Category Archives: Contemporary issues

Learning from Packaging (Art 4H)

This task requires me to compare and contrast different food packaging and decide which one is my personal favourite and why. As well as this, I have to decide on the message they give out and to whom the message would be for. Lastly, from this I will look at how this can be used in a primary classroom before designing food packaging of my own which will appeal to my audience of choice.

Pachaging for Food Item Number 1 – Heinz Beans

Design

The design of the beans is simple but very effective. The shape of the black badge in the centre is printed all most heinz products,although it is not always black, eg. Tomato Ketchup. This badge makes the product stand out as the plain background allows the letters to be more eye-catching. It has a mini badge which states that the product is one of your 5 a day, this will bring in the healthy eaters to the product as they will know it can be nutritious. The design also allows for the content of product to be displayed as it shows the beans on the bottom. A metal tin would also be used for stacking purposes as well as to help keep the product fresh and well contained.

Colour

The colours themselves are not the most outstanding although like previously said the black background of the badge makes the lettering catch the eyes of he consumers. This is because of the colour contrast between the white and the black. The green badge for the “5 a day” is also quite eye catching as it is a much brighter shade of green than was used for the background. I think the colour green was used here to represent health and green vegetables as that is the colour that is mostly representative of being of good health, having energy and making good choices, in this case choosing to have a healthy lifestyle.

Letters

Again, like I have mentioned previously, the white lettering on the black background will place emphasis on the white writing. The lettering underneath the white writing give a further description of the product contained in the tin.

Message Given

I feel like the message given by the packaging of Heinz Beans is that they are healthy and easy to make, considering that they come in a sauce so do not need to be prepared. I feel like they are also advertised to appeal to an older age range as the packaging is more neutral than a child aimed product.

Packaging for Food Item Number 2 – Cereal

Photo Taken From Google Images – www.luluwebstore.com

Design

The design of this product is most definitely aimed at children, the cartoon monkey tells us this. As well as this the product also has a chain of media adverts which are cartoon stories which appeal to children. The yellow colour of the box will also make the product eye catching and therefore lure potential consumers in.

Colour

The colour scheme that has been used on the box of this product allows the product to stand out. The bright yellow packaging is eye catching and can also have reference to the sun, which in this case can refer to the product being eaten on sunny mornings and as yellow is an energetic colour, allows the consumer to think it can give them happiness and energy as they start their day.

Letters

The lettering on the box is made to look like chocolate which is a main selling point of the cereal. The lettering is also printed in a large font and is centred on the packaging, on the plain yellow background to allow the consumer to easily and clearly see what the product is.

Message Given

I feel like the message given by the packaging of the Coco Pops cereal is that it is child friendly, chocolate loving children will love it. However, although it is chocolatey the box is also clear to state that the child, or consumer, will still gain essential vitamins and iron from the product because of this, this product will also appeal to adults/parents as it can allow them to have stress free breakfast times as they know their child will enjoy while getting their essential nutrients at the same time.

My Preference

The product which I prefer is product number 2 as i feel like it has a very clear motive and has a clear appeal to children. However also with this product we can see the way in which the advertising attempts to draw in adults by promoting the healthy side of the product. This is the product which I took my inspiration from in order to create my own product.

My Product and Explanation

This is the product that I created. I took the inspiration from the Coco Pops children’s cereal. I began to give the product a character, whom in this case is Bird Bandit. I used alliteration as for me that is what would stick in my mind.Giving the bird character carrots for a beak also promotes the main aspect of the cereal which is carrots. Towards the bottom corner of my product i have written that the product contains “100% real carrots” in an attempt to make the product appeal to the parents of children so they know the product is healthy. Again I used the bright yellow backdrop in order to try to make the product more eye catching.

Different Understanding of Childhood?

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The first lecture of the year really got me thinking about the differences between childhood 20 years ago to childhood in the present day. On first thought childhood for most people carries the reminder of being carefree, having no stress and being able to play outside after school until the street lights turn on. However is this still the case today?

Today, society is the safest it has been in 39 years but it seems apparent that in the present day more and more parents will hesitate to let children play outdoors, on the streets around them (BBC, 2013). The shocking results of a survey taken in March of this year have reported that prisoners in the UK spend more time outdoors than three quarters of the child population (Carrington, 2016). The question is why is this? Why is this the shocking reality of todays society especially if the crime rate is at a 39 year low? Is it the media? Technology?

Media

Picture taken from Google Images-www.cision.com

The media have a huge impact on the world around us and can have a massive impact on the way people see the world around us. Dowler (2003) goes as far as stating that most of our knowledge on the subject of crime is derived from what we see on the tv, read in newspapers or see online. When I think about just how many times a day we see news headlines flashed around on our televisions, phone screens, billboards and in the papers, it is obvious just how much of an effect this can have on us, without us necessarily knowing it. Seeing these negative, crime-filled headlines so many times on a daily basis can reduce the persons ability to feel safe in their surroundings. Dowler (2003) exemplifies the strong links in which the average persons daily media viewing’s can effect their sense of safety.

Personally, I agree with Dowler, although statistically speaking the UK has the lowest crime rate it has ever had in 39 years, the negative media coverage will not reinforce the idea of a safe environment for children to play. This, therefore, may go hand in hand with Carrington (2016) as although the facts state that safety is on the rise in society today, the negative media coverage will not back this up giving parents reason to keep their children indoors.

Technology

As well as the changes in media coverage, the technology has improved significantly since the days when I grew up also. Twenty years ago when I began my childhood mobile phones were almost unheard of…now pupils of all ages are walking around with the latest Iphone?!

Picture taken from Google Images – phonebandit.com

I still remember my first phone (pictured above), which I was given in Primary 7 for emergency use only. This phone had been passed through the family from grandparents, to my mother, then my eldest sister before making its way to me. Nowadays it seems a lot more common for children in the younger school years to have, or have access too, the latest mobile technology. The American survey found that over half of children will be given a mobile phone at the age of 6 years old (KTRK,2015). Khan (2015) has explored the advantages to this, one being a safety factor and the other being convenience. However downsides are also outlined, for example, dangers and disruption (Khan, 2013). Advantages to phone technology are phenomenal and extremely helpful to us if used correctly. However, in my opinion at the age of 6 a child does not necessarily need to be this connected in the technical world. Parents will always have ways to contact their child if needs be, especially when the child is in a school setting. Therefore, the child as young as 6 does not need the latest mobile technology.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand…

Is the advance in technology the reason why children do not explore the outdoors like we used to?

I feel technology definitely plays a great part in the reason why children are not outside as much anymore. The advances in technology with televisions, computers, gaming software and, again, mobile phones should be used in a balance along with casual play. Technology has been blamed for the decrease in outdoor play many times but people fail to understand the importance of a balance between them (Rethinking Childhood, 2013). Although there are many things which children can fixate on Television is one which is most apparent. Television can be an educational resource when used correctly however too much television at a young age has also been shown to contribute to hyperactivity and attention difficulties in those children (Rethinking Childhood, 2013).

I suppose there is not an exact answer to determine what keeps children indoors more so present day than 20 years ago but more just contributing factors. Times have changed but maybe a step back from technology would do present day children some good.

References

BBC (2013) Recorded crime at 39-year-low in Scotland. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-22934941 (Accessed: 13 September 2016).

Carrington, D. (2016) Three-quarters of UK children spend less time outdoors than prison inmates – survey. Available at: https://www. necessarily.com/environment/2016/mar/25/three-quarters-of-uk-children-spend-less-time-outdoors-than-prison-inmates-survey (Accessed: 13 September 2016).

Dowler, K. (2003) Media consumption and public attitudes toward crime and justice- JCJPC, volume 10, issue 2. Available at: http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/vol10is2/dowler.html (Accessed: 13 September 2016).

Khan, F. (2015) Pros & cons of children having mobile phones. Available at: http://www.livestrong.com/article/69462-pros-cons-children-having/ (Accessed: 14 September 2016)

KTRK (2015) Study: 53% of kids get a cell phone at age 6. Available at: http://abc7chicago.com/technology/study-53%-of-kids-get-a-cell-phone-at-age-6/637197/ (Accessed: 14 September 2016).

Rethinking Childhood (2013) Is technology the enemy of an outdoor childhood? Available at: https://rethinkingchildhood.com/2013/10/23/technology-outdoor-childhood/ (Accessed: 14 September 2016).

Maths in Football

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Maths and football would not necessarily be two things you would put together but through the Discovering Mathematics module its become apparent that mathematics is everywhere. Liping Ma (1999) suggests that connectedness is one of the four properties of the teaching and learning of Fundamental Mathematics which led me to believe that if the teaching of mathematics was made relevant and somehow connected to what children are interested in they would be more inclined to want to gain knowledge about the topic. Football was the sport that most children in my class shared an interest inso this is why i chose to look into football in particular.

Before this I did not believe there was much maths in football at all. Maths is a sport, sports fall under the Physical Education category and as far as I was concerned that was that.Apart from the obvious score taking, shape of the pitch, angles at the corners, number of flags and players but looking into this further i realised there was so much more than I first thought.

THE BALL

Picture taken from – http://www.hoist-point.com/soccerball.htm

The football in which most people are familiar with is that of the typical black and white patterned ball. it is made of lots of leather pieces- 12 black pentagons and 20 white hexagons, all of which are regular. (Yakimento, 2015) On this football the 2D shapes are tessellated together as to leave no gaps between the shapes. The pentagons an the hexagons must have the same length of sides for this to happen. As well as this for all shapes to tessellate the angles on the corners need to add up to 360 degrees.

Tessellation, 2D Shapes and Angles are all mathematical factors involved here.

As well as this maths can be used to calculate many different things involving the ball for example… Distance the ball travels (Equation 1), Time it takes for the ball to travel (Equation 2) and finally the speed at which the ball travels at (Equation 3).

Picture taken from – www.bbc.co.uk

SCORE TAKING IN THE MATCH

Score taking is another part of football where maths is involved. The points system is simple if you score a goal you get a point against the other team. For example, If Dundee and Dundee United were to play against each other and Dundee scored the points would be 1-0 Dundee. If another goal was scored by Dundee the score would be 2-0.

Counting and addition are involved here.

TIME

Each football game lasts for approximately 90 minutes or to put this into a different format can be 1 hour 30 minutes. In my opinion, this is a difficult concept for children to grasp. The idea of conversion is an idea which children may find confusing. Conversion also has to be recognised by children in fractions to understand that, for example, 2 is the same as 2/1.

Time and conversion are the elements of mathematics that are involved here.

SHAPE AND DIMENTIONS OF PITCH

Picture taken from – www.conceptdraw.com

The football pitch is rectangular in shape which has a length from 90-120m and a width from 45-90m. However, a rectangle is not the only 2D shape visible on a football pitch. There are also circles and semi circles and more rectangles. Shapes can be used in many forms of mathematics for example, shape tessellation with the pattern on the football, calculating areas and measuring distances. The Pie symbol can be introduced to show children how to calculate the areas of circles and semi circles. As well as using the A= LxB equation format which can be used to find the areas of squares and rectangles. A follow up for this could be to change the units from metres to kilometres etc. to give children a grasp of the decimal system and working with smaller numbers. This would come under Ma’s Longitudinal Coherence property. As well as this, the older children could be introduced to Pythagoras’ Theorem on finding the areas of triangles if they have got a good understanding on how to find the areas of the other shapes found on the pitch. ( Although there are no triangles necessarily in football.)

REFERENCES

Ma, L. (1999) Knowing and teaching elementary mathematics: Teachers’ understanding of fundamental mathematics in china and the United States. United States: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Yakimento, Y. (2015) Mathematics of the soccer ball. Available at: http://www.hoist-point.com/soccerball.htm (Accessed: 25 November 2015).

Happy Birthday George Boole!

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Screen Shot 2015-11-02 at 16.59.51

Picture Taken through a screen grab of www.Google.com

I am not sure if this is entirely relevant but after searching Google for information to add into my languages assignment I came across the fancy “Google” logo. The logo was a type of maths related design, which when clicked on took me to a search of George Boole, whom I read was an English mathematician. Normally, things like that would not interest me and I would just click back to what I had intended to search but the incredible similarities between George Boole and Colin Firth were too obvious, in my opinion, to not find out who George Boole was and his input in the world of mathematics.

Pictures from Google Images

1 –www.bbc.com 2-www.bbcamerica.com

George Boole was born on the 2nd November 200 years ago!! ( which makes this post a little more relevant as it is the 2nd November today). He is known for “laying the foundations of the computer age” (Mortimer,2015) Boole created the Boolean system which allowed all maths variables to either be true or false/ on or off. 70 years after he died another man, Victor Shestakov from Moscow State University, used the Boolean code in relation the computer systems and its to this day still relied on in technology.

George grew up in Lincolnshire, England where he went to school until the end of his primary education. However after his primary years George had to help in his fathers business, as a cobbler, to try to stop it from failing. George was largely self taught as he had an interest in books so began to teach him self languages and mathematics. He then went on to open a school, at the young age of 20, where he taught mathematics and became so much more inspired by it that he went on to learn more. (George Boole facts & biography | famous mathematicians, no date) In 1849 he was made a professor in Queens College in Cork due to others in the field recommending him for the job even although he had no university degree himself, which caused contreversy in . Others reccommended him due to the fact he was becoming more and more famous and well known in his own right. He had published many maths works at the age of 26. He accepted the position and began working on his most famous work; An Investigation of the Laws of Thought, then within 2 years he was made the Dean of science . Boone married his wife Mary Everest and had 5 children with her. He tried to encourage Mary to study at the university also but he did not succeed. Sadly, Boone died from pneumonia in 1864 after he walked to the college, where he lectured, in the rain and returned home after. This is what was thought to have started the condition.

It is apparent that Boole did not realise how important his work would be to todays society. The technical age in which we live would not be as it is without him and his work.

References

George Boole facts & biography | famous mathematicians (no date) Available at: http://famous-mathematicians.org/george-boole/ (Accessed: 2 November 2015).

Mortimer, C. (2015) George Boole: Five things you need to know about the man behind today’s Google Doodle. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/five-things-you-didn-t-know-about-george-boole-a6717401.html (Accessed: 2 November 2015).

Differences Between Sweden and UK

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Photo taken from Google Images – www.ucl.ac.uk

A few weeks ago we had an input where we discussed comparative education. We mainly focused on the differences between Sweden and the UK and the different perspectives they had on learning in the early years.

The Swedish School system contrasts with the UK school system in so many ways. The first one being their school starting age. In Sweden, children do not start school until they are 7 years old, which is a whole 2-3 years after we do in the UK. When this was first mentioned I assumed that they would be so far behind in their learning compared to children in our country who start so much earlier. However, I was shocked to discover that this is not the case. According to The Guardian in 2010, Sweden has over taken the UK in reading and Maths! They also are not to far behind the Uk in the science rankings either. (Shepherd, 2014)

Sweedish Children attend Pre-school from the age of 6 where they place a strong emphasis on the importance of play. However, In most other countries play is looked at as more of a chance for children to relax and relieve stress. As in the Uk children are in school at this time trying to build on their reading, writing and numeracy. Sweden’s pre school prioritises play and social skills as well as sharing, being considerate and tolerant towards others. (Swedish Institute, 2014) These are qualities and values which I feel are extremely important to learn at this age. Tolerance for reasons which seem obvious to me, Children learning how to be tolerant of others makes them realise that people are different (whether by skin colour, disabilities or things as simple as the clothes they wear) and understand how to deal with those differences effectively so they will not be causing anyone to be left out because of this. Consideration is also important as it allows children to consider other peoples feelings and show a level of compassion and kindness for others and situations they may be in. In my opinion, so many more children (in our country, specifically) should be taught these important values and social skills before starting school as I am sure this would lower rates of bullying in and around schools, and even just to help ease everyday stress on the teachers in the teaching practice. Swedish pre-schooling is now viewed as the foundation stages of life long learning as it is well known for the high impact it has on the children’s dialogue, interaction and communication.

Picture Taken from Google Images – globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com

Outdoor Education is another HUGE focus in Swedish schooling as children play outdoors any opportunity that they have. No matter what the weather may be. (Swedish Institute, 2014) In my opinion, this is what children should be doing at that age rather than being stuck in a classroom, children need to explore the environment and the weather first hand instead of being shown flashcards of rain and different types of weather… go out and feel it!

The homely environment in Swedish pre schools is something else which is to be desired in British schools. The staff are called by their first names instead of their last which makes everything more casual and gives the children a sense of security and comfortability. Just more of a friendly atmosphere I would say although it can be argued that first name terms does not show children how to be respectful. The room itself is also very homely. There is huge amounts of space for the children to play and a kitchen where they can snack in when they would like. They eat all meals and snacks around a table as if it was a sit down family dinner with pupils and staff. As well as this, children and staff members both remove shoes on entrance to the building as if it was their own homes. Comparing this to British schools, everything seems to happen at a certain time and things are a lot less relaxed. Children are allowed outside to play at 2 distinct times of the day and only weather permitting as they are made to stay inside if the weather is “too bad”. Now comparing the 2 school systems, it seems to me, that UK schools need to allow children a little more freedom in this regard.

Money is also an issue in the UK as childcare is becoming more and more expensive.Over the last Parliament the cost of a part-time nursery place for a child under two has increased by 32.8 per cent. A family paying for this type of care now spends £1,533 more this year than they did in 2010, while wages have remained largely static. (Rutter, 2015)

This quote from the Family and Care Trust article shows us just how expensive child care in the UK is and how much a family would have to pay to have their child to be in a nursery so they can go work to make money to provide for their family. When in actual fact the money they make from work will most likely be spent on the actual child care facilities. In Sweden there is a maximum fee policy which makes childcare affordable for everyone. The price is capped for the highest amount families can pay for childcare SEK 1260 per month (which works as just about £100 per month) where as low income families will pay nothing. (Swedish Institute, 2014)

From my research on the subject, I feel that Swedish children have more opportunity to learn first hand and in a more enjoyable way. Even starting school a few years later than what we are used has shown not to make a huge impact on the learning of the child. Maybe the UK should begin to follow in the footsteps of the Swedish Schooling System?

References

Rutter, J. (2015) Family and Child Care Trust. Available at: http://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/sites/default/files/files/Childcare%20cost%20survey%202015%20Final.pdf (Accessed: 23 October 2015).

Shepherd, J. (2014) World education rankings: which country does best at reading, maths and science?. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading (Accessed: 22 October 2015).

Swedish Institute (2014) Play is key in preschool. Available at: https://sweden.se/society/play-is-key-in-preschool/ (Accessed: 22 October 2015).

Can Animals Count?

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Can animals count? NOT A CHANCE.

Animals such as Chickens? NO

Horses? NO

What about Monkeys? Hmmmm NO

These being my first responses to the burning questions Richard asked in the Discovering Mathematics workshop a few days ago. Although other students and the video clips played were very convincing, I just couldn’t begin to believe this could be the case.

Video taken from youtube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq_mVmai56g

First we encountered Clever Hans the horse from 1891. This horse was put on show for the public after his German owner, William Von Osten, claimed his horse could count by stamping his hoof the number of times that the answer was to be. (Jackson, 2005) His owner believed that animals were capable of counting so started to test the theory with other animals. However, it was only Hans that was capable. Later, after psychologists ran tests on Hans and viewed Von Osten’s show it was concluded that the horse only reacted from the facial expressions given off by the questioner.(Jackson, 2005) Therefore, I concluded, by no surprise, that horses can not count under any circumstances. I believed it to be more like training a dog to do tricks, but training a horse instead.

The next one got me thinking a little bit … Ayumu the chimpanzee.

I thought maybe through evolution, chimps, or monkeys etc. would be the most likely animals to be able to count (if any). I was still so closed off to the idea until a video clip was played. Chimps vs Humans. Numbers from 1-9 were flashed on a screen in a mixed up format. They were displayed for a very short amount of time then quickly (after a fraction of a second) covered up with boxes. (Roast et al, 2013) Ayumu and the humans would both have to click on the boxes in the correct order where the numbers 1-9 would have been. This was a test to see whom responded in the fastest time and all correctly. If they were all identified correctly they would be rewarded with a peanut. Surprisingly Ayumus time (210 milliseconds) was amazingly better than the humans , whom were not often able to complete the challenge. When it was tested between other chimps in the family Ayumu was the one who had the best ability to recognise shapes, order and positioning. (Roast et al, 2013) This seems to me, to be a memory game and with a food reward…animals were guaranteed to win.

I mean, maybe animals are more clever than we think … but can they count?

I wouldn’t say so!

Ayumus Challenge!

http://www.novelgames.com/en/ayumu/

Picture from Google Images – io9.com

References

Jackson, J. (2005) Home. Available at: http://www.critical-thinking.org.uk/psychology/the-clever-hans-effect.php (Accessed: 7 October 2015).

Roast, A., Shrotri, K., Mobley, E. and Stoker, N. (2013) Counting chimp. Available at: http://www.isciencemag.co.uk/features/counting-chimp/ (Accessed: 7 October 2015).

Integration of Special Needs in the Classroom

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Integration within the primary school is a big concern for many people in our society, children and adults, but I do not see the issue with it. In my opinion, I feel that children from the age of 5-12 need to be able to see the world for what it is. They need to realise and understand that there are children, just like themselves, that face extreme struggles every single day. These by mental difficulties or physical disabilities some of which are long term. However, that does not necessarily mean that problems will not occur with this. Sometimes we can notice that other children look at the Additional Support Needs children differently simply because of their disability. This is why I feel that inclusion of special needs should happen very early on in the children’s school experience, as by the later years of their education they will be looked at as no different from anyone else.

Picture found on Google Images from cnotinfor.imagina.pt

On my MA1 placement and my previous experiences in the primary school, it is clear to see that with inclusion of ASN children they are still looked at by their peers as “different” but we can not make this any worse by not including these children in “normal”activities which could make them stand out more. Yes we will come across certain activities that these children will not be able to do but there will still be some way in which they could take part. For example, a disabled child that is in a wheelchair will not be able to take part in a class game of rounders on either the batting or fielding team. However, this child can still be made to feel important by giving the child the role of time keeper or score taker, therefore working on other skills which are just as important in a team sport. This way they will not be made to feel discouraged as they are still a valued member of the class game.

Picture found on Google Images from www.haltontennis.co.uk

“Special” schools are looked at as a good thing, for better use of money/ shared resources, but i do not necessarily see them as beneficial to all children either. Although the pros of this could be one to one support? …but would children really achieve the one to one support they need in a school of this kind, where all children have a need for extra help?

However, putting my views aside, research shows that sometimes the inclusion of pupils with additional support needs can have non-inclusive outcomes. (Dyson and Millward, 2001) When Inclusion fails it can be down to the lack of training for teachers on how to handle and prepare for children, of all abilities, inside the classroom, as well as limited funding for resources. (SEDL,1995) This is where the need for specialist teachers come in. Again on my placement the class teacher was appointed an ASNA who was in the class to aid the ASN children. All children bonded with her, even more so the ASN children. She was a huge asset to the class and the class teacher, although I realise that due to staff shortages this will not be the case in all schools.

Although I realise that cost, training would be factors for inclusion to not take place everywhere. I think inclusion of these children pose many benefits to other children and teachers. We can learn a lot from their strengths and teach to their weaknesses.

Me, I would hope that if my child was born with special needs they would not be made to feel singled out, discouraged, disheartened or looked at as different in anyway. My child would be loved for who he or she was, their strengths, weaknesses and personality just like any other child in their school or community.

References

Dyson, A. and Millward, A. (2001) Schools and Special Needs: Issues of Innovation and Inclusion. 1st edn. United Kingdom: Paul Chapman Educational Publishing.

SEDL (1995) Concerns About and Arguments Against Inclusion and/or Full Inclusion – Issues …about Change, Inclusion: The Pros and Cons, Volume 4, Number 3. Available at: http://www.sedl.org/change/issues/issues43/concerns.html (Accessed: 7 October 2015).