Author: chris

What is ecology? Describe the difference between a population, a community, and an ecosystem. How does energy move through a food web from producers, to consumers, to decomposers?

Your response should be at least 200 words in length. You may use only your textbook as source material for your response. All source material from your textbook must be referenced (Paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations).

Course Textbook

Cunningham, W. P., & Cunningham, M. A. (2011). Principles of environmental science inquiry and applications (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Question 2

Below is a list from which you will select one topic for the Week Two assignment, another topic for the Week Three assignment, and a third topic for both the Outline of the Final Paper and the Final Paper.  The topic you select for your Outline of the Final Paper and this Final Paper must be different from the topics you select for the Week Two and Week Three assignments.

The topics include:

• What do twin and adoption studies tell us about the effects of nature (i.e., genetic influences) and nurture (i.e., environmental influences) on human development? Select at least one of the main domains of human development (physical, cognitive, or social-emotional) for your answer.
• How much credit or blame do parents deserve for the way we are? Select at least one of the main domains of human development (physical, cognitive, or social-emotional) for your answer.
• To what extent are the lives of adolescents and young adults shaped by parental and peer influences?
• Why do we have a need to belong (to affiliate with others)?
• How do our bodies and minds change from early to late adulthood?
• What are the factors that affect our well-being as middle aged and older adults?
• Why are some people attracted to members of their own sex whereas others are attracted to members of the opposite sex?
• How do memory and intelligence change as we age?
• Does an infant’s temperament shape his/her cognitive and socio-emotional development?
• Are babies pre-wired for survival?
• Are adolescents more likely to engage in risk-taking behavior than older adults?
• Can physical exercise affect cognitive performance in old age? Consider the time of occurrence of physical exercise (i.e., earlier in life or during old age) in your answer.
• Are there personality traits related to longevity?
• Does bilingualism improve brain functioning?
• Why do students in the United States tend to under-perform in math and science?

Once you have chosen your topic, examine the various theories of human development learned in the course and choose one or two that best assist you in understanding the issues involved in your topic. In your assignment address the following:

• Identify some of the major domains of human development and how they are impacted.
• Examine the physical, biological, emotional, cognitive, and/or social factors that are affected.
• Identify the stages of development that are affected and describe the cultural and historical perspectives of partitioning the lifespan that influence the interpretations of the available data on the topic.
• Describe the influences of family, culture, and environment and the roles they play.

Be sure to examine the available research in human development before completing this assignment.

Assignment 1: Financial Concepts

Your niece just started her college career with a major in economics. She is curious as to the interrelationship between the success of an economy and the financial markets, concepts, and financial institutions. Accordingly, she has developed a list of questions addressing these issues and has asked that you explain the ideas.

1. What are the financial markets and what purposes do they serve?
2. What are financial intermediaries? How do these intermediaries function in the economy?
3. What is a federal government budget deficit? What is the national debt? How does a budget deficit affect the economy?

She is also curious about the time value of money concepts. Specifically, she has the following questions about these concepts:

4. Why are consumers considered to be risk averse? What methods could used to deal with risk?
5. It has been said that a dollar received today is worth more than a dollar received tomorrow. What does this mean and what is the significance to the economy?
6. What is the difference between the present value of a future sum of money and the future value of a present sum of money? What is the significance of these concepts to economics?
7. If you deposited $1,000 in an account paying 6% interest compounded annually, how long would it take to double?

Question 1:

A contemporary issue facing technology innovation today is the tension between personal privacy and public security. Discuss in-depth how this issue effects and drives the development of devices or software. Provide at least one example. (Write at least 2 – 3 paragraphs)

Question 2:

Consider the following case study and answer the questions below.

An electric car is an automobile that uses electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device that is propelled by one or more electric motors. Electric cars can significantly reduce air pollution, as they do not emit tailpipe pollutants and reduce in greenhouse gas and other emissions and reduce dependence on foreign oil. But widespread adoption of electric cars causes higher cost, lack of recharging infrastructure outside of home charging and range anxiety which is the driver’s fear that the electric energy stored in the batteries will run out before the driver reaches their destination, due to the limited range of the existing electric cars. The United States government also views energy efficient vehicles as environmentally friendly alternatives to vehicles that run purely on gasoline and provided tax credits to increase the popularity.

1. Identify and analyze the possible impacts (political, environmental, health, safety, cultural, economic) of the electric car technology on society (including individual, local, regional, or global context)? (Write 1 paragraph)
2. Engineers and technologists have a responsibility to add to the public discourse on technology issues (section 4.8 of your text). Choose the perspective of either an engineer working for a firm developing an electric car or an engineer working for an oil company. Address one of the ethical issues which arise from this impact using ideas presented throughout the text (environmentalism, cost-benefit analysis, social values, etc.). (Write 1 paragraph)

Question 3:

Consider a situation where “David” works for a US based firm in another Country “XYZ”. The government in Country XYZ assesses taxes at an exorbitant rate as the firms are expected to report only 70% of their actual earnings. If a firm reported its actual earnings, the taxes would force it out of business. David’s firm is considering whether it should adopt the local practice of dishonestly reporting its profits to Country XYZ, even though it would be illegal to do this in the United States. Whatever the decision, the firm will continue to report its profits honestly to the US government.

1. Describe ethical issues raised in this case? Be sure to address cross-cultural nature of the issues. (Write 1 paragraph)
2. Using the ethical approaches found in the text for cross-cultural ethics, do you think there are any creative middle way solutions? If so, discuss one of them. Identify the positive and negative consequences that would result from this solution. (Write 1 paragraph)

When building a new organization or when an organization experiences dramatic growth, leaders must determine the structure and culture of the organization. Although the culture will evolve over time and each individual that joins the new organization will leave some imprint on the culture, it is the leaders’ responsibility to define how the organization will look and how individuals will behave.

Individual Portion (800–1,000 words)

Prepare a draft document that defines the new organization and addresses the following considerations:

What type of structure will be best suited to a multinational Internet retailer? Why?
How would you recommend building a culture that was inclusive of diverse cultures and accommodates highly creative technical staff?
How would you measure the success of your organizational design in structure and culture?

Please add your file.

Group Portion (3–5 slides with speaker notes of 100–150 words per slide)

Review your team members’ files and discuss the following in your small group:

How would you build teams across a geographically diverse organization?
How would you build a consensus discussion on the values of such an organization?

Develop a short presentation of 3–5 slides with speaker notes of 100–150 words per slide that reflects the consensus of your group.

Write a four page literature review on your selected topic. Ensure your literature review has the following:

Introduction: Provide an overview of the topic. Explain why the question is important and a brief description of the research design. State the purpose of conducting the literature review. Discuss major trends in the field. Explain how the literature review will be organized.

Body: Discuss the current status of the topic. Organize this section according to the previously mentioned themes or something similar. Discuss relationships that may exist in the literature.

Conclusion: Highlight major points discussed in the previous sections. Be sure to relate the information back to the purpose and relevance of the research.

Assignment 1: The Pythagorean Theorem

Geometry is a very broad field of mathematics composed of a wide range of tools that can be used for problem solving. In this module, you are going to research three examples of the implementation of geometry that would employ the use of the Pythagorean Theorem as a problem-solving tool.

The examples you find can come from several different fields of study and applications such as construction, city planning, highway maintenance, art, architecture, and communications, to name a few. The examples you find must clearly demonstrate the use of the Pythagorean Theorem as a tool. Your textbook—Chapter 10, “Modeling with Geometry”—would be a good reference to consult for some examples illustrating the use of the Pythagorean Theorem in applied situations.

For each example you share in your post, address the following:

• Demonstrate the use of the Pythagorean Theorem in the solution of this problem.
• How is the Pythagorean Theorem applied to help solve this problem in this application?
• Why would the Pythagorean Theorem be applied instead of employing some other mathematical tool?
• What tools, unique to this application, would be necessary to get the measurements needed to apply the Pythagorean Theorem?
• Are there other geometrical concepts that are necessary to know in order to solve this problem?
• Are there any modern tools that help solve this kind of problem that either provide a work around, or that rely heavily upon, the Pythagorean Theorem?

When constructing your response, consider the theories, examples, and concepts discussed in your readings this module, and refer to them to support your conclusions.

Write your initial response in a minimum of 200 words. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.

 

• What other geometrical tools do you feel are necessary to understand in order to solve the examples provided besides the Pythagorean Theorem?

There are many reasons why mergers and acquisitions (M&A) take place. Human Resource Management (HRM) plays a vital role when any change happens in a company. They serve as the go-to person for employees and can help the company take the necessary steps towards their new direction. In a lot of ways, Human Resource Management wears many hats.

In a 2-3 page paper, discuss the following:

• What roles does HRM play when an M&A is taking place?

• What are some of the responsibilities HRM has before, during, and after an M&A?

• If you were the Human Resource Manager of a company going through an M&A, how would you make the transition a positive experience for employees?

Should include at least 3 resources, correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. cite sources per APA formatting.