DISCOVER NEW LEARNING TECHNIQUES AND TEACHING

KNOW THE COSTA RICAN ART

WHAT IS RECYCLING?

LEARN ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF SPORTS

MODERN ADDICTIONS: DO YOU KNOW RECOGNIZE THOSE NEW THREATS?

TOURISM

THE GOOD NEWSTuesday, April 24th, 2012

DESIGNERS

• Fabián Castillo

• Jhaury Castro

• Karol Zúñiga

SPORTS

Sports and Mental HealthNowadays, everybody know that playingsports offers us many benefits, althoughin most cases we relate only with slenderbodies and physical health, these are someresults that we get when we do physicalactivity, but not just those. In the last decade,neuroscientists have found that mentalhealth is also a result of practicing sport,which can help to reduce diseases suchas Alzheimer and depression but moreimportant is that helps us to prevent it.

The regular exercise contributesdirectly psychological aspects, because itincreases the feeling ofwelfare and reducing mental stress, some ofthe benefits we get are: the reduction ofaggression, anger, anxiety, distress, feelings offatigue and on the contrary gives more energyto work and study and even givesus sleep, these are remarkable if we start anexercise routine.

The Neuroscientist Fernando Gomez P. University of California states the following: "Thebenefits of sport and regular exercise is aprotective shield of our brain and astimulator of learningand memory." With recent research hasshown that exercise improves mentalfunction which may cause the person whopractices it increased ability tomemorize, quickly, fills us withoptimism achieving a more stable personalityand finally euphoria and mentalflexibility. Dr. Gomez indicates that activityin the muscles generates a stimulus in aprotein that acts as a neurotransmitter,sending messages to the brainthat are associated with positive changesin mood.

In fact, even in our country, somepsychotherapists have implemented in theirtherapy, some aerobics sessions and alsoin these cases were obtained good results, onthe other side in any practice require a healthybalance, because it indicates that too hard orfrequency can cause more strain on thebody or at least altered in carácter.

In conclusion, the sport is a preventivemedicine available to everyone, many of themare free and are available for all ages, we mustbe aware of what causes a sedentarylifestyle, and make a change for our benefitand that of society because with thesefindings we have evidence that our intellectualcapacity can also benefit.

By Karol Zúñiga

Sources:Szabo Z, Ying Z, Radak Z, Gomez-Pinilla F. Voluntary exercise mayengage proteasome function to benefit the brain after trauma. BrainRes. 2010 Jun 23;1341:25-31.

ARTS AND CULTURE

This symbol and variations of recycling is used todesignate recyclable materials. It is composed ofthree chasing arrows that form a continuous loop.This symbol is not a trademark. It is in the publicdomain and can therefore be used by anybody.Sometimes though, local law may limit the use ofthis symbol in product labeling when it’s used tomislead consumers as to the nature of these

products.

What is Recycling?

• Recycling is the process of making or manufacturing newproducts from a product that has originally served itspurpose. If these used products are disposed of in anappropriate, environmentally friendly way, the process ofrecycling has been set in motion.

•Items that are made from materials such asaluminum, plastic water bottles, and certain kindsof paper (plus many more) can be separated from yourregular trash and put in an appropriate recycling bin.

• A large section of the universe is beginning to realizethe importance of recycling. However, there are manymembers of the population that remain unaware or simplythink it is too much of a bother.

We believe the trend is growing, however. And we furtherbelieve that proactive individuals and alternative arebeginning to step up in a big way.

• The Symbol for Recycling / What does it mean?

THE OXCARTS OF SARCHÍ

Sarchí is famous as the home of gaily decorated wooden carretas(oxcarts), the internationally recognized symbol of Costa Rica. The carts,which once dominated the rural landscape of the central highlands, dateback only to the end of the 19th century. Sadly, they are rarely seen inuse today, though they are a common decorative item.Today's carretas bear little resemblance to the original rough-hewn,rectangular, cane-framed vehicles covered by rawhide tarps. Even then,though, the compact wheels--about four or five feet in diameter--werenatural canvases awaiting an artist.Today, the carretas forced from the fields by the advent of tractors andtrucks, are almost purely decorative, but the craft and the art form live onin SarchÍ, where artisans still apply their masterly touch at two fábricas decarretas (workshops), which are open to view. A finely madereproduction oxcart can cost up to $5,000.

ARTS AND CULTURE

TOURISMCosta Rica will bet on major air routes in 2012Tourism grew 4.6% in 2011 and reached almost 2.2 million visitors

Costa Rica is a destination of naturalbeauty that homes about 4.5% of theplanet's biodiversity. Perhaps, this is oneof the main reasons for tourist charm eachyear has been growing. Nearly 70% of touristarrivals in 2011 were recorded by air. That iswhy, for the new period,the local tourism aims to increasethe number of airlines to destinations suchas South America, USA andEurope to exceed the number of previousvisits, which represents about 5% of CostaRican PIB.

The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT)and Allan Flores (Minister of Tourism) intendto continue the growth by positioning thedestination at international fairs andpromoting the attractions in majormarkets. Also they will focus onincreasing and the average stay of travelers.

In 2011 opened new operations in thecountry airlines like Air Berlin andJet Blue, which are very good and I agreebecause it allows the arrival of newairlines into the country, so, there are moreprobabilities to travel comfortablyand accelerating the pace of touriststo our nation.

I believe that in a globalized world, fullof challenges, Costa Rica and itstourism should continue tohave challenges with innovation becausetourism is one of the main drivers ofthe American economy, as foreignexchange annually generates close to 2,100million dollars. Fortunately tourism directlyemploys about 150 thousand people andindirectly another 400 thousand.

Written by Jhaury CastroSources consulted: A., S. A. (Febrero de 2012). La Nación . Recuperado

el April de 2012, de Economía: http://www.misfinanzasenlinea.com/noticias/20120207/

READING

AddictionsWhen most people think ofaddictions, they think of potheadand alcoholism. Although those arethe most common types ofaddictions, there are some otherslike video games, where peoplespent all their time playing games.Every person has a form ofaddiction like caffeine, food,cleaning, etc. For example, if youdo not have your daily dose ofcoffee in the morning, you will feelan extreme emotion,. There aresome people who have extremeadditions, and as consecutiveaction, they destroyed families,and lost everything they ever had,just for a drink or a few hits. Havingan addiction can scare a family andleave charred relationships in itswake.

The most famous addiction duringthe last century are: Workaholism(which are people who want to earnmore and more money and respectin the modern world), Love addiction(The love addict will never let it go,and this will affect their health andrelationships), Television addiction(The problem with television is thatpeople must sit and keep their eyesglued to the screen; the averageAmerican family hasn’t time for it,but they take the time to watchtv),Addiction of Exercise (isanother sample) and Oniomania (It’snot just celebrities who are afflictedby this addiction, you can findcompulsive shoppers in almost everyneighborhood and family). There aremore kind of.

The seven habits

I would not change any habitbecause they all are necessaryto achieve effectiveness andintellectual success. For me, themost important of all habits isthe ability to communicate,because it is important to beable to (express) understandthe world around us andexpress ourselves.

Another habit that I think isvery important is proactively. Intoday's world we all need to beproactive in order to succeedin our workplace. Being aproactive person is likehaving an added value in ourlives to getting decisions andgood attitudes.

I personally think that if we wantto become effective people, weshould follow at least five of theseven habits mentioned in thearticle. I believe these becausethey explain and exemplify howpeople should actor behave inorder to achieve what they want.as we all know, It is important toachieve success, especiallybecause of the kind ofenvironment in which we livetoday.

READING

Reflections of the courseWhen i began this course, themain goal was learn andunderstood very well theEnglish language, since is oneof the most importantlanguages in order to becommunicated with the rest ofthe world. And to accomplishthis, I knew that I had to bestrived, and make good jobs,get good scores and obviously,get a perfect performanceduring classes.

READING

I know that during this course myperformance has not been perfect ( Ihad ups and downs), however mydesire to learn has been more thanenough, and that desire has been thepromoter of my attendance at classes,to do good jobs, make presentations,share with my classmates throughpracticing English during classes, andmore. In short terms, I have feelingthat I have to run a lot, because allresponsibilities that I have, and I mustdo all of them.

DAY OF THE DEAD IN GUATEMALA

READING

The Day of the dead is an important day inGuatemala, it is celebrated on November 1st. Theindigenous communities of Guatemala haveincorporated this day into to their ancient ritesand ceremonies; they have a mix of customsbrought by the Spaniards during the conquest andcolonization almost five hundred years ago.

Each community adds its own color and spectacleto the event. At the end of October, Guatemalansprepare altars in their homes dedicated to thosewho have passed away. They use photographs oftheir loved ones and around these they arrangegifts of water, flowers, candles and different kindsof foods and drinks; for example: aguardientehard liquor, bread, tortillas, fruits and atol (a thickbeverage made of corn).

The ritual continues the dawn hours of November1st. Then, the members of the family place flowerson the doors of the house to welcome thedeparted souls. Also they use "dressing" thegraves. The family goes to the cemetery and putflowers on the small grave. They leave wreaths ofwax-paper flowers at the head of the grave andthen prepare the food which they will eat rightthere in a symbolic breaking of bread to sharewith the dearly departed. The typical dish for thiscelebration is “fiambre”. The word Fiambre hasits roots in the Spanish language; it means colddish. “Fiambre” is made of meat, fish, chicken orsausages, besides vegetables, olives and capers.

Nowadays, altars and eat at the cemetery is stillcommon to many Guatemala's indigenouscommunities, some of them add other elements

such as to the ceremony depending on the place.In some places people celebrate with marimbamusic and fireworks, which they set off inside thecemetery. This community party becomes privatewhen each family serenades their loved ones withthe songs they enjoyed in life. Since Guatemalahas a diverse population formed 70% indigenousand 30% called ladinos (mix between Spaniardsand natives), some people preserve the traditionof eating Fiambre even though they do not go tothe cementery or even if they do not haverelatives who have passed away.

In the North West of the country there are othertraditions; in Santiago Sacatepéquez andSumpango, townspeople construct barriletes,enormous kites made of crepe paper and bamboowhich can measure up to seven meters long bythree meters wide. Each family takes its kite to anopen field for it to fly through the sky. In this waythey call to the departed, who identify theirfamily by the colors used in the kite and slidedown the string to join them below.

In conclusion, traditions are a little different ineach town, but the objective is the same, enjoyand remember the loved ones who have pastaway, share with them and dedicate one entireday to them. Moreover, it is very interesting howit has remain being practiced along the years andamong cultures.

By Karol Z and Ana Lucía González

Educational Psychology

READING

Educational Psychology is thepsychological science studyinghow children and adults learn,the effectiveness of variouseducational strategies andtactics, and how schoolsfunction as organizations.Educational psychologistswork together with teachersand parents, to enhancechildren's learning anddevelopment, especially incases of behavioral andlearning difficulties. Thesekinds of psychologists arefocus on the needs of childrenin school as well as other areasof children's lives impacted bytheir school experiences.Besides that they analyzedand recommend the bestteaching method for educatingaccording to the topic orsubject.In fact, one of the firsteducators to deal withteaching methods was theDoctor Albert Pinkevich,famous doctor in PedagogicalScience. Pinkevich classifiedthe teaching methods oninductive, deductive,analytical, and syntheticmethods. In addition, hediscovered that each methodneeded different learningstrategies.In the case of the inductive

method the learning strategiesare: Observation, Abstract,Compare, Experimental, andGeneralization strategies. Onthe other hand, the Deductivemethod proposed Application,Verification and

Demonstration strategies.The Inductive Method occurs

when the teacher or facilitatorinduces the topic by specificstrategies in order to teachthe main idea and facilitate tostudents infer the conclusions,details or secondary ideas.According to Albert Pinkevich,this method fully involvedstudents in learning processbecause it generates moreinterest on the topic. In thecase of the Deductive Method,the general propositions areinferred when the studentdraws conclusions andimplications in order to learnnew thinking skills.

• In conclusion, agood teaching technique caneven become a motivator forthe students, who also can uselearning strategies in order tomake more effective the timethat they spend studying. Onthe other hand, if teachers payattention to these details, theway the some sciences aretaught could provide a shift inthe perspective that studentshave about some subjects.

• By Karol Z. and Elsa Castro.

• Sources:• PINKEVICH, ALBERTO PETROVICH, 1884

— . . . Las modernas teorias pedagógicas y la nueva eduación en la URSS con una síntesis histórica de la Escuela mexicana hasta 1939 ... México, Fuente cultural [1941]

Reflections of Course

READING

• This course in contrast toother filled me with a lot ofexpectations, some coursesfeel just as mandatory andothers like this are essential toour success, both at personaland at work, this course forme is the key to the door leadsto many of my goals.

• Upon entering the course mygoal was to have the skills toencourage me to speakEnglish, because I can read butit was difficult to talk, I believethat with this knowledge I cangive myself a chance topractice it in my environmentand studying the vocabulary ofreal estate I can start to sellhomes in English.

• At the beginning of the courseby theinsecurity participate less, butwith the advance of time tryto participate more, I knewI could be wrong but I thinkalso of mistakes you learn, Idecided to take only thiscourse to spend the necessarytime and take fulladvantage of it. My workschedule does not leavemuch free time, but this

motivates me to work hard toshow that you can achievewhat we propose. Now Ican start a conversation withmore vocabulary to use andmore confidence to improvefluency.

• I must concentrate onimproving my ability to listento talks fast, insome occasions need the conversation is slower tounderstand, a situation that Ithink will improve withpractice.

Met my expectations, in myopinion the course has beenvery dynamic, the techniqueused allows us to check everyweek the information welearned, even let us know newthings for example develop ablog or a poster,definitely requires a lot ofdedication but it is very goodbecause we measure our truecapabilities.

• By Karol Z.

Christmas Marketsin Austria

The unique Christmas markets are a verypopular tradition in Austria during the adventseason or the weeks from late November tothe end of the year. This celebration involvessome of the most beautiful aspects of thecountry: deeply rooted folk traditions comealive in colorful and warm events. The mostimportant day is Christmas’s Eve. This is theday when people invite their relatives, friendsand neighbors to feast in the picturesquestalls of the markets that are mostly locatedin larger squares and pedestrian zones.

These romantic street markets enjoy a longtradition that can be traced back to the year1298. In fact, now almost every small townhas its own Christmas market. In Vienna, themarket is held in the large square in front ofCity Hall and people sell food, drinks andseasonal items from open-air stalls.Equally important the Christmas tree plays anessential part in this Austrian tradition. Everytown sets up its own huge tree on the mainsquare and frequently there will be an extraone, adorned with bread crumbs, for thebirds. In the family homes, the tree isdecorated with gold and silver ornaments orstars made of straw, sweets and candywrapped in tinfoil or gilded nuts.

On Christmas Eve, shops close at the latest by6 p.m. and there are no movies, theaterperformances or concerts. Most bars,restaurants, night clubs are likewise closedand traffic is almost non-existent. Around 7p.m. on December 24th, the tree is lit for thefirst time and the whole family gathers to singChristmas carols.In conclusion, this celebration is veryimportant because it encourages people ineach town to spend time together and feedoff each other with Christmas carols,homemade food and warm drinks. It is a timeto remember old folk tunes and customs. Inany case, the sentiments remain no matterwhat the origins are.

Written by Jhaury Castro and Elsa Castro

Did you know how to evacuate a building?

Regarding Occupational Health andSafety, we have an interesting topic whichis called “evacuation”. An evacuation is anorderly action to vacate a place. Thisdisplacement is done by people forprotection when there are risks thatendanger their lives. So, they move toanother place and thusavoid imminent harm.

It is necessary to identify risks and threatsof disaster to which an organization isexposed, including natural orartificial phenomena from itsown geographic area. There are somecases there should be an evacuation,among these are: earthquakes, fires,floods, landslides, explosive and pollution.

We chose this topic because we considerthat as part of the implementation of anEmergency Preparedness Program, weshould follow strategies for an effectiveevacuation. For example, as part of theestablished protocol in case of emergency,what we do is to activate the fire alarm,and then the brigade team membersbegin the evacuation and address theemployees to the assembly area outsideof the building and remain there untilcompleting the count of employees. Stafffollows the instructions of the brigadeteam members (the ones that wear yellowand orange jackets) and so do theevacuation routes to reach the assemblyarea. Once the count is concluded, the “AllClear” order is given and the reentryprocess begins.

Written by Jhaury Castro

English Reflection

At the beginning of this course my goalwas to pass English IV. My objectiveswere expected to learn more vocabularyand get more fluency when I speak.According to my performance during theclass activities and projects, I considermyself at the low- advanced level, I thinkI am not so bad, I can pronounce wordscorrectly, I use body language a lot, whichis good because people understand meand get the message in a clearly way and Ifeel free while I speak, there is no fear atall.

Regarding dedication and commitmenttowards the course content, assignmentsand activities, I can say that I wereresponsible, I participated a lot by sharinga lot of information, thoughts, feelings, Imade all the projects, they wereinteresting, the teacher was happy withmy English , I totally learned a lot,especially vocabulary and the correct useof grammar.

By the end of this course I have achievedsome goals; I understood large texts andrecognize implicit meaning. I haveexpressed myself fluently andspontaneously without much obvioussearching for expressions. Now, I am ableto use language effectively for social,academic produce clear and well-structured.

Written by Jhaury Castro

READER

• We hope that these issues are of great helpin your daily routine, believe may be a guideto understand some basic aspects,considering some tips. Also we choose thosearticles because with this information forexample about: sports and mental health,culture and art, tourism,you can have moreappreciate to some thing that we haveavailable and easy to obtain.

• In our opinion this project was veryproductive because we research aboutdifferent topics and we learned so much,different techniques and methods to improveour knowlegde and our actions.