GCSE Biology Revision The Curriculum And Tips For Revising

GCSE Biology Revision The Curriculum And Tips For Revising Exploring The GCSE Biology Curriculum with a Biology Tutor ChaptersThe Importance Of A Biology GCSEFurther Education And Career Prospects For Biology StudentsGCSE Biology: An IntroductionTips for GCSE Biology students MahimaBiology Teacher 5.00 (10) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AndyBiology Teacher 5.00 (2) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlishaBiology Teacher 5.00 (10) £9/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors SaifBiology Teacher 5.00 (9) £22/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors FrankBiology Teacher 5.00 (8) £90/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors HeavenliBiology Teacher £9/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors SiobhanBiology Teacher £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MackenzieBiology Teacher 5.00 (2) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsThe Importance Of A Biology GCSEFor some, a Biology GCSE might be their last formal study of a Science. Meanwhile, for others, a GCSE in Biology could be just the start of a very exciting education and career in the field.If you know a lready you are going to opt for A Levels, and have already chosen to go down a different avenue, then you could be about to say goodbye to Biology forever! As sad as that is, not everyone takes to scientific subjects and every individual has their personal strengths and preferences.However, even if you are taking Biology with no clear direction of where you want to go after that, you should nevertheless  really embrace the subject and take as much knowledge away as you can because Biology is essentially a subject that teaches you about life.These essential aspects of biological life should really be learned by everyone, if we truly want the world to have a certain level of awareness of the planet we live on and to help us to appreciate the power and complexity of the Sciences. As a Biology student, longer will you take for granted the true wonders of life and the natural world, as you will be able to understand the fascinating medical and scientific processes behind them.Remember, a lso, that if you decide to study towards the International Baccalaureate, you will have to select one of three Sciences to complete your all-round studies.Further Education And Career Prospects For Biology StudentsFor those who are keen to pursue Science, and particularly Biology, through to their higher education, a GCSE in the Sciences could set the foundations for a strong scientific education and could even lead you into a profession within the Live Sciences sector.Naturally, Biology leads the way to a career in Medicine (along with other Science-based subjects) as well as a job as a scientist. However, there are various branches of Biology which can open up many alternative professional doors, including Ecology, Marine Biology, Zoology and many more.Get a biology tutor here.Biology opens up a number of career opportunities, such as jobs in Medicine. Photo via VisualHunt.comGCSE Biology: An IntroductionGCSE Biology courses have been carefully put together to be informative whils t encouraging curiosity. Pupils will learn about human biology, including how their body works and how it reacts to external factors, as well as finding out more about other living organisms, evolution and the environment.The aim of the course is to develop students’ scientific knowledge, (particularly biological concepts), to apply observational and problem-solving as well as develop analytical skills, all through a series of relevant  topics. The range of the topics is very broad, giving students a wider understanding of the world and those living in it.Due to government changes to GCSE courses and exams, many exam boards have amended their specifications to reflect these alterations. For this reason, many new courses emerged around 2016, with many new exams due to be sat for the very first time next summer (2018).The AQA CurriculumThe updated AQA Biology GCSE (8461) first made its way to classrooms across the country in 2016, and its up to date exam will therefore be sat by stu dents for the first time at the end of this academic year.The principal changes, which have been trialled and developed with the help of teachers, are that exams are more straightforward. This means that less scientific language is used in questions to avoid any confusion, there are fewer contexts to further improve understanding and the questions increase in difficulty to build up the students’ confidence during the course of the assessment.Exams have also received input from GCSE Maths teams (because Mathematics is very closely linked to Science) as well as A Level Science teams to ensure that the content flows consistently through to the next stage of learning.As previously mentioned, with any Biology GCSE you can expect to explore a very broad range of topics, such is the breadth of the subject. Yet, here are the main categories that you will encounter on the AQA syllabus:Cell BiologyOrganisationInfection and responseBioenergeticsHomeostasis and responseInheritance, variation and evolutionEcologyCell Biology is the focus of one of the AQA topics. Photo credit: kaibara87 via VisualHunt / CC BYThe exam is divided into two papers, covering topics 1-4 in the first instance and then 5-7 in the second. The first assessment is a written exam which last for 1 hour 45 mins and counts for half the final grade.The latter, also the same duration, makes up the other 50% of the grade, which means that marks are based purely on performance in exams and not on coursework carried out during the two-year course. Both exams mix up a variety of styles of questions, including multiple choice, structured, closed short answers and open responses.You can find out more about the exam boards and past papers here.Tips for GCSE Biology studentsSchool isn’t easy for anybody, no matter what it might like seem on the outside. Some students may struggle more academically whilst others might have emotional difficulties to keep on top of… the main thing is to not suffer in silence!Th ere are many ways that you can make life easier for yourself when studying towards your GCSEs, and the great thing is that many of them are free. The key to learning success is to plan, so get organised now and take inspiration from our tips below to help you with your Biology studies.Build A Study And Revision PlannerIt is never too early to start thinking about your exams, even if they are over a year away. We bet you are more than happy to think about the summer holiday that you have been promised after the exams over!You can use many online tools to help you build a planner, one of which can be found via The Student Room, but it is just as easy to create a hand-written diary if you prefer. If you opt for the paper version, you’ll need to go out and buy yourself a diary or planner, but bear in mind that this should ideally be an academic one which runs from September to September.Look up for a biology tutor A Level.In this planner, be sure to write down all of your key dates, l ike the dates of the exams if you know them already. This will give you a goal to work towards. Don’t forget to keep the journal up to date by putting in homework deadlines, listing revision sessions, and adding reminders (like a prompt regarding an event related to one of your topics or a suggestion to complete a past paper).Use a diary or planner to prepare for key dates like exams, revision sessions and excursions. Photo via VisualHunt.comIf you find it easier to create your study planner digitally, you can benefit from linking it to your mobile phone calendar and then receive alerts without having to remember to carry around or consult your diary.Ask QuestionsDon’t be afraid to ask questions, and don’t leave it until it is too late! Your teacher will be more than happy to help you when you have questions about the course or the exam, by either offering you advice or by pointing you in the direction of resources to look at.However, don’t forget that there are many others ways to get answers nowadays. For instance, the Internet is a huge network that connects us with resources but also with people who have similar interests and who can offer helpful discussions.Forums like the one found on The Student Room are specifically designed for students to interact with eachother, share their concerns, offer advice or simply to vent frustration about their education.You may find that pupils one year ahead of you can offer you some friendly suggestions regarding the course (but do remember that your exam could be quite different to theirs due to the recent changes).Find Online Resources And Past PapersAs your teacher will no doubt have told you, past papers are one of the best forms of revision that you can do. But what about when your particular exam has never been set before?Regardless of the changes to curriculums, the content of Biology remains the same. It’s not like the answers to scientific questions change from one year to the next!While some of the structure will have changed, you can bet that many of the questions will share strong similarities with the questions you will be faced with come next year or the following year.As such, don’t be put off using past papers to work on your exam technique, but just bear in mind that the exam you take won’t follow the exact same flow.Hire A TutorFinally, although it requires a little more financial dedication, you might find it useful to hire a tutor to help you to improve your level of understanding of the topics in Biology, rather than getting close to the exam and realising that there are large gaps in your learning.Help from biology home tutors is particularly useful if you are falling behind for any reason, if you want to ensure a better grade or if you have specific requirements to meet in order to study Biology at the next level. Visit Superprof for more information.

Need Help with Probability Math Problems, Turn to Tutor Pace

Need Help with Probability Math Problems, Turn to Tutor Pace 0SHARESShare Probability with its Permutations and Combinations could tax you at the neck of the hour. Need help? Turn to Tutor Pace and enjoy hassle free learning. Need help with Probability Math problems-get instant solutions If you need help with Probability Math problems, approach Tutor Pace and get instant remedies. The excellent tutors in Probability tell you What is Probability and how you can get over the entangled concepts in Probability with ease. Take help for Coin Flip Online and get ahead with sums in other topics in Probability. It is the effective interactive accessories like white board, voice chat and video texting that have made Probability help a great success in Tutor Pace. Work with our tutors to understand the essential skills for doing Probability sums and move ahead with other homework tasks. Click to our site and learn the details about our policies. It is flexible learning n in the wee hours with the support of our certified tutors around the clock from any quarter of the world that helps you a great way in doing your Probability sums without any tension. When you need help with Probability Math problems, approach Tutor Pace and get the necessary help. [starbox id=admin]

Where to Learn Guitar Online

Where to Learn Guitar Online Become a Guitarist with the Internet ChaptersWhich Are the Best Apps for Learning How to Play the Guitar?Websites for Becoming a GuitaristWhich Are the Best Guitar Blogs?Can You Learn the Guitar on YouTube?“If you want to be a rock star or just be famous, then run down the street naked, you’ll make the news or something. But if you want music to be your livelihood, then play, play, play and play! And eventually you’ll get to where you want to be.” - Eddie Van HalenWhile you can’t send a text message with your guitar, you can learn to play the guitar on your smartphone.  In the UK, we spend more time browsing the internet than we do sleeping.Learning to play guitar is easier with the help of a dedicated guitar tutor. However, not everyone has the means to regularly pay for private guitar tuition.Why not use all this time spent browsing to help you learn how to play the guitar?There are so many different websites, blogs, and videos dedicated to learning how to play the guitar.So how can you find them?In this gui de, we’ll tell you! PeterGuitar Teacher £12/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors EdgarGuitar Teacher 5.00 (8) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors PaulGuitar Teacher 5.00 (12) £18/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors DanielGuitar Teacher 5.00 (3) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ToddGuitar Teacher 4.75 (4) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors SamueleGuitar Teacher 5.00 (5) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors KurtGuitar Teacher 5.00 (3) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RyanGuitar Teacher £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsWhich Are the Best Apps for Learning How to Play the Guitar?Since you have your smartphone on you at all times (even in the bathroom), perhaps you could use it for learning how to play the guitar or more about music.With a smartphone app, you can learn to play the guitar anywhere. (Source: langll)When learning with a private tutor, you have their undivided attention during the hour the y’re teaching you. They’ll correct you when you get something wrong, like the position of your hand. However, once the lesson’s over, you’re on your own.Your smartphone is probably always in your pocket or within reach.  Guitar apps can be used for practising even when you don’t have a guitar to hand, on public transport, or on your lunch break, for example.  Additionally, they can send you reminders when it’s time to practise your guitar playing. That’s pretty good motivation, isn’t it?They’re also an enjoyable way to learn to play the electric guitar or the acoustic guitar. It doesn’t really matter what your favourite style of music is as it’s possible to find an app that works for you, can teach you the chords you need to know, how to play a riff, how to do barre chords, or how to play a certain scale.Here are some of the best guitar apps on the market:Coach Guitar: A virtual guitar teacher that’s dedicated to absolute guitar novices. The video tutorials a re fun and interactive.My Music Teacher: Thanks to this app, you can get in touch with real teachers. Furthermore, thanks to the microphone on your mobile, it can detect if you play a wrong note and correct you in real time.iReal Pro: There are 1,500 chord diagrams available on the app which allow you to work on different musical styles such as jazz, blues rock, or even bossa nova.Yousician: This app also gives you real-time feedback and suggests video lessons to you.It’s definitely possible to get better at playing the guitar, improve your fingerpicking, or familiarise yourself with the fretboard thanks to digital apps.Websites for Becoming a GuitaristYou can also learn how to play the guitar online from the comfort of your office chair in front of your computer.You can learn to play the guitar on your own if you use the right resources. (Source: Pexels)Whether you’re tuning your guitar, learning a pentatonic scale, playing along to a metronome, or studying music theory, you ca n find a website to help you with teaching yourself how to play the guitar.A music school won’t work for every budget. Additionally, if you’re not comfortable in group classes, a private tutor might be your only option. Thus, the internet is a good alternative for those wanting to get started with playing the guitar.If you’re motivated, there’s nothing stopping you from learning something new, such as playing the guitar, with the help of other guitarists online.Here are some of the best guitar websites:Tabs4acoustic: from music theory to practical guitar techniques, tablature, the riff library, and backing tracks, this website pretty much has everything a budding guitarist could ever want.ShredAcademy: Every guitarist should add this website to their favourites. If you want to play the guitar, this is one of the first websites you should start with. There are over 100 online guitar lessons for beginner guitar techniques like strumming and picking.Ultimate-Guitar: If you can' t read sheet music, this site needs to be put into your favourites bar now. Ultimate-Guitar is arguably the best website for tablature. Since guitar tabs are user-submitted, there are often several versions of each one. However, users also rate the tabs so you can quickly find the best tab according to other users votes.Jammit: This is a website and also an app for iOS, Mac, and PC. If there's a certain song you're trying to learn on the guitar, this is probably the place to go. You can find a song you like, slow it down, loop a tricky section, and jam along until your fingers are dancing on the strings just like your favourite artists. If you're struggling with a certain solo, open up the tabs on Ultimate-Guitar and jam along with Jammit!After that, you can start working on becoming the next Hendrix!Which Are the Best Guitar Blogs?If you’re looking to buy a guitar, learning how to restring a guitar, or tuning your guitar, guitar blogs are a useful resource.If you get bored of pla ying on your own, you could always start a band. (Source: MatanVizel)Most consumers prefer to buy a product following a recommendation from a blog rather than from an advert.  Blogs are like word of mouth but digital. If a friend tells you about a great new shampoo that’s worked wonders for them, you’re far more likely to try it than if an advert told you that.The same is true for bloggers.  If you regularly read a blog, you start to get the feeling that you know the person and you start to trust their opinion more, especially when they try out new products.While a lot of bloggers are paid for their product reviews or given free versions of products in order to review them, they’re still free to criticise certain aspects of the product in question.Thus, before you choose your next guitar or you’re not sure whether you want an Ibanez, Fender, or Gibson, it might be worthwhile having a look at different guitar blogs.Here are some of the best guitar blogs around:Truefire is a w ebsite offering online guitar lessons. The website features over 33,000 guitar lessons for a variety of different styles and levels. It doesn't matter whether you're an absolute beginner or an experienced guitar player, play blues guitar or face-melting rock guitar solos, you're bound to find something on their website.You might be familiar with the Guitar World magazine. If not, don't worry, their website is also really good. If you're looking for a guitar lesson, information on how to play guitar, articles on different techniques, chord progressions, strumming patterns, or guitar gear, you should definitely pay their website a visit.Guitar Tricks: If you're looking for a particular guitar lesson or just how to play guitar in general, this is a website that you should visit. In addition to loads of content for beginners, there are also blogs that any musician can enjoy on playing the guitar, gear, different exercises and techniques, as well as articles on general guitar culture.The Premier Guitar magazine has been  going for over a decade now and includes plenty of articles on playing the guitar, reviews of acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars, interviews with famous guitarists, and articles on the music industry.Guitar Habits: This blog has a huge variety of interesting articles on guitar playing, beginner guitar lessons, tutorials on how to play certain songs, and reviews of gear for both the acoustic guitar and the electric guitar, not to mention the guitars themselves.If you’re going to teach yourself how to play the guitar, it’s a good idea to surround yourself with other guitarists, even if you do this virtually.Can You Learn the Guitar on YouTube?Learning to play guitar is much easier with videos.No matter what style of music you like, you can learn it with online resources. (Source: congerdesign)You can break down a song, riff, or lick, and watch it over and over again. You can look at the guitarist’s posture, the positioning of their fingers on the frets, and see whether or not they’re using a capo, for example.  Of course, your virtual teacher still needs to be a good teacher otherwise you won’t really learn anything.There are plenty of guitar tutorials on YouTube.Did you know that most of the population watch YouTube at least once a day and two-thirds of those who do watch it multiple times?When it comes to guitar tutorials, there are good ones and there are bad ones. Fortunately for you, we’ve found a few of the better ones for you to check out.GuitarJamz: This YouTube channel has been around for a long time and is definitely worthy of your attention if you're looking for beginner guitar lessons. Whether you're looking for beginner guitar lessons or videos on becoming a better guitar player, you'll find them on Marty's channel.Jamplay: This YouTube channel includes guitar lessons on a variety of techniques including strumming, picking, and improving your guitar playing. These online guitar lessons are definitely worth subscribing to on your YouTube account.GuitarLessons365Song: This is another channel with over half a million subscribers and plenty of great video content for you to sink your teeth into. If you want to learn how to play a certain song, this is one of the first channels you should check out.JustinGuitar: Justin Sandercoe's YouTube channel, just like his site and blog, is an incredible resource for guitar lessons and tutorials on how to play guitar.It’s really easy to learn guitar songs on the internet as you learn chords, the posture you should adopt, and how to tune your guitar.So are you ready to start learning how to play the guitar online?

The Classes That Scare You Developing growth mindset around challenging subjects

The Classes That Scare You Developing growth mindset around challenging subjects Improving Academic Performance We all have those pesky negative beliefs around certain subjects or classes at school: I’m a bad writer! I’ll never understand math! Learning a foreign language is impossible! Though certain classes may be more challenging than others, clinging to negative generalities about anything, especially education, doesn’t serve us. Caroline Dweck, author of the fantastic bestseller Mindset, discusses the differences between having a fixed mindset (I’m a bad writer) vs. a growth mindset (I can improve my writing through hard work) and how the subtle shift from absolutes to open-mindedness paves a whole new path for learning and development. (You can learn more here.) Nowhere else is a growth mindset more apropos than education, which is essentially something that requires a growth mindset if one is to move forward. It is common, however, for our mind to think in absolutes, most notably “I’ll never” or “I’ll always” or “I am fundamentally like this _____.” But how else can we learn something new if our mind is already made up? This is why it is essential to challenge these fixed thoughts with growth-oriented ones, which are, by their very nature, optimistic (though not idealistic) thoughts. I dealt for many years with a common fixed mindset boogeyman related to education - math. It was a scary, steep-sloped struggle for me in middle and high school. I was always a much bigger fan of reading books and writing stories than learning equations. Math stressed me out; I never “got it” as fast as my classmates. When I arrived to middle school, I felt behind in pre-algebra. I hadn’t learned PEMDAS or the distributive property yet. I was placed in the dreaded “lower” math section. I had only one conclusion to draw - I was bad at math. This set me up for years of falling behind in a subject that I gave up on before I even tried to improve, all because I had a fear-based fixed mindset. I made the decision that I was bad at math, therefore I was bad at math. I was scared of it, so I believed it was inherently scary. I assumed I would fail or at least do an average at best job. And that is exactly what happened. I believed an idea planted in my brain from as young as nine years old, and I let it control the next nine years of my schooling! (Fear and belief are powerful, fascinating features of the mind. And fear of course can clam us up and shut down our ability to retain information.) But then something strange happened. My senior year of high school, I took a general algebra course that was required to graduate. I was lucky to have a fantastic teacher. I decided to pay close attention and put more effort into taking notes and studying. I ended up acing every single homework assignment and test and got a 98% in the class. Clearly, I wasn’t bad at math. So what changed? Was it the teacher? Possibly, although I had some pretty awesome math teachers throughout middle and high school who tried to inspire me, but I was just too certain that my brain didn’t get it. So, was I suddenly smarter? I don’t think so. What changed was my mindset. I was more open and willing. I was motivated. I let go of the idea that I would always struggle with math and was therefore incapable of succeeding, and I started fresh. I was focused and inspired. I stopped believing whatever story my mind began telling me as a young kid, sweating through placement tests and pop quizzes. If you notice that you have a fixed mindset about school, don’t worry - it’s normal. We all favor or succeed in certain classes more than others, and it is easy to feel more open and positive towards the classes where we thrive vs. the ones where we feel discouraged. This is part of what makes us unique, diverse individuals. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t change our approach to the areas that give us pushback. To begin, the best thing to do is to start observing what it is that makes you draw such a strong conclusion about a subject area or class in the first place. What thoughts do you have about certain subject areas that seem fixed rather than growth-oriented? What labels are you using? Are you a poor test taker? A slow reader? Bored beyond belief in history? Totally lost in physics? Look at how you can reframe these thoughts from fixed to growth-oriented. Reframing is a fantastic tool, because it charts immediately how you can set some goals to make improvements. So rather than, I am a poor test taker, you might say, test taking is sometimes a struggle because I get overwhelmed by so many questions in a short period of time, and then you can start to break down how to tackle that overwhelm. Tara Brach, renowned mediation teacher, encourages using the RAIN technique to help one look objectively (and kindly) at a problem or issue before moving forward and taking necessary action. (Visit the following link to learn more: www.tarabrach.com/articles-interviews/rain-workingwithdifficulties/.) Another great tool is to focus on the positive and what is working. It can be easy to focus on the one or two negatives, even in a sea of positives. Sometimes we think we are so bad at something and miss all the areas where we are successful or where we enjoy the material. History got you down because reading the textbook isn’t all that inspiring? Well, what about a documentary or YouTube film that helps further explain the Revolutionary War? Can you name three things you found interesting? I bet you can. In fact, I use the look for three things rule all the time. Look for three things you like or three areas where you were successful or ways you can make an improvement. It can make a huge difference in outcome, and it breaks up the instinct to complain and be negative in the process (our brains are wired for that!). Set one growth-oriented goal each week, whether in a school subject, extracurricular activity, or even with something like getting up five minutes earlier for school. Practice the above principles in order to reach your goal, and see how it goes! I am positive you will find that, even if the outcome doesn’t change drastically, your experience and perception will, and that can make a huge impact in our lives as a whole. So let’s recap - first, start observing and noticing where you have fixed mindset. See if you can reframe some of your ideas to growth status. Focus on a few positives rather than all the negatives. Look for three examples of positive-oriented growth. Look for an overall growth-oriented goal for each week, as you go into the class and subject area that gives you a little anxiety. You can do this! If you want to learn more about the power of the mind, follow this link to an excellent article on the subconscious: https://inlpcenter.org/subconscious-mind/ Other questions or comments? We would love to hear from you! About the Author Stephanie Ingraham is a former English teacher turned writer and tutor with a BA in English from UCLA and a Masters in Education from Pepperdine University in Los Angeles. She is deeply passionate about education, psychology, child and adolescent development, literature, and writing. She believes the education world can benefit greatly from the meditation world - mindfulness and self-compassion are key! In her free time she loves reading and writing, music, baking, yoga, dance, animals, and exploring new cities. She currently lives in Chicago, Illinois.

5 Tips for Preventing Summer Slide

5 Tips for Preventing Summer Slide Many parents have heard the scary-but-true statistic that children who do not read over summer break can lose up to two months of reading achievement. According to Reading Rockets review of 13 empirical studies on summer reading loss, over time, this can create a compounded achievement gap of 1.5 years before a child has even reached middle school. The good news: its not hard to curb summer reading loss. With a little effort, you can help your child continue to strengthen that reading muscle and prevent the dreaded summer slide so that when the next school year begins, he or she is ready to hit the ground running. Here are five tips to build those literacy skills this summer: Set a daily minutes goal. Goal-setting gives children ownership of their learning. So, incorporate reading into the summertime daily routine and have your child set a goal of minutes to read each day or week. Make it fun by combining reading time with cookies and milk, or making a pitcher of your childs favorite summer beverage and reading al fresco. Maybe you can start a new family tradition to all read together in a comfortable spot in the house before bedtime. Whatever you do, make sure you send the message that reading is a relaxing, rewarding activity, not a chore that must be checked off a task list. Keep a summer memories journal. Writing and reading are essential, interconnected skills, so its valuable to encourage children to write over the summer too. If you have a tough time convincing your child to start penning novellas or essays about summer, a subtler way to hone those writing skills is a summer journal. Have your child jot down the events of each day, record the stops on your family road trip, or write real-time observations of daily life in your home over summer vacation. If your child gets really into it, consider letting him or her create a blog on a free or inexpensive platform like Squarespace or Wix. Focus on a subject of interest. For some children, a new hobby or interest sparks exploration. So, if your child isnt eager to read novels, try digging into topics that do get him or her excited, exploring books, websites, blogs, and magazine and newspaper articles on those topics. Fueled by curiosity, your child will end up reading more than he or she would otherwise. Talk about it. You can enrich your childs reading time by talking about the books he or she is reading as well as the characters, plot, plot twists, and what your child thinks will happen next. Express interest by asking thoughtful questions that help your child think critically, reflect and improve comprehension. Share with others. Your child might also want to share what he or she is reading with other kids, which is exactly what young readers do on Scholastics Share What Youre Reading Think of it as a book review and recommendations website for children. Your child can share his or her own reviews and check out other childrens reviews as well. If your child wants to catch up or get ahead this summer, call Huntington. Now is a great time to fill in any gaps in skills so that your child has the reading and writing aptitude to succeed in all subjects. Call 1-800 CAN LEARN today for more information about our literacy skill-building programs and summer reading program, Reading Adventure. About Huntington Huntington is the tutoring and test prep leader. Its certified tutors provide individualized instruction in reading, phonics, writing, study skills, elementary and middle school math, Algebra through Calculus, Chemistry, and other sciences. It preps for the SAT and ACT, as well as state and standardized exams. Huntington programs develop the skills, confidence, and motivation to help students succeed and meet the needs of Common Core State Standards. Founded in 1977, Huntingtons mission is to give every student the best education possible. Learn how Huntington can help at www.huntingtonhelps.com. For franchise opportunities please visit www.huntingtonfranchise.com. 2017 Huntington Mark, LLC. Huntington Learning Center, the three-leaf logo, and 1 800 CAN LEARN are registered trademarks of Huntington Mark, LLC. Each franchised Huntington Learning Center is operated under a franchise agreement with Huntington Learning Centers, Inc.

Music Changing the Brain and Improving Livelihoods

Music Changing the Brain and Improving Livelihoods Pexels Personally, I am not that much of a rap fan fanatic, from the performer unvarying his or her vocal range to the difficulty in dancing to the song; certainly, there is the classic jumping up and down and mouthing some of the words to make it appear as if we understand what the artist is singing. In retrospect, though, is it easier to memorize a song, say by Chance the Rapper, or one performed by Maroon 5 or Bruno Mars? While it is more common to sing “Sugar” in its entirety, Chance the Rapper’s “No Problem” is also scientifically proven to involve a little more time as the lyrics are spoken quicker, with a lower chance of interpreting his message and storing it as long-term memory. However, despite the extra time in memorizing the work and the genre being lower on the totem pole for me (along with country music), I acknowledge it as an undeniable method to express emotions. Throughout Chance’s songs, he elucidates his battle against drug abuse in an attempt for an upward climb and totality of mental health stability. Thinking back to last semester especially, I can honestly describe music as a mental-health stabilizing agent on a different level, though, from Chance the Rapper. While I am not depressed, anxious, or affected by a drug addiction, it was difficult for me question my major (whether it be that of sticking with engineering or switching in its entirety). Add on the imbalance with coverage of math and science, and little of the fine arts within the curriculum, and I started craving a different media, a different release than that of strictly pen to paper calculations. I started playing piano in first grade through freshman year of high school and revisited it my sophomore year of college when I was substantially stressed. After trying to get back into it, I desired it more and would play for sometimes two to three hours a night in a fine arts hall, while listening to Elton John, Journey, and Goo Goo Dolls on my own time or while studying. Though not often portrayed as the classified term of “neuro-rhythm music therapy,” playing an instrument and listening to music encompasses positive mental health benefits, ranging from it activating the pleasure-reward system of the brain, priming it, and managing effects of post-operative pain. Simply put, music is good for us, but how do we determine what is pleasurable for each of us specifically, whether it encompasses rock, punk, and metal, or rap and country? Per the journal, Science, patterns in brain activity indicate whether we like what we are listening to. A researcher at Rotman Research Institute in Toronto and former Levitin student Valorie Salimpoor conducted a study in which participants “listened to 60 excerpts of music they had never heard before while in a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine.” After asking the 19 participants how much money they would spend on a given song while listening to the excerpts, researchers analyzed the subjects’ brain patterns, specifically honing in on the nucleus accumbens and superior temporal gyrus. While the latter structure is involved in the experience of music, its connection to the nucleus accumbens is pertinent as genres of music in which a person listens to over a lifetime impact how the superior temporal gyrus is formed. The superior temporal gyrus is not linked with predicting whether a person will enjoy a given piece of music; rather, it involves storing templates from what has been heard before. (A person who has frequently listened to rap will appreciate its genre to an elevated degree than an individual who has less experience listening to the genre.) In the words of Salimpoor, “The brain kind of works like a music recommendation system.” The brain indicates what is considered valuable for one’s survival music is strongly associated with its reward system. While it doesn’t fit the “food, water, sex” existence continuum, professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Montreal Neurological Institute Robert Zatorre indicated that the striatum releases the chemical dopamine in response to pleasure-related stimuli. When the music is transmitted to someone’s brain and registers, it triggers the release of dopamine specifically the ventral striatum releases dopamine when a person is experiencing peak pleasure. According to CNN, what is interesting, however, is that dopamine is released from a differing area of the brain, the dorsal striatum, “about 10 to 15 seconds before the moment of peak pleasure.” Zatorre explains that while one is anticipating a moment of pleasure, he or she “is making predictions about what is [being heard] and what [one] is about to hear. Part of the pleasure we derive from it is being able to make predictions.” With this strong dopamine rush from music, it could be comparable to that of methamphetamines. In babies, the “Mozart Effect” has been a booming term among first-time parents as they read Women’s Health, Parenting, or the Working Mother magazine publications, hinting that playing classical music while pregnant can seemingly make the son or daughter “smarter.” However, there are few studies which support this claim; rather, music primes the brain’s various mindsets. According to University of Georgia’s Associate Professor and Extension Human Development Specialist Dr. Diane Bales in her article “The Role of Music,” people who listen to music perform certain special tasks quickly, such as fitting a puzzle together. How does this occur, though? As reported by Bales, “The classical music pathways in our brain are similar to the pathways we use for spatial reasoning.” When we listen to classical music, these spatial pathways are flipped on and ready to be utilized. Our improved spatial skills fade within about an hour after listening to music, but learning to play an instrument has been proven to exhibit longer-lasting effects on dimensional reasoning. The critical period of a baby is pivotal as he or she is developing new connections with other neurons to prepare for solidification of the brain. Playing music, singing to the child, and even starting him or her out in lessons can enhance this creativity and spatial awareness which is more often than not bypassed. Extend the immediate immersion of music in children into long-term ramifications: that of reduced stress and anxiety, decreased pain, and improved immune functioning. As written by Jill Suttie in the Huffington Post’s article “5 Ways Music Improves Our Health,” she brings to light a study in which researchers discovered that patients receiving surgery for hernia repair and who listened to music after surgery “experienced decreased plasma cortisol levels and required significantly less morphine to manage their pain.” A similar surgery expounded upon this stress and pain reduction correlation as stress-reducing effects of music were more powerful than that of orally-administered anxiolytic drugs for surgery patients. Test after test was performed as Suttie clarifies that 60 people diagnosed with anything from fibromyalgia to undergoing spinal surgery experienced significant reductions in their pain and fewer depressive symptoms hardly a placebo effect as a 2014 randomized control trial was conducted which involved healthy subjects exposed to painful stimuli. The result: a failed linkage between expectation and music’s effects on pain. This leads me to my final point: music as preventing disease. You’re probably thinking ‘If I have the flu, listening to music will not magically make me well.’ You are certainly correct regarding this standpoint. However, Wilkes University researchers conducted a study involving the levels of IgA, an important antibody for our immune system’s first line of defense against disease. After undergraduate students had their salivary IgA levels tested preceding and following a half-hour exposure to either a tone click, radio broadcast, tape of soothing music, or silence, those who listened to the music exhibited predominately increased levels of IgA than their counterparts. A similar study from Massachusetts General Hospital found that patients had lower stress hormone levels when listening to Mozart’s piano sonatas as a relaxation mechanism. An instrument of self-expression or rather a release from reality, embracing music in its entirety has salvaged people from silence. I often note that when I am not feeling like myself or had a rough day, listening to my favorite band, or sneaking into the piano room at SLU for hours on end enables me to express what I could not put into words on paper or to another person maybe I could not formulate the verbiage, or maybe there were simply no words to be said, but just emotions building which could not be paired with the correct form of verbal expression. I could care less if you have a different taste in music than me; I previously mentioned I did not enjoy listening to rap, but if you find comfort in its genre, I encourage you to cling to it. No one will ever be able to take your own expression away from you.

?? Young Entrepreneurs Challenge - Sheffield Children Inspired!

?? Young Entrepreneurs’ Challenge - Sheffield Children Inspired! Young Entrepreneurs’ Challenge - Sheffield Children Inspired! St Mary's Primary School won the Children's Choice AwardAt Tutorful, we believe in inspiring the next generation of business owners. That's why we've launched our Young Entrepreneurs' Challenge initiative in which we invite year six pupils to create their own company in a day, teaching them business skills along the way!Run in conjunction with the University of Sheffield, the event saw 54 enthusiastic pupils compete in teams of six and pitch to judges who included our Co-Founder, Mark Hughes, and Lee Strafford, previous Chairman of Sheffield Wednesday and Co-Founder of PlusNet.Designed to promote entrepreneurship in the youngest students, the children learnt how to come up with a business idea, map out their spending and pitch to potential investors.The judges chose St Thomas More Catholic Primary School children’s ‘Homework Helper’ as their winning entry, an ingenious service to help children struggling with their home learning. The panel highlighted the children’s inventive marketing campaign as a key factor in their decision. St Thomas More Catholic Primary School children’s ‘Homework Helper’ won the Judges' AwardThe Children’s Choice Award, as voted for by the other participants, went to St Mary’s Primary School for their design of a high-tech pen attachment which checks pupils’ spelling and calculations. Other children described the product as ‘an incredibly cool idea’ and ‘something which would definitely help us with our work!’The judges were particularly impressed with the quality of all of the children’s pitches. Janet Grant, a judge and mentor from the University of Sheffield’s Enterprise Zone, praised the pupils’ presentation skills, which she said rivalled those of undergraduate students.The event is designed to inspire children to dream of one day building and running their own companies. Many of Sheffield’s schools have their own enterprise events but linking this to the University of Sheffield and local businesses raises the children’s aspirations and lets them se e where their ideas can take them.The other ideas pitched were...MatchaPet.com, a service which helps people with no pets find someone who needs a pet-sitter. SchoolNAV, an app which helps students find their next class and get there as soon as possible.Identigo, a tablet device which attached to your clothes to help new students and teachers get to know you.ChoreChallenge, an app that helps parents encourage their children to tidy their rooms and wash the dishes.HandyHelpers, a device which lets students get help from teachers or classmates both in school and at home..Tutors4u, an online service which provides students with a tutor when they are struggling with their homework - this one was our favourite!Music4kids, an app which lets school children select their favourite music for singing assemblies.Who knows, perhaps the event will inspire the next Bill Gates or Alan Sugar?If you're school would like to take part in one of our future events, taking place at universities around th e country, please contact us at support@tutorful.co.uk.

Ask a Nerd! Are the SAT and ACT Similar by TutorNerds

Ask a Nerd! Are the SAT and ACT Similar by TutorNerds Ask a Nerd! Q: I am thinking of taking both the SAT and ACT; are they pretty much the same? Brief: No! The SAT and ACT are two very different exams with two different test prep strategies. The essay structures are extremely different, the timing of the tests is different and the scoring is completely different. You should definitely tell your Irvine private test prep tutor if you plan to take both exams in the same year so that s/he can help you separate the two (READ: Ask a Nerd! What Kind of Tech Should I Use to Study). Answer The SAT and ACT are two very different exams. Although there are several differences, a few are highlighted here to help you get started: The SAT vs. the ACT essay The essays require different structures and are graded based upon different criteria (READ: 8 SAT Essay Tips). Many students find the ACT essay to have a simpler format but this doesn’t necessarily make it easier. How you will perform on each essay depends upon who you are as a writer. Ask your Orange County test prep tutor (schedule yours now before its too late!) to explain the differences to you and help you go back and forth from one writing style to the other. I don’t recommend taking both tests in the same month. It is too easy to get the two exams confused. The timing of the sections The SAT has 25 minute, 20 minute, and a 10 minute section. You will need to switch back and forth from math to English several times throughout the test, meaning that your right and left brains need to work in unison. The sections of the ACT are longer; writing, reading and English are between 30 and 45 minutes while the sole math section is 60 minutes long. This means that once you are done with math, you won’t have to go back and do it again (our Irvine math tutors will increase your confidence). Mad Science (Reasoning Section) The ACT has a science reasoning section, which the SAT does not have. Many test-takers and Irvine science tutors view the science reasoning section as a logic test that has nothing to do with science. Each student will attack and conquer this section differently and I suggest that you ask your tutor for special test prep techniques that are unique to this section (READ: ACT Aspire: What is it?). Scoring The highest score (a completely perfect score) on the SAT is a 2400. The current average score is around 1500 to 1550. Most universities (including the university of California, Irvine) are looking for scores around 1850 for acceptance. Of course this varies by state. If you want to get into an Ivy League school or a school just below the Ivy League, you will need to shoot for a 2000-2300 (Yikes!).                                                   Image Via Michael Jung The top score you can get on the ACT is a 36 (READ: A Timeline Study Guide for the SAT). The rumored score to get into university of California, Irvine is 23. If you want to get into Harvard, the rumored score is between 31 and 35 (Yikes!). A few things are the same To do really well on your SAT and your ACT exams you will need to do a few things. Take lots and lots of practice tests Get a tutor who specializes in test prep Work really, really hard Take the real test two or even three times Apply the techniques that your test prep tutor gives you Have a question for one of our nerds? Tweet it to us @TutorNerds. Give yourself the TutorNerds advantage by checking back often for the latest in our “Ask a Nerd” series. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at info@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us post about. The beginning of a new school year is crucial for establishing a strong academic performance. In other words, if your child wants to reach his or her potential, they can’t fall behind from the start. Hiring an Orange County private tutor is much more than extra academic help, it’s a confidence boost. Have your child be the first to raise their hand in the classroom by hiring a college educated tutor from TutorNerds. Contact us today!