Taking Action on Earth Day

Taking Action on Earth Day Every year, people all around the world come together to celebrate Earth Day. This annual event is marked by lots of different activities,  from parades to festivals to film festivals to running races. Earth Day events typically have one theme in common: the desire to show support for environmental issues and teach future generations about the need to protect our planet. The First Earth Day The very first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. The event, which some consider to be the birth of the environmental movement, was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson. Nelson chose the April date to coincide with spring while avoiding most spring break and final exams. He hoped to appeal to college and university students for what he planned as a day of environmental learning and activism. The Wisconsin Senator decided to create an Earth Day after witnessing the damage caused in  1969 by a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, Nelson hoped that he could tap into the energy on school campuses to get kids to take notice of issues such as air and water pollution,  and put  environmental issues onto the national political agenda. Interestingly, Nelson had tried to put the environment on the agenda within Congress from the moment he was elected to office in 1963. But he as repeatedly told that Americans were not concerned about environmental issues. So Nelson went straight to the American people, focusing his attention on college students.   Participants from 2,000 colleges and universities, roughly 10,000 primary and secondary schools and hundreds of communities across the United States got together in their local  communities  to mark the occasion of the very first Earth Day. The event was billed as a teach-in, and event organizers focused on peaceful demonstrations that supported the environmental movement. Almost 20 million Americans filled the streets of their local communities on that first Earth Day,  demonstrating  in  support of environmental issues in rallies large and small all across the country. Events focused on  pollution, the dangers of pesticides, oil spill damage, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife. Impacts of Earth Day The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the  Clean Air,  Clean Water, and  Endangered Species  acts. It was a gamble, Gaylord later recalled, but it worked. Earth Day is now observed in 192 countries, and celebrated by billions of people around the world. Official Earth Day activities are coordinated by the nonprofit, Earth Day Network, which is  chaired by the first Earth Day 1970 organizer, Denis Hayes. Over the years, Earth Day has grown from localized grassroots efforts to a  sophisticated network of environmental activism. Events can be found everywhere from tree planting  activities  at your local park to  online Twitter parties that share information about environmental issues. In 2011,  28 million trees were planted in Afghanistan by the Earth Day Network as part of their Plant Trees Not Bombs campaign. In 2012, more than 100,000 people rode bikes in  Beijing to raise awareness about climate change and help people learn what they could do to protect the planet. How can you get involved? The  possibilities  are endless.  Pick up trash in your neighborhood. Go to an Earth Day festival. Make a commitment to reduce your food waste or electricity use. Organize an event in your community. Plant a tree. Plant a garden. Help to organize a community garden. Visit a national park. Talk to your friends and family about environmental issues such as climate change, pesticide use, and pollution.   The best part? You dont need to wait until April 22 to celebrate Earth Day. Make every day Earth Day and help to make this planet a healthy place for all of us to enjoy.

Material Science Lab Report Tensile Creep Test Essay Example

Material Science Lab Report Tensile Creep Test Essay Example Material Science Lab Report Tensile Creep Test Essay Material Science Lab Report Tensile Creep Test Essay It become necessary to test engineering materials before they are accepted for processing, buying or applying to determine whatever or not they meet the spefications required. One of the tests is hardness test. The Rockwell and brinell machines are those most commonly used for this purpose. PROCUDURE AND LABORATORY REPORT 1. Understad thoroughly the operation of each machine, and check its operation before proceeding. 2.Check the calibration of the Rockwell machines with standard calibration test blocks for the scale selected. 3. Using the appropriate scale a. Check the hardness of each test specimen on Rockwell test machine. b. Tabulate the results. c. Convert all readings to either Rb or Rc values. d. Apply the cylindrical correction factors for cylindrical specimens. 4. Using the hardness conversation chart, find the tensile strength of the steel samples. OPERATIONS OF HARDNESS TESTING EQUIPMENT The following operation guide is a general one. Follow it carefully and observe caution and care at every step of the operation.No motion of any controls should be abrupt or using too much force, both of which would damage the instrument. Step 1: Calibration Operate the tester using both test blocks and record what you get and what they are supposed to be. Thus you can scale your data accordingly be as close as the correct numbers corresponding to the actual hardness. Step 2: testing to sample STEP BY STEP OPERATION 1. Selected the correct combination of weights and penetrators for the hardness scale you wish to use . 2. Make certain that the crank is in forward position. . Place sample on the anvil. 4. Slowly turn the wheel spokes clockwise. This raises the anvil and sample away toward the penetrator tip. After contact is gently made, continue raising sample until small pointer is about in line with small black dot and larger pointer is within colored sector. The minor load has now been applied to the sample. 5. After 4th step larger pointer on the dial is nearly vertical . Now turn the knurled collard until set’ line on the dial scale is in line with larger pointer. 6. Depress trip lever . his triggers the mechanism that applies the major load. Crank will automatically move away from you. 7. After crank has come to rest gently pull the crank toward you as far as it will go. If this is done abruptly a false reading will be obtained because of jarring. 8. Then record the scale reading of large pointer . the black scale is read for the diamond penetrator and the red scale is for ball penetrators. 9. Remove the minor load which remains on the specimen by lowering the anvil the wheel counterclockwise . move the sample to posisition for next test and repeat the steps above.

How print press stimulated social and political change in Europe Essay

How print press stimulated social and political change in Europe - Essay Example People such as Martin Luther openly opposed the rule of the Roman Catholic Church. He argued that its acts went against the values of Christianity. In the political arena, people had the platform to voice out their political opinions. Wars and revolutions emerged because people realized that their leaders were either dictatorial or had propaganda agendas. The paper will discuss how the printing press stimulated social and political change in Europe. The Printing Press The printing press (movable type) was the indicator innovation in the early contemporary information technology. Between the years 1446 and 1450, Johannes Gutenberg introduced the first printing press in Mainz, Germany. In the following five decades, the technology was widely adopted across Europe. In the same period, the prices of book decreased by two thirds and this transformed the conditions of intellectual work and the ways in which ideas were distributed. Historians indicate that the printing press was one of the greatest inventions in the history of humanity.12 How Print Press Stimulated Social and Political Change in Europe The rise of modernism is attributed to the invention of the printing press and the spread of literacy throughout Europe. ... crucial in the success of modernism in the West.3 It is important to note that before the printing press invention, owning a Bible or any other book was a rare feat. As the printing presses proliferated, so did the Bibles and other books. These books became increasingly available to the population, thus the information accessible and available to individuals increased rapidly. Consequently, it encouraged the development of literacy. In the 17th century, political pamphlets and technical literature, storybooks and novels, as well as commentaries on religious matters and the Bible became very common. Magazines and newspapers began appearing in the 18th century. In the 19th century, the levels of literacy were well spread enough to develop a market for cheap press. It is during this time that advertising found its place in the market.4 The printing press created significant changes in the economic, political, and social spheres. It increased the speed and reduced the costs of reproducti on. Printing press made the dissemination of ideas much easier. Manuscripts and books ceased to be isolated to a particular group (monarchs) in the society, and became accessible and available to most people in the society. Thus, they started serving as important forums for public discussion. Happening at a period of political and religious turmoil, the printing press presented the European monarchs with both an economic opportunity and political threat. The development of the law of copyright was to deal with this threat and take advantage of the opportunity presented.5 Direct censorship was the viable means for confronting the political threat coming from the printing press. It also muffled the printing industry and consequently limited the economic benefits of the government from the