Getting Started With Student Portfolios

Getting Started With Student Portfolios There are many wonderful benefits to having students create portfoliosone is the enhancement of critical thinking skills which results from the need for students to develop evaluation criteria. You can also use this criteria to evaluate their work and engage in self-reflection about their progress. Additionally, students are pleased to observe their personal growth, they tend to  have better attitudes toward their work, and they are more likely to think of themselves as writers. The payoff for using portfolios becomes concrete when students discover they can earn college credit and, in some cases, skip a freshman writing class by creating a top notch writing portfolio while they are still in high school.    Before proceeding with assigning a portfolio, familiarize yourself with the rules and credit requirements for such a project. Theres little point to requiring this work from students if theyre not properly credited or dont understand the assignment.   Working Student Portfolio A working portfolio, often a simple file folder containing all the students work, is helpful when used in conjunction with the evaluation portfolio; you can start it prior to deciding what youll require in the evaluation portfolio and thus protect work from being lost. Arrangements must be made, however, to store folders in the classroom. Students at all levels generally become proud as they watch their work accumulateeven students who rarely work will be amazed to see five or more assignments that they actually finished. Getting Started With Student Portfolios There are three main factors that go into the development of a student portfolio assessment. First, you must decide on the purpose of your students  portfolios. For example, the portfolios might be used to show student growth, to identify weak spots in student work, and/or to evaluate your own teaching methods. After deciding the purpose of the portfolio, you will need to determine how you are going to grade it. In other words, what would a student need in their portfolio for it to be considered a success and for them to earn a passing grade? The answer to the previous two questions helps form the answer to the third: What should be included in the portfolio? Are you going to have students put in all  of  their work or only certain assignments? Who gets to choose? By answering the above questions, you are able to start student portfolios off on the right foot. A big mistake some teachers make is to just jump into student portfolios without thinking through exactly how they are going to manage them. To help you answer these questions, you might find it helpful to review the Portfolio Planning Checklist and Suggested Portfolio Items for each kind of portfolio students will keep. If done in a focused way, creating student portfolios will be a rewarding experience for both student and teacher.

Analysis of the American Reality, Possibility, and Dream found in “Nickel and Dimed” and “The Outsiders”

Analysis of the American Reality, Possibility, and Dream found in â€Å"Nickel and Dimed† and â€Å"The Outsiders† Every American is familiar with the concept of the American Dream. It is the social myth at the very core of the nation’s identity. Unlike other countries, the United States is not rooted in a shared ancestry, history, or language. Instead, Americans find their unity in a common aspiration—the hope of a better future for themselves and their children in the Land of Opportunity. This is the vision that drove the Puritans to brave the sea, inspired the founding fathers to sign the Declaration of Independence, and continues to bring immigrants teeming into the country. The American Dream is deeply rooted in the culture and psyche of the United States and its citizens. It is a common theme in literature as American authors struggle to interpret the social myth in light of reality. One of the most beloved discussions and deconstructions of the American Dream is a novel written by Susan Eloise Hinton when she was only sixteen. The Outsiders chronicles the story of seven boys and their struggle to overcome the stereotypes forced on them by their community. Through the eyes of adolescence, Hinton analyzes the American Dream by addressing the gulfs that separate the Dream from reality, and the reality from the possibility of achieving the Dream. Another book with a similar purpose is Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America. Unlike The Outsiders, Nickel and Dimed is a nonfictional account of Ehrenreich’s experiences as she attempts to support herself by working various blue collar jobs. Ehrenreich accuses America of abandoning the working poor who, she argues, are unable to support themselves on current minimum wage salaries. Furthermore, her expos? shows an economic system that encourages the abuse and dehumanization of its low-income workers. Even while she stresses the importance of financial stability to the fulfillment of the American Dream, Ehrenreich spends a large portion of the book illustrating how a lack of humanity, in the system and between the classes, is the root cause of the large gap between rich and poor. While Hinton and Ehrenreich approach the American Dream from two very different perspectives, both conclude that a mutual respect and understanding between all pe ople, regardless of class, is essential to fully restore the Dream for all Americans. The United States of America was founded on the notion that â€Å"life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness† should be available to every citizen. The belief that these rights are available to every citizen is a great American myth. In his book The American Dream: The Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation, Jim Cullen calls this â€Å"idea that individuals have control over the course of their lives†¦ the very core of the American Dream, the bedrock premise upon which all else depends† (10). Hinton and Ehrenreich both attack the validity of the myth that equal opportunity is a reality in America and identify it as a source of prejudice and misunderstanding between the classes. Ehrenreich’s opinions about poverty, before she began her undercover journalism research, correspond strongly with the way average middle and upper class Americans think. She describes how she â€Å"grew up hearing over and over, to the point of tedium, that ‘hard work’ was the secret of success† (Ehrenreich 220). When she attempts to support herself as a blue collar worker, however, she finds that â€Å"you [can] work hard—harder even than you ever thought possible—and still find yourself sinking ever deeper into poverty and debt† (Ehrenreich 220). In his book, Beyond the American Dream, Charles Hayes describes how the disconnection between the myth and reality stigmatizes the poor: The higher the level of social position reached†¦ the more the people on that level seem blinded by the relative advantage of their position. For example, the middle class expects the bottom level to simply go out and get a job, failing to see the dist inct advantage they themselves maintain through quality education and social connections. The typical middle-class businessman†¦ sees himself as deserving while he sees those at lower economic levels as being lazy and undeserving. (18-19) During her experience as a temporary member of working class America, Ehrenreich found the work exhausting, both physically and emotionally. Working as a maid, she describes the â€Å"exercise† as â€Å"totally asymmetrical, brutally repetitive, and as likely to destroy the musculoskeletal structure as to strengthen it† (Ehrenreich 90). Many of her coworkers work through pain, malnutrition, or pregnancy in order to keep their jobs and because they can’t afford to take unpaid days off. Several of the maids have injuries, treated and untreated, due to their work. Despite the prevalent idea that the poor can break free from poverty simply by working hard, Ehrenreich’s coworkers endure body-breaking work without having the opportunity to save enough to change their situation or seek out a different job. Like Ehrenreich, Hinton also argues that equal opportunity is a myth that contributes to prejudice. In The Outsiders, Ponyboy, the narrator, lives in a world divided by social class. The poor kids living on the East side, labeled â€Å"greasers† by the rest of the community, endure a multitude of stereotypes and stigmas. Ponyboy, and the other boys who make up his adopted family, or gang, know the labels well. On their way to a fight, they â€Å"embrace the stereotypes† (Inderbitzen 360), chanting: â€Å"‘I am a greaser†¦, I am a JD and a hood. I blacken the name of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society. Man, do I have fun O victim of environment, underprivileged, rotten, no-count hood!’† (Hinton 144). Despite their willingness to unite under these stereotypes, however, Ponyboy’s account of events brings the reader to a different understanding of the greasers. One member of the gang, in particular, allows the reader a fresh perspective on these dehumanizing stereotypes. Dally, who has â€Å"spent three years on the wild side of New York and had been arrested at the age of ten,† is the hardest kid of the group: â€Å"tougher, colder, meaner† (Hinton 19). Even Ponyboy, though he respects Dally, doesn’t like him. The tough fa?ade rapidly crumbles, however, when Johnny, Dally’s friend, dies from injuries sustained while rescuing children from a burning building. â€Å"‘That’s what you get for tryin’ to help people, you little punk,’ Dally blurts at Johnny’s body, ‘that’s what you get†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (Hinton 157). Dally’s own life circumstances have taught him that selflessness, such as Johnny’s heroic efforts, results only in personal disaster and pain. Since his childhood, Dally has learned to meet the world with a cold detachment in order to survive the harsh, inner-city streets. Whe n he loses the only person who had slipped past his defenses and grown close to him, the pain overwhelms Dally. He pulls an unloaded gun on the police, forcing them to shoot him. Though Dally embodied many of the stereotypes forced onto all greasers, ultimately he was just a child trying to protect himself in a world where no parent had ever cared for him. The great tragedy of his death is that Dally still had the potential to be an extraordinary person. In him, Johnny saw a strong, â€Å"gallant† hero (Hinton 84), someone to look up to. Dally’s efforts to save Johnny from the fire at the risk of his own life provide a glimpse into the person he might have become had the circumstances been different. Unlike the labels suggest, Dally was not ruined beyond repair or redemption by his environment. He was still a human being, and, as such, he still had the ability to choose who he might have become. The myth, therefore, perpetuates stereotypes that prevent empathy and guid ance from being given to kids because they are viewed as already beyond help. Despite the myth of equal opportunity, the American Dream is still carried in the hearts of poor and rich Americans alike. Ehrenreich and Hinton each comment on what the Dream looks like through the eyes of the poor and compare it to the Dream as interpreted by the middle and upper classes. After examining the Dream of each class, both authors conclude that the Dreams are complimentary, not antagonistic. In Nickel and Dimed, the viewpoints of those struggling with poverty come in the form of interviews with Ehrenreich’s coworkers. Near the end of her job as a maid, Ehrenreich asks the women who she was working with how they felt about the owners of the houses they clean, â€Å"who have so much while others, like themselves, barely get by† (118). Answers two of the women give shed light on a commonality in the Dream held by each person struggling with poverty. Lori responds, â€Å"All I can think of is like, wow, I’d like to have this stuff someday. It motivates me and I don’t feel the slightest resentment because, you know, it’s my goal to get to where they are† (Ehrenreich 118). Colleen’s answer is somewhat different: â€Å"I don’t mind, really, because I guess I’m a simple person, and I don’t want what they have. I mean, it’s nothing to me. But what I would like is to be able to take a day off now and then†¦ if I had to†¦ and still be able to buy groceries the next day† (Ehrenreich 119). Though Lori and Colleen have different Dreams, the need for economic security is common to both. Without enough income to begin saving, the poor are trapped in their current situation without hope of escape. Even the ability to find a higher paying job is severely limited by lack of time, energy, and transportation. The smallest disaster could push their delicately balanced lives over the edge and leave them without either a job or money. The Dream of the rich, as expressed in Nickel and Dimed, comes from the author’s own perspective. Both Ehrenreich’s desire to research and write the book, as well as comments she makes about her own state of mind, reveal her own, middle-class Dream. Reflecting upon her â€Å"savior complex,† Ehrenreich admits, â€Å"Even my motives seem murky at the moment. Yes, I want to help Holly and everyone else in need, on a worldwide basis if possible. I am a ‘good person,’†¦, but maybe I’m also just sick of my suddenly acquired insignificance. Maybe I want to ‘be somebody,’†¦, somebody generous, competent, brave, and perhaps, above all, noticeable† (Ehrenreich 99). The need to matter is one she constantly wrestles with while preforming the menial tasks required of her from the various blue collar jobs she works. In order to cope with each of her jobs, Ehrenreich either finds meaning in it or creates meaning from pure fanta sy. In what she calls a â€Å"psychic flotation device† (108), Ehrenreich pretends, â€Å"I am not working for a maid service; rather, I have joined a mystic order dedicated to performing the most despised of tasks, cheerfully and virtually for free—grateful, in fact, for this chance to earn grace through submission and toil† (108). Unlike those who risk going hungry day by day, with no foreseeable route of escape, Ehrenreich is not really in any danger of starvation. Her basic needs are met and her current situation is only a charade. Her Dream focuses much more heavily on the upper levels of Maslow’s hierarchy: belonging, esteem, and self-actualization (â€Å"Need-Hierarchy Theory†). It is, in fact, these needs that have driven her to spend time living as one of America’s working poor. By temporarily giving up her privileged position, Ehrenreich is fulfilling her own Dream of doing meaningful work and being somebody who matters. In The Outsiders, the Dream of the lower class is expressed through the narrator. Like Ehrenreich, Ponyboy also shares with the reader his own fantasy: I loved the country. I wanted to be out of towns and away from excitement. I only wanted to lie on my back under a tree and read a book or draw a picture, and not worry about being jumped or carrying a blade The gang could come out on weekends, and maybe Dallas would see that there was some good in the world after all, and Mom would talk to him and make him grin in spite of himself†¦ She could talk to Dallas and keep him from getting into a lot of trouble. (Hinton 56) Like Colleen and Lori, Ponyboy also desires a certain amount of economic stability and freedom, but his Dream goes much deeper than that; he also wants peace. In his neighborhood, torn apart by social class, the greasers cannot even walk alone without fear of being jumped by the socs, kids from wealthy families who â€Å"had so much spare time and money that they jumped [greasers] and each other for kicks, had beer blasts and river-bottom parties because they didn’t know what else to do† (Hinton 51). Ponyboy’s idyllic version of the country represents his Dream for the world: a place where nobody has so little money that they are â€Å"hardened beyond caring† (Hinton 67) like Dally or so much money that they have nothing left to work for, like the socs. In his Dream, he is once again cared for by his parents. He is allowed to enjoy his childhood rather than wrestling with adult problems in an adult-less world. The Dream of the upper class is related by the soc Cherry Valence who confides in Ponyboy, telling him that being rich isn’t all it’s made out to be: ‘We’re sophisticated—cool to the point of not feeling anything. Nothing is for real with us. You know, sometimes I’ll catch myself talking to a girl-friend, and realize I don’t mean half of what I’m saying †¦ Rat race is a perfect name for it,’ she said. ‘We’re always going and going and going, and never asking where. Did you ever hear of having more than you wanted? So that you couldn’t want anything else and then started looking for something else to want? It seems like we’re always searching for something to satisfy us, and never finding it. Maybe if we could lose our cool we could.’ (Hinton 46) Cherry’s Dream, ironically, is to have a Dream—something to strive for. Like Ponyboy, she lives in a world consumed by money, only, rather than having too little, she has too much. The class culture she grew up in demands she meet social expectations, never letting her true self shine through. In talking to Ponyboy, she is able to make a genuine connection with another human being because she does not have to worry about keeping up appearances or fitting into cultural stereotypes. Just as Ehrenreich was able to fulfill her Dream of bettering the world and doing something meaningful by entering into the world of the working class poor, Cherry also found her Dream fulfilled when she stepped outside of her own social class and befriended a greaser. For both Hinton and Ehrenreich, the only way to restore equal opportunity to America and allow each individual the possibility of living the American Dream is through mutual friendship and respect between social classes. Works Cited Cullen, Jim. The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That Shaped a Nation. New York: Oxford, 2003. Print. Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. New York: Henry Holt, 2002. Print. Hayes, Charles, D. Beyond the American Dream: Lifelong Learning and the Search for Meaning in a Postmodern World. Wasilla, AK: Autodidactic Press, 1998. Print. Hinton, S. E. The Outsiders. New York: The Viking Press, 1967. Print. Inderbitzin, Michelle. â€Å"Outsiders and Justice Consciousness.† Contemporary Justice Review. 6.4 (2003): 357-352. Web. 29 Dec. 2011. Need-Hierarchy Theory.A Dictionary of Psychology. Oxford Reference Online. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.

What China Can Learn from Switzerland Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

What China Can Learn from Switzerland - Thesis Example The paper "What China Can Learn from Switzerland" examines the lessons that China can learn from Switzerland in terms of the social, political, economic and environmental issues and gives an overall recommendation. China, being a newly developed state has a number of issues that it can learn from their Swiss counterparts.The Chinese political scene has been characterized by the Communist party and its regime for over three decades. This regime is still currently running the government. While that government has been able to achieve much economically, it has not upheld democratic principles. For instance, the party has been accused of tyranny by many Chinese voters. These groups have asserted that Chinese elections are not held fairly and this is definitely interrupting real democracy. Many individuals in China are suffering as the country has been marred by protests against the government. For instance, laborers oppose the communist party’s stance on labor relations and worker ’ rights. The government’s representatives have responded to these protests by claiming that China cannot be a replica of western states. However, this is the point where the Chinese government is gravely mistaken; there is a reason why the people within their country are not happy at all with the way the government is running its affairs and why the people of Switzerland seem to be more content with their government. The Chinese government needs to change the way they operate by instituting true democracy.

Analysis the external business environment Essay

Analysis the external business environment - Essay Example One of the bases that the airline is considering in Asia to avoid the high costs and the geographic isolation that Australia faces is China (The China Post, 2011). Before making the move, it would be necessary to evaluate the external environmental factors that could affect the organization’s decision. Markets, competition and airline regulation in China would be equally important to be considered. 2. External factors affecting the organization External factors are those that are external to the organization and over which the organization has no control but still is influenced by it. In this analysis only two such factors would be considered – the macroeconomic environment and the markets, competition, and regulation in the airline industry in China. A country’s institutional environment affects the boundary choice for an organization because this reflects the extent to which a firm can participate in the business environment. According to Brouthers and Hennart (2007) five types of risks influence the decision - product, government policy, macroeconomic, materials, and competition. 2.1 The macroeconomic environment Macroeconomics deals with the economy as a whole and the factors that it encompasses include the economic output, unemployment, inflation, savings and investments (Investopedia, 2011). These are the key indicators of economic performance and are closely monitored by the governments, business and consumers. 2.1.1 Economic output The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. According to a government report its annual output should be US$ 3,000 per person by 2010 which is 3 – ? times of the level that it was ten years ago (China Digital Times, 2008). By 2010 China has surpassed Japan on the list of world’s largest economies and stood at the second position behind only the United States (Politics Daily, 2010). The PRC has low vulnerability to external shocks and this has helped it to maintain macroeconomic stability. The PRC has a large internal market, large foreign exchange reserves, low dependence on high technology and has high consumer and investor confidence (ADB, 2005). Macroeconomic stability is essential to attract private investment and create pro-poor markets. Economic growth in China has been consistent under different leaderships. Inflation and unemployment are low when the Communist Party is in power (Feng, 2010). The Party embraces economic performance as its top priority. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) Beijing will take just five years to become the world’s largest economy (China Economic Net, 2011). The PRC attracts the highest FDI in the region and has been the second largest recipient of the FDI in the world (ADB, 2005). However, there are concerns that the government controlled market system in China prohibits the development of the Chinese economy (Sheng, 2011). Because of its liberalization reforms a nd investment in infrastructure China has been able to attract considerable FDI. China is now implementing a socialist market economy where the government carries out marketization management of the economy. 2.1.2 Unemployment The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines unemployed workers as those who are currently not working but are willing to work (IndexMundi, 2011). The unemployment rate stands at 4.1 percent in China which is a matter of concern. However, this data is only for the urban areas and if the migrants are included the figure could go up to 9 percent. Besides substantial unemployment and under employment exists in the rural areas as well. Moreover, higher

Sam Strutt and the Magic Bat Essay Example for Free

Sam Strutt and the Magic Bat Essay Sam Strutt was the best baseball player in the world. He could throw the ball farther and hit the ball harder than any other baseball player. He could catch any ball that was hit or thrown, and he ran so fast that he was a blur on the bases. Sam was a big man. He was almost seven feet tall. The muscles in his arms bulged. The muscles in his legs bulged. Sam played for a team called the Hometown Heroes. Sam was the star. Thousands of people came to see Sam Strutt play ball. They cheered every time he stepped up to the plate. They cheered when he hit the ball. They cheered when he ran around the bases. Mr. Dollars, the owner of the Hometown Heroes, gave Sam a silver bat. Sam hit 50 home runs with his silver bat. The next year, Sam went to Mr. Dollars. I am a star, he said. I want a better bat. Mr. Dollars gave him a platinum bat. It had dollar signs made of emeralds on the barrel. Sam hit 75 home runs that year. When spring came again, Sam said to Mr. Dollars, Give me a better bat. I can hit a hundred home runs if you give me a golden bat. So Mr. Dollars gave Sam a solid gold bat. On opening day, Sam arrived at the ballpark in a limousine. The crowd roared as he stepped up to the plate with his splendid new bat. Sunlight flashed off the golden bat as Sam took his practice swings. The crowd hushed as the pitcher wound up. He reared back and threw a splitter. Sam swung the mighty bat and missed. Again, the pitcher wound up. He tossed a curveball. Sam swung even harder and missed. The crowd began to murmur and mumble. Sam had two strikes on him. This was unthinkable. The pitcher wound up, kicked his leg way up high, swung his long arm way around, and fired a fastball. Sam took a mighty swing. He swung so hard he fell down. But he missed. Strike three! the umpire called. The huge crowd was silent. Sams bat had failed. Sam had failed. Sam had struck out. Sam struck out three more times in that game. The Heroes lost. In the next game he struck out four more times, and in the game after that, he struck out five times. The fans stopped coming. They didnt want to see Sam strike out. Sam tried his old silver bat. He struck out ten more times. He tried his platinum bat with emerald dollar signs. He struck out fifteen more times. Sam just could not hit the ball. Mr. Dollars was very angry. The people have stopped coming, he said to Sam. You have to hit home runs again. You must find a bat that works. The word went out. Sam Strutt needed a new bat. He needed a bat that would hit home runs. Men, women and children brought bats to the ballpark. They brought aluminum bats and manganese bats and oak bats and plastic bats. They brought long bats and short bats. They brought thin bats and fat bats. All the bats failed. Sam could not hit the baseball with any of the bats. On the day of the big Fourth of July game, only twenty-three people were in the stands to watch the game. Excuse me, Mr. Strutt. Sam looked down and saw a small boy holding a bat out to him. Is that a bat or a toothpick? Sam bellowed at the boy. The boy looked up at Sam. Its a magic bat, he said quietly. Sam took the bat from the boy. It didnt look magic. It looked plain and ordinary a beat-up old wooden bat with tape on the handle. Take your bat and go home, Sam snarled. I cant use an ordinary little bat like that. It is a magic bat, the boy insisted. Sam scowled. It doesnt look like a magic bat. Please try it, the boy pleaded. Sam took the bat. 3He held it up over his head and squinted at it. In Sams big hands, it did look like a toothpick. The boy smiled as Sam took the bat and stepped up to the plate. The pitcher wound up, kicked his leg way up high, swung his long arm way around and fired a fastball. Sam swung. Craaack!!! The ball soared over the center field fence. In the third inning, Sam hit another home run. In the sixth inning, he hit a triple off the left field wall. In the eighth inning, he hit the ball over the parking lot. The Heroes won the game. Where did you get this magic bat? Sam asked the boy as he handed him an autographed baseball. Peel back the tape on the handle, the boy said. Sam pulled at the tape. When it came loose, he pulled it off. He looked down at the handle of the bat. Sams eyes got wide. He looked at the boy. This is my bat, Sam said. This is my very first bat that I had when I was a boy like you. Scrawled on the bat in smudged pencil letters was the name Samuel Strutt. You tossed it over the fence into my yard when you joined the Heroes, the boy said. Sam spun the bat around in his big hands. He studied it as it rotated. Then he smiled. When I used this bat, baseball was fun. I loved to play the game. It really is a magic bat. Thank you. Sam sold the silver bat and the platinum bat and the solid gold bat. With the money he got for the bats, he built ten new baseball fields for the children in his hometown. He bought balls and bats and gloves and hats for all the girls and boys. He bought himself a new wooden bat. He hung the magic bat on pegs in the back of the dugout so he would never forget where the magic was. Sam hit 101 home runs that year. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE JRR Tolkien section.

The First Seven Years Essay -- essays research papers

Growing and learning is a part of life that no one is exempt from. This fact influences everyone, whether it be a young child learning to share or an old man learning to let go. Feld, in The First Seven Years, finds that he has to let go of several of his own issues to allow his daughter to undergo her own growth and learning. Feld is the typical father, he wants only the best for his daughter. Feld wants the best education, the best man, the perfect life. He believes that ,as a farther, he can make her life perfect simply by telling her the necessities of life. However, after several incidences Feld understands that he must learn to let go. He discovers that he must let go of sending her to college, "He had begged her to go.." he had to let go of the fact that Miriam would not marry the perfect man. "Let her marry an educated man and live a better life." In the end Feld learned that he could not alter his daughters future in anyway. The only thing he could do is to keep his silence. "Then he realized that what he had called ugly was not Sobel, but Miriam's life if she married him." When Feld explains to the readers that Miriam is always reminded him that she wants freedom, he is revealing to the reader that he is growing and beginning to understand that he has to let go so, Miriam is free to live her life, and make her own mistakes. Although, being able to let go is...

Chem 101 Lab Report 2 Essay

Mixtures are made up of substances or components. If the mixture is fairly uniform in composition, properties, and its overall appearance, it is homogenous. If the component parts are clearly separated, it is heterogeneous. In order to identify the components in a mixture, methods must be used to sort out the components. However, the same methods will not work for sorting all substances. Four different processes would be employed to sort soluble and insoluble components in the following experiment. Introduction Matter that people encounter in everyday life consists of mixtures of different substances. Mixtures are combinations of two or more substances in which each substance retains its own chemical identity and therefore the original properties are maintained. The substances making up a mixture are called its components. According to our General Chemistry book, there are two types of mixtures; homogeneous and heterogeneous. Homogeneous mixtures are those that are uniform in composition, properties, and appearance throughout. Heterogeneous mixtures do not have the same composition, properties and appearance. Mixtures are characterized by two different properties: each of the substances in the mixture retains its chemical identity and mixtures are separable into these components by physical means, from heating, freezing, drying, etc. If one of the substances in a mixture exceeds the amounts of the other substances in the mixture you call it an impure substance and the other substances in th e mixture are impurities. The preparation of compounds usually involves their separation or isolation from reactants or other impurities. The separation of the components of mixtures is based upon the fact that each component has different physical properties. The components of mixtures are always pure substances, either compounds or elements and each pure substance will possess a unique set of properties. Similarly, every crystal of a pure substance melts at a specific temperature and a given pressure, and every pure substance boils at a specific temperature and a given pressure. There are four different methods of separation depending upon differences in physical properties. They are decantation, filtration, extraction, sublimation. In decantation, a liquid is separated from a solid by gently pouring the liquid from the solid so the only the solid remains in the container. Filtration is the process of separating a solid from a liquid by using a porous substance (a filter). Filtration allows the liquid but not the solid to pass through, again, leaving behind the insoluble substance. Extraction separates a substance from a mixture by choosing to dissolve that substance in a suitable solvent (usually water). Sublimation happens when a solid passes directly to the gaseous state and back to the solid state without passing through the intermediary liquid state. Material and Methods ï‚ · Evaporating Dish ï‚ · Beaker ï‚ · 3.0 Grams of mixture (NH4Cl – ammonium chloride, NaCl – sodium chloride, SiO2 – silicon dioxide) ï‚ · Heat plate ï‚ · Balance ï‚ · Oven ï‚ · Stirring rod ï‚ · 15 mL water x 2 = 30 mL water 1. Obtain mass of evaporating dish. 2. Add 3.0 grams of mixture (NH4Cl – ammonium chloride, NaCl – sodium chloride, SiO2 – silicon dioxide) to the evaporating dish and weigh to obtain mass of evaporating dish and sample mixture. 3. Subtract mass of evaporating dish from mass of original sample to get mass of original sample. 4. Place dish with sample onto heat plate to sublime the NH4Cl. 5. Remove from heat to cool mixture then weigh again. The difference in mass of evaporating dish and sample prior to heating and after heating represents the amount of NH4Cl in the mixture. 6. Obtain mass of beaker using the balance. 7. Add 15 mL of H20 to the mixture in the evaporating dish and stir gently 8. Decant the liquid into the beaker making sure not to transfer any of the solid into the beaker. 9. Add another 15 mL of H20 to the mixture in the evaporating dish and stir gently. Decant the liquid again into the beaker making sure not to transfer any of the solid into the beaker to extract NaCl. 10. Place beaker with sodium chloride solution onto heat plate and heat until water evaporates. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Weigh beaker. Difference between this weight and the weight of the empty beaker is the amount of NaCL in the mixture. 11. Take evaporating dish with SiO4 and heat until dry in oven. Once dry, remove evaporating dish from oven and allow to cool. Obtain the mass of SiO2 by weighting the evaporating dish with cooled mixture and subtracting mass of empty evaporating dish obtained earlier. 12. Find percent of NH4Cl, NaCl, and SiO2 in mixture by taking mass of each substance and dividing by the mass of the original sample. Results: Separation of the Components of a Mixture A. Mass of Evaporating Dish and Original Sample 41.606 g Mass of evaporating dish 38.859 g Mass of original sample 2.747 g Mass of evaporating dish after subliming NH4Cl 41.466 g Mass of NH4Cl 0.14 g Percent of NH4Cl 5.096 % % NH4Cl = 0.14 g / 2.747 g * 100% = 5.096 % B. Mass of Evaporating Dish, Watch Glass and NaCl 106.521 g Mass of evaporating dish and beaker 105.214 g Mass of NaCl 1.307 g Percent of NaCl 45.32 % % NaCl = 1.307 g / 2.747 g * 100% = 45.32 % C. Mass of Evaporating Dish and SiO2 40.104 g Mass of evaporating dish 38.859 g Mass of SiO2 1.245 g Percent of SiO2 45.322 % % SiO2 = 1.245 g / 2.747 g * 100% = 45.322 % D. Mass of Original Sample 2.747 g Mass of determined (NH4Cl + NaCl + SiO2) 2.692 g Differences in these weights 0.055 g Percent recovery of matter 97.997 % % recovery of matter = 2.692g /2.747g = 97.997 % Account for our errors about 2% Discussion The first step in the experiment required using the oven to heat the mixture, with ammonium chloride, sodium chloride, and silicon dioxide in the evaporating dish, until â€Å"white fumes were no longer form[ed],† according to the lab description. The goal was to sublimate the ammonium chloride, as it is not water soluble. It took about fifteen minutes to sublimate the NH4Cl. The dish had to cool as well when it came out of the oven. The mass of the dish contents were weighed and subtracted from the mass off the starting mass of the dish and the original mixture. The result was the loss of NH4Cl. Errors could have resulted from incorrectly weighing the original and ending samples. If ample time was not given to the sublimating process, NH4Cl may not have completely left the dish, the weight would not just include the mass of the other two substances. The next stage required careful decantation and stirring to remove only the liquid into a separate dish. The goal was to leave b ehind the insoluble substance, sand, and pour off the soluble NaCl. It was possible to accidentally remove particles of sand into the solution, which would influence the mass calculation of the two dishes. If stirring was not rigorous enough and water was not repeatedly added to sort out the sand from the liquid, there was a potential for sand staying behind as well. The final stage was to use the heating unit to evaporate the water from the solution to leave behind NaCl. At the same time, the heating unit was used to dry the sodium chloride in another dish. A calculation was made between the mass of the empty evaporating dish and the watch glass to reveal the mass of NaCl. Errors at this stage probably resulted from inaccurate readings on the scale or not drying the samples completely. The final stage of the experiment was to isolate the sand and calculate its mass. By this late stage, any errors in measurement, timing and calculations would have trickled down to the final remaining substance. The percentage of accuracy of the three components in the experiment should total 99%. If the percentage was less than that, â€Å"you have been sloppy† according to the lab manual. Conclusion In this experiment, it became apparent that what appears to be a simple mixture of elements is really more complicated. Heterogeneous mixtures may appear to be random collections of single substances, but when they are sorted into their components, the homogeneous elements can be observed. This was the case with this experiment. The original mixture had three substances: NaCl, NH4Cl, and SiO2. By using four methods, decantation, filtration, extraction, and sublimation, the separate components in the mixture could be isolated and weighed. If proper techniques in weighing, and using the four methods of sorting were observed and applied, the result would be three separated substances and calculations that matched those substances. The final calculation confirmed that our three substances, when sorted out, would all combine to weigh something close to the original mixture. The margin of error was within 2% References Book: 1.Ebbing, Darrel, D.; Gammon, Steven D. General Chemistry. 9th ed. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Cenage Learning; 2009. 2. Beran, JA; Beran,JoAllen: Laboratory Manual for Principles of General Chemistry. 8th ed. Hoboken, NJ. Jon Wiley & Sons, Inc; 2009. 3.Katz, John C.; Treichel, Paul M.; Townsend, John. Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning, Inc.; 2009. 4.Somervill, Barbara A. Mass and Weight. Chicago, IL: Capstone Global Library, Ltd.; 2010. Electronic book: Chem Wiki:The Dynamic Chemistry Textbook. http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Analytical-chemistry-html. Accessed August 29, 2013. Website: 1.Measuring Mass-Examples. http://www.harpercollege.edu/tm-ps/chm/100/dgodambe/the disk/labtech/mass2.html. 2.Jefferson Lab. http://education.jlab.org/qa/mass-09.html.