meegeren’s fake Vermeers were genuine. Despite his conviction for forgery, the Dutch public viewed van Meegeren as a national hero for fooling Göring. In a twist of fate, van Meegeren’s original paintings have increased in value over the years, making them an attractive subject for forgers.
2. Zhang Daqian
The Chinese painter was born into an impoverished family in Sichuan province. He began painting at a young age and soon became an expert in traditional Chinese painting techniques, using a silk scroll instead of a canvas for his work. He became famous for his traditional-style paintings in the 1930s after moving to Beijing. However, in addition to his well-known works, Zhang was secretly forging paintings by great Chinese artists like 10th-century landscape artist Guan Tong. Due to the precision of his forgeries, Zhang fooled art experts and museums around the world. Even the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston purchased a phony silk scroll in 1957, believing it to be a 10th-century masterpiece. He painted many of his forgeries in different styles to make it harder to detect their provenance. Zhang made a large fortune from both his original and forged works. Over his long career, he earned an estimated $11 million from selling his art. After Zhang died in 1983, art historians realized that he had forged several of the historical paintings found in his collection. He left an enormous assortment of art, and experts today are still divided on the provenance of the period paintings formerly in his possession. Despite his fraudulent ways, Zhang’s originals are still considered some of the most desirable paintings in China. In 2016, his Peach Blossom Spring sold for $34.7 million in Hong Kong.
3. James Tetro
A furniture salesman from upstate New York, Tetro was an unlikely candidate for the title of most notorious forger in the United States. He was entirely self-taught as a painter, learning his craft from reading art books and visiting museums. He launched a legitimate business painting art reproductions, but secretly began forging works by famous artists like Rembrandt and Chagall. To prevent art experts from detecting his forgeries, Tetro traveled the globe, carefully selecting materials that the painters actually would have used. Tetro worked in a wide variety of styles, aping Impressionists like Monet and Renoir, as well as Cubists like Picasso and Salvador Dalí. Tetro amassed a large fortune from his forgeries and became well known for his lavish parties in the upper circle of Los Angeles society. Tetro’s career came to a screeching halt when he sold a fake watercolor, ostensibly by local artist Hiro Yamagata, to a Beverly Hills gallery. Yamagata spotted the fake and immediately alerted police, and the forgery was traced back to Tetro. Authorities raided his home, discovering hundreds of fakes. Although Tetro never served any jail time for his fraudulent activities, his reputation was ruined, and the court ordered him to sign every work of art that he produced. Art experts speculate that many of Tetro’s forgeries still hang undetected in museums all over the United States.
4. Mark Landis
The Southern painter is unusual among forgers because he never profited monetarily from his fakes. Landis developed a love of fine art as a child when he visited museums and copied the masterpieces at home. He also struggled with mental illness and found solace in painting fakes by famous artists. Landis did not try to sell his paintings, but donated them to small museums across the United States. The museums often did not have the resources to authenticate the works and were grateful for the generous donations. After more than 20 years of using different names to donate fakes to various museums across the US, Landis was finally caught when he donated similar paintings to several different museums. Museum employees became suspicious and soon discovered that more than five dozen museums had been duped into displaying Landis’ forged paintings. Despite his fraudulent activities, authorities were not able to charge Landis with a crime. Since he did not accept payment and did not deduct the donations from his taxes, he technically was not committing any crime. Landis has since become a well-known eccentric figure in the art community and even launched an exhibition of his forgeries in 2012.
5. Elmyr de Hory
A Hungarian painter who found little success with his own creations, de Hory struck gold when he moved to Paris and began copying Picasso drawings. He later entered the American museum circuit, where he offloaded forgeries purportedly painted by Matisse and Renoir. He slipped up in 1955 when he offered three paintings to Harvard Art Museums. A suspicious curator noticed that the paintings looked very similar, although they were supposedly painted by different artists. She began investigating de Hory and alerted museums and galleries that a new forger was on the loose. With the help of Egyptian art dealer Fernand Legros, de Hory continued to sell his fakes across the US and Europe. Despite using a variety of false names, de Hory was not able to escape law enforcement forever. He was caught by Spanish police in 1968 and served two months in prison. He became famous after novelist Clifford Irving wrote a biography of his life. He was also the subject of F for Fake, a documentary film by Orson Welles and became an infamous figure in the art world. The notorious forger died in 1976, but his fakes are still popular with collectors. Many of his paintings have themselves been forged by more recent artists.
6. Eric Hebborn
A graduate of England’s prestigious Royal Academy of Arts, Hebborn entered into forgery accidentally when he began working as an art restorer. He soon realized that he could easily duplicate the styles of the great masters whose work he was restoring. Hebborn concentrated on forging drawings and paintings by famous artists like Andrea Schiavone, van Dyck and Rubens. His carefully crafted works fooled experts at Britain’s most prestigious auction houses and even convinced Sir John Pope-Hennessy, the Director of the British Museum. Hebborn’s crimes were discovered in 1978 when he carelessly used the same sheet of antique paper for multiple drawings that had allegedly been completed by two different artists. The drawings were revealed publicly as fakes, but art dealers were too afraid to accuse Hebborn directly. Since so many reputable art experts had authenticated his work and it was so similar to the styles of the original masters, they feared it would be difficult to prove forgery. Hebborn baldly admitted to his forgery in his 1991 autobiography, Drawn to Trouble. Despite this confession, he was never prosecuted. Over his lifetime, Hebborn claimed that he produced around 1,000 fake drawings, as well as various forged sculptures and paintings.
7. Wolfgang Beltracchi
The German painter was inaugurated into the art world at a young age. He learned how to paint from his father, an art restorer, and began forging paintings to pay for his living expenses. When approaching dealers, he claimed that his relatives had been enthusiastic art collectors and the forged works were from their collections. Beltracchi was fond of imitating works by painters like Johannes Molzahn and Max Ernst. Many of his forged paintings were authenticated by reputable art experts. Beltracchi made a miscalculation when he added aged stickers to the back of his forgeries. He hoped the name of a famous art dealer on the stickers would convince buyers that the paintings were old. However, an eagle-eyed art appraiser spotted one of his fake stickers and realized the work was a forgery. The German police began investigating Beltracchi and uncovered more than a dozen fake paintings that could be traced back to him. Beltracchi served three years in jail for forgery, but remained unapologetic, writing two books about his life and appearing in a 2014 documentary about his fakes. He claims that he has forged over 300 paintings, although police have only identified around 58.
8. Ken Perenyi
Ken Perenyi discovered he had a talent for art at an early age, but instead of painting original works, he preferred copying the style of 19th-century masters. Over his thirty-year career, he churned out at least 2,000 phony masterpieces in the styles of famous artists like Martin Johnson Heade and James E. Buttersworth. Perenyi painted fake pictures for years to support his lavish lifestyle, but eventually, he made a mistake. One of his girlfriends nabbed a painting and gave it to Bonhams auction house to sell. However, Bonhams realized that they had seen the exact same masterpiece for sale at Sotheby’s. They informed the FBI, who began investigating him. Instead of panicking, Perenyi patiently waited for the statute of limitations to expire. Despite the FBI’s scrutiny, they were never able to find sufficient evidence, and he eventually went on to openly detail his forgeries in a memoir and a documentary. To this day, he has never been charged with a crime.
Fraudulent painters have long taken the easy way to fortune by riding on the coattails of more famous artists. These master counterfeiters have fooled art lovers and expert appraisers alike by applying their talents to clever forgeries rather than original works. A few of these forgers even managed to find success under their own names. Some managed to evade detection, but they were all discovered in the end.


Cody Roberts: Inspired by Rauschenberg, Jim Dine, Shepard Fairey, and Dada
Sophie Eichner: Inspired by Sol Lewit
Kaelee Humphrey: Inspired by Chris Metze, Mary Scurlock, and Cindy Neuschwander
Application of Research
Throughout each level of the DRHSART program, students are required to keep a visual journal that records research, planning, art history, and ideas about their work. One major component of the visual journal is the artist research that is to be turned in once per quarter. The students have complete autonomy with who they choose to study in their journals, and in most cases the artists they study become instrumental in the development of the students' unique artistic voices.
This second semester Art 3 project is aimed at helping students reflect on who they have studied thus far, and challenges them to create a work of art that touches on the styles, techniques, media, and processes explored by each studied artist. The most successful of our past art students have met that success through the trusted process of Copy > Combine > Transform.
In essence, the creative process requires appropriation and the combination of ideas that have meaning to the artist. Ideally, this project will build upon the skills learned in the Subject, Media, Mashup assignment that preceded it. The goal here is to develop a voice that can be explored over the summer before Art 4.
Brainstorm with Purpose
When beginning this assignment, I'd like each of you to follow this methodical approach that is more likely to yield good results.
In order to give yourself a clear direction for this work, please answer the following questions for each artist you've studied in your visual journal.
1. What are the visual trends you notice in the artist's work.
2. If you boil down the major concepts explored by the artist, what seems to be most consistent?
3. Which works of art are you most drawn to by the artist? Give a brief explanation of why.
After answering these three simple questions for each artist, please complete the following activities to better provide inspiration for this assignment.
1. Using either a Google Doc or Word, create a full page of small color thumbnail images that represent the most important and interesting works for each artist. Limit yourself to one page, and include only those works that interest you the most. You should have a minimum of 20 images total on your document.
Print this document, cut out each work of art, and paste them into your journal. This will act almost like a Pinterest board of inspiration.
2. Take one page in your journal, and fill that page with legible words that represent the following:
As you write these words, increase the boldness or size of those words that seemed to trend the most in the artists' works. This will help you quickly spot those concepts, materials, and compositional tendencies that most overlap.
During the critique of this project, the students will be required to project and discuss the work of the artists whose work inspired their own. As they discuss the studied artists' works, they will discuss how they borrowed techniques and ideas from that work. The goal of this critique is to share inspiration with each other, discuss the many ways each artist successfully solved the creative problem, and to collectively brainstorm other ways that could enhance the student work.
Rebecca Kuzemchak: Inspired by Damien Hirst, Joseph Kosuth, and Chris Jordan


From Griffith Park to Irvine to the Westside, cadres of hikers answer a call to hike these dark wilderness areas most nights of the week. They pound out tough miles in blackness and shadows, often mud, sometimes fog, without using flashlights, relying instead on moonlight, ambient city light and their own night vision.
If the moon’s out on a clear night, there’s plenty of light to see trails, though I might caution that creatures of the night which have evolved much better night vision are gonna be out there with you. Slackpacker’s hiker checklist includes this comment about the darkness:
A comment about flashlights: You can usually see better at night without one. Sound crazy? Go out at night, away from all lights (not possible if you live in an urban environment) and sit quietly somewhere for a minute or two. You will be surprised how much you can see. After five minutes, turn on your flashlight. You’ll wonder why it suddenly got so dark.
Fact: The average human eye will dilate to compensate for the available light. If the light is dim, your eye will eventually make out everything illuminated by the dim light (starlight, moonlight, whatever). Once the flashlight is on, the eye will dilate to that…and you will only be able to see that which the flashlight illuminates.
Try it out on your next camp-out.