Educational Gap essays

Educational Gap essays Todays children are the children of the future; they are the children of tomorrow. That is why it is extremely important that each child has the opportunity to be educated. They deserve to be educated in the best schools, with the best teachers, and have the best resources. Throughout my experience at volunteering at David Hill Elementary, Ive observed that each child is willing and eager to learn. That is why I am deeply concerned about the unequal opportunities that some of the students at David Hill are facing. Children living in Poverty do not have equal opportunities when it come to education, and this creates a gap that makes it extremely difficult for them to break the cycle of poverty. Coming form the richest school in Oregon, I have never experienced some of the issues that create this gap. Although, through my volunteering, Ive seen firsthand some of the issues that come up. David Hill Elementary is a run-down school surrounded by a run-down neighborhood. The majority of the students at David Hill are Mexicans, and is enlisted in the free lunch program. It wasnt until last week when a boy named Tony helped me realize that a problem exists. I met Tony on the first day I volunteered and from that day on I have been working with him. Tony is a shy, sensitive, 8 year old boy, who needs a little extra attention with his reading. Last week to my surprise, I noticed something was different about Tony; there was a glow in his face, and a un-shyness in his voice when he asked, Sarah, do you like me new glasses? I said, Yes Tony, did your mom take you to go get them? His response surprised me when he said, No my teacher took me. This comment aroused my curiosi ty and has helped me understand that an educational gap does exist. The definition of Education: Instructing a societies member in the knowledge values a ...

Expectations of gender roles are detrimental to our society Essay

Expectations of gender roles are detrimental to our society - Essay Example This essay "Expectations of gender roles are detrimental to our society" outlines the positive and negative effect of the gender role and accompanying expectations on the society. From man’s early childhood years, gender role expectations already dominate both genders. The pretty pink colors are for girls, and the â€Å"boyish† shade of blue are for boys. As they progress in their physical development, their toys are gradually differentiated from each other. According to the Pan Health Organization (PAHO), a regional office of the World Health Organization (p. 1), by age five, most children already know how to be boys and how to be girls. They know which toys to play with, which clothes to wear, which colors to choose, and whether or not they should cry or hit back (PAHO, p. 1). These gender roles and expectations assigned to children have serious implications on their future—most of them negative. Their access to food and education, participation in the workforc e, their relationships, as well as their physical and psychological health are all impacted by these gender expectations and stereotypes. In a study by the WHO (PAHO, p. 1), the agency points out that gender role expectations impact on people’s access to food. The study pointed out that in many countries, girls manifest with lower nutritional health and a decreased access to food as compared to their male counterparts (PAHO, p. 1). Such limited access for girls is highly detrimental to their health and their future development. Girls’ nutritional deficiencies also contribute to their vulnerabilities to childhood illnesses. Their vulnerability also exposes them to physical and sexual abuse (PAHO, p. 1). They also become vulnerable to decreased access to health services. Based on various reports, more often than not, girls’ health conditions turn worse before they are actually brought to the hospital or to a doctor for medical attention. In some developing nations, the mortality rate for girls are higher as compared to boys’ (Elsa). In terms of education, girls are often less likely to be sent to school. They are mostly kept at home to assist in the household chores and other duties. In effect, they are also learning from their mothers how to take care of the male family members – how to cook, mend clothes, clean house, do laundry, and other household duties (PAHO, p. 2). As a result, these girls would likely be stuck in the same pattern in which their mothers and other women befor e them have been stuck in – unable to have careers and other less domestic possibilities in their lives. In some areas like Africa where the HIV/AIDS afflicts a large number of the population, these girls are often

Agricultural Development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Agricultural Development - Assignment Example An ongoing debate about the integration of farmers' empirical knowledge in agricultural development was sought to be answered by studying soil fertility management strategies in the Jos Plateau of Nigeria. The paper of Pasquini and Alexander (2005) tried to illustrate how farmers collectively can acquire considerable and detailed knowledge, which can be supported by scientific explanations.Since time immemorial, the idea that local people could have something to contribute to development is not always considered. Some scholars and scientists often put down local, indigenous knowledge. Often, they dismiss it as 'primitive', 'unscientific' and 'wrong'. Thus, they assigned themselves of 'educating' rural people, using a top-down, transfer-of-technology approach (Okali et al. 1994; Scoones and Thompson 1994a; Sillitoe 2002). Fortunately, Pasquini and Alexander (2005) mentioned that this perspective was challenged with a populist approach that viewed indigenous technical knowledge as a va luable, untapped source, and believed that it had to be 'incorporated' into formal research extension and practices in order to make agricultural development more sustainable.In the late 1980s-early 1990s, a thorough research in the Jos Plateau, Nigeria congruently examined how the knowledge and management of soil fertility by local farmers could be integrated in the development of a viable strategy for the maintenance of soil fertility (Phillips-Howard and Kidd 1991). As a previous site of tin mining since the beginning of the twentieth century, farming systems have been agitated about 320 km2 of cultivable land, much of which was needed for food production, because of the growing population (Alexander and Kidd 2000). In 1949, a series of trials was established to find the best way of restoring the mined land to agriculture, but after three years of trials, the Mines Land Reclamation Unit declared that it was impractical and uneconomic to raise the fertility of the degraded soil to the point that it would be able to sustain traditional arable agriculture (Alexander 1996). Local farmers were unaware of this opinion and continued with their informal reclamation strategy, which proved successful in raising significantly the nutrient status of the soils (Alexander and Kidd 2000). Thus, Phillips-Howard and Kidd (1991) showed that farmers had extensive and detailed knowledge of a variety of traditional (in Hausa: takin gargajiya) and modern (takin zamani) fertilizers, being able to differentiate between them according to their perceived characteristics and usefulness. Inorganic fertilizers are 'modern' fertilizers, whereas various livestock manures and waste ash are classified as traditional fertilizers. In fact, the key to the reclamation strategy was that farmers applied a combination of inorganic fertilizers, different types of animal manure and urban waste ash (Alexander 1996). Also, urban waste ash was regarded as valuable by the farmers, and for this reason one of the conclusions Phillips-Howard and Kidd (1991) came to was that further investigation of the characteristics and supply of this material (tokan bola) (and other unfamiliar fertilizers such as egret manure--kashin balbela) would be worthwhile. Research carried out in the 2000/2001 dry farming se ason (from September through to May) aimed to provide an appreciation of the role played by urban refuse ash, while highlighting the risks attached to its use. Thus, Pasquini and Alexander (2005) have to identify

Internet, or computers is a new necessity Essay Example for Free

Internet, or computers is a new necessity Essay This paper asserts that the Internet is not a luxury anymore in everyday life, hence it is has become a new necessity and that the Internet today benefits many aspects of life physically, economically and socially. This paper will prove these assertions with evidence and counterarguments by overcoming by at least one argument that may forwarded against. Starting with physical reason, it is argued by some that Internet is should only be used by those in the office and those who have the luxury of time and money. Computers which are means to access the Internet are needed only if one has money is the justification of some. This may have been the result a survey conducted for the Americans (Pew Research Center, 2006) where the respondents were all rich and therefore they can afford to have computers that would eventually lead them to have a continuous access in the Internet. If one ask a group of people who have no money, will they then answer the same thing or will they answer that they also need the internet only that they cannot afford? This paper believes the second argument that the lack of money in the meantime is equivalent to absence of need. This is argument may be the result the of movement to give one laptop for each child by a non government organization despite the utter lack of money of every child to have the access to the internet. The hidden reason is the indispensability of having to be linked to the world to benefit from the knowledge economy. The lack of money should not be therefore a reason recognize that the need is not there. To further support this counter argument is the belief that a hungry man who cannot afford to eat does not mean that he or she does not need the food the food anymore. What the hungry do is to find the means in order to have that food. For economic reason, it is argued by some that access to the Internet via computers should only be accessed by those who have financial transactions via the network. The internet is supposed to facilitate business communications among those who are into it like the banks. The said argument misses the point of having to have access in the Internet. Who else will not need the banking industry this time? If one belongs to a third world country and waits for a cash remittance from a first world country, does he or she not know that the money will have to pass through the Internet that links the banks around the world. In case the remitter and the expected recipient will encounter a problem with the remittance, will they not require the use of the Internet to facilitate the communication? If this happened before, they can talk via phone but this time a cheaper mode is available. They can chat in the Internet and they can solve their problem from there. That point of this counter argument is that business entities use the Internet, the public will have to follow using the same because that is demanded by the need of the times. It may be explained that the banking industry are interlinked around the world, hence to say that they are not interlinked is shortsightedness. Investors from richer countries of the world are pouring their investments in poorer countries too with the expectation of the developing the market. What will this rich investor’s do is to employ people from these poor countries and the moment these workers have financial capacity, they will immediately become members of the financial community that lives on computers and the Internet. With communications to have become cheaper, the Internet has employed many which afforded people to better educate them selves. Because of the Internet, people can now study online and can transact online. Shall not the better education and better communication caused by the Internet then? For social reason, Hertlein and Sendak (n. d. ) also argued that increasingly a part of everyday life, the Internet allows users to develop online interpersonal relationships and this resulted to breach of relationships and trust and commitment of previously existing assumed romantic relationships. They thus argued for Internet infidelity resulting from these breaches. They also noted that fact that as the Internet has the ability to affect the structure, timing, and rhythm of relationships, it also inherently affects the manner in which a couple defines intimacy in a way that couples who once felt that they were close and connected may now struggle with a new set of rules and codes of conduct that are ambiguous and upon which they may not agree under the present level of technology using the Internet. Seeing the effect of such change on interpersonal relationships, they saw the effect of a â€Å"compromised intimacy and a devaluing of the primary relationship, potentially cascading into other significant problems. † (Hertlein and Sendak, n. d. ). It may be counter-argued however that what may have been termed as internet infidelity may infer that as an increased freedom to communicate and express oneself because freedom allows so. It cannot be argued that the Internet cause infidelity because it is the human person who made the choice to communicate for more freely to other people. To justify their points, Hertlein, and Sendak said that the paradoxical nature of online relationships has been noted by many where they illustrated cases of people engaged in online relationships that can choose to present a detached attachment. They explained that Internet allows for immediacy of communication and interaction while maintaining anonymity thus allowing transmittal of confessional self-disclosure. This, the authors found causes â€Å"elements of a disembodied corporeality, easily abandoned high investment and strictly private proclamations of the union. † (Hertlein and Sendak,n.d. ) Again this appears to be short sighted interpretation of the use of the Interne since it is still the human person who will make a choice and not the Internet. It may be argued that people make choices not the Internet. As further evidence against the use of the Internet, Hertlein, and Sendak found flirting in use of the Internet, masturbations committed online (Hertlein and Sendak , n. d). They cited Maheu and Subotnik who found flirtation leads to erotic satisfaction â€Å"as there is a mental ability to disassociate the online sex with anything having to do with a person’s real life. † (M Mahu R Subotnik, 9) They also cited research estimates that about 20% of Internet users while online to have engaged in some sexual activity (Cooper, Scherer, Mathy, 2001). On a balancing note, as counterargument against the use of the Internet, Hertlein, and Sendak (n. d. ) cited that benefits from the use of the Internet such as the shift to better intellectual and emotional relationships of individuals due to individuals’ greater appreciation for online relationships. They cited a study, where participants reported greater levels of satisfaction with their online relationships than with their face-to-face relationships (Underwood, H B Findlay, 127-140). They also noted greater freedom to express feelings that could not be done in non-virtual relationships specially the for men. Before one knows it one is confession all sorts of things in the Internet and it is good for people psychologically. Good relationships may be produced in the net because of more freedom to express oneself or the result of an incontrovertible marketing of the self. In ace-to-face communication, one who engages in a relationship must in many aspects expose one’s identity to be potentially judged and the self cannot escape the agony of embarrassment. But in the Internet one can do many things like disguising in many names but with the eventual benefit of self discovery and more psychologically matured to face the world. Thus, Hertlein, and Sendak found that Internet users shape personal demographic information to be in better compliance with what they assume to be others’ version of the ideal mate that in so doing, a person may better come to understand how one’s own being can change. With the anonymity therefore afforded on the Internet that enhances one’s ability to promote any chosen identity, experimentation with different identities has become familiar commonly understood and practices by many in the Internet. What is the effect of all this is the social construction of self as highlighted and elevated? (Hertlein and Sendak, n. d). This paper has proven that the use of the computer or the Internet has become a necessity physically, economically and socially. The arguments forwarded against were overcome by contrary evidence. The physical reason that only in the office have need of the internet has almost made everybody not able almost able to live without the computer or the Internet because it is those who have the resources who make the world running by forcing almost every to see the benefits of the technology. One cannot refuse money passing through the high technology banking using the Internet. One will have to be eventually become part of the banking system of the international communication promoted by the Internet. The economic reasons are obvious. Who does not want cheaper cost of communication and faster way of service? Who would not want to see what is happening in the world when one will have the money to buy even a gadget to have access in the Internet? What would have caused the non-governmental organization to dream for one laptop for each child despite the financial incapacity to acquire one? Should we not rather conclude that there is a strong belief that they the acquisition of knowledge of more knowledge the faster way that will cause intellectual and economic prosperity of these children? There is also enough ground to overcome the argument that that increasingly a part of everyday life, the Internet has allowed the online interpersonal relationships that resulted to breach of relationships and trust and commitment of previously which were romantic relationships before. That the Internet has the ability to affect the structure, timing, and rhythm of relationships, to have affected the couple definition of intimacy in a way that couples who once felt that they were close and connected may now struggle with a new set of rules and codes of conduct that are ambiguous are just sighs of enlightened path for more freedom to intimacy in other forms. It was explained that what may have been termed as internet infidelity is actually a failure to appreciate and adjust to changing reality that people have become more socially adjustable indeed because of the technology. It was thus observed that people engaged in online relationships that can have a detached attachment, immediacy of communication and interaction while maintaining anonymity which transmittal of confessional self-disclosure. The finding by authors of more socially adjusted beings mere pointed to the need to have the technology these days where people could now have parties and occasions even if these people are apart from each other. The argument against by using on line or Internet infidelity is a shortsighted interpretation of the use of the technology as it is basic to understand that it is still the human person who will make a choice and not the Internet. The finding also that online activities resulted to flirtation leading to erotic satisfaction given the mental ability to disassociate the online sex with anything having to do with a person’s real life is just a revelation that man has been doing the same thing in secret with or without the Internet. The Internet was invented to serve mankind and since necessity is the mother of all inventions, one could not but accept the fact the invention has become a necessity. The ever increasing growth of the industry are living proofs Internet is to remain in the lives of many people because not only that the advantages of far outweighs the disadvantages of having the same but the technology come into being because of the need to survive. Economically speaking technology increased production and productivity although population continuously grows. Works Cited:Cooper, Scherer, Mathy, Overcoming †¦over a 5-year Period’, Journal of Personality Social Psychology 84(2): 352–64, 2001 D Greenfield, Virtual Addiction. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications, 1999. Hertlein and Sendak, Love â€Å"Bytes†: Internet Infidelity and the Meaning of Intimacy in Computer-Mediated Relationships, n. d. , www document} URL http://www. inter-disciplinary. net/ptb/persons/pil/pil1/hertleinsendak%20paper. pdf, Accessed July 14,2007 M Mahu R Subotnik, Infidelity on the Internet. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc. , 2001, p. 9. Nie, N. Sociability, Interpersonal Relations, and the InternetReconciling Conflicting Findings, 2001, Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 45, No. 3, 420-435 (2001)2001 SAGE Publications, {www document} URL , Pew Research Center Luxury or Necessity? Things We Can’t Live Without: The List Has Grown in the Past Decade December 14, 2006, {www document} URL, http://pewresearch. org/pubs/323/luxury-or-necessity, Accessed July 14,2007 Underwood, H B Findlay, Internet Relationships and Their Impact on Primary Relationship, Behavior Change, 21/2, 2004, pp. 127-140.

Grapes of Wrath :: essays research papers

The Grapes of Wrath, chronicles the Joad’s family exodus from Oklahoma to California in search for a brighter, economic future. The name Joad and the exodus to California is parallel to the Biblical story of Exodus and the character Job, but at the time was depicting the Okie Exodus. The Okies were farmers whose topsoil blew away due to dust storms and were forced to migrate along Route 66 to California in search of work. The Okies were resented for migrating in large numbers to areas in the West where work was already hard to find and the sudden multitude of workers caused wages to be lowered. The Joad’s reside in Oklahoma, referred to as the â€Å"Dust Bowl† of the U.S. because of its lack of rain. The story takes place during the late 1930’s when the country was in the midst of the Great Depression. The Joad family were sharecroppers evicted from their homes because they failed to pay the bank their loan payments to the Shawnee Land and Cattle Company.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On their journey, the Joad’s ran into a returning migrant from California who tells them that the handbill they have looking for 800 pickers is a bunch of hogwash. He’d rather starve in Oklahoma then starve in California. The migrant scolds them on their naivety saying â€Å"Now, how many of you all got them handbills?...(The men respond that they all have them) There you are, same yellow handbill. 800 Pickers Wanted. All right, the man wants 800 men, so he prints 5,000 handbills and maybe 20,000 people see 'em. And maybe two or three thousand people start West on account of that handbill. Two or three thousand people that are crazy with worry headin' out for 800 jobs. Now does that make sense?† He tells them that the growers are exploiting them, causing a surplus of workers to drive down labor costs according to supply and demand. The significance of his role in the movie, is that he let’s the Joad’s know everything they are moving West for is false. Their journey is based on a lie, and the grass isn’t greener on the other side.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While stopping for gas, Mr. Joad heads into the diner to buy a loaf of bread. Mr. Joad is a nickel short of the 15 cents that the bread cost, and against the waitresses opinion the chef tells her to sell it to him for a dime.

Novel and Book Thief

Power of LanguageOne option: In The Book Thief, words have the power to both destroy and save lives. Examine how characters in the novel (for example, Liesel, Max, Ilsa Hermann, Hitler, Rosa and/or Hans) use words to destroy and to save. What are some of the effects of their words? Discuss at least two characters’ relationships with the power of language.Another option: The Book Thief is, on one level, the story of Liesel Meminger’s relationship with books. At the beginning of Zusak’s novel, Death advises the reader, â€Å"All told, she owned fourteen books, but she saw her story as being made up predominantly of ten of them. Of those ten, six were stolen, one showed up at the kitchen table, two were made for her by a hidden Jew, and one was delivered by a soft, yellow-dressed afternoon. When she came to write her story, she would wonder exactly when the books and the words started to mean not just something, but everything† (30).Near the end of the novel, Liesel confesses her conflicting emotions about the major’s wife’s library, â€Å"I love this place and hate it, because it is full of words† (522). Discuss at least two of Liesel’s books, and the significance of those books to her developing appreciation of the power of language.Power of language – Journal entries that might inspire you 1/15, 1/19Liesel’s Books (Books # 1-4) 1/22, 1/25Book # 5 2/3, 2/4Books #6 and 7 2/5, 2/8Book #8 2/11, 2/16Books # 9-11 2/25, 2/26Books # 12-13Your notes (your ideas for essay, Book Thief pages, Book Thief quotations)Utopia/dystopia A utopia is an imaginary place, situated in a particular time and space, that is socially, morally, and politically ideal. A dystopia is an imaginary place, also situated in a particular time or place, but which is socially, morally, and politically terrible, a state in which people are dehumanized, oppressed, terrorized, or completely dominated. While these are imaginary places , all societies display some characteristics of both. Find and discuss utopian and dystopian moments throughout The Book Thief. Is there a connection between the two? Are they dependent upon one another?Utopia/dystopia – Journal entries that might inspire you 1/22, 1/25Perfect Place – Book Thief characters 2/19, 2/22Two charactersYour notes (your ideas for essay, Book Thief pages, Book Thief quotations)Upstander triangle Each character in The Book Thief played a role in World War II Nazi Germany. Some were victims, others were perpetrators of evil and injustice, and many others (who chose to take no action) were bystanders. Among them, however, were rescuers or upstanders who acted against the evil and injustice they saw around them. Describe the roles that characters in The Book Thief fit into, and how they came to play each role. What qualities did the characters possess to fit into these roles? Did some characters play more than one role at a time? Did they change r oles? Why? What inspired or invited or compelled characters to move from bystanders to upstanders/rescuers?Upstander triangle – Journal entries that might inspire you 1/28, 1/29 â€Å"What Role Do You Choose?† triangle 2/19, 2/22Two characters 2/19, 2/22Rescuer biography (on assigned rescuer)Your notes (your ideas for essay, Book Thief pages, Book Thief quotations)Character analysis Compare and contrast two characters in The Book Thief. Focus on personality traits, where the characters fit in the upstander triangle, whether they perceive their world as more utopian or dystopian, and their perspectives on the power of language. How are these characters important to a core message (theme) that Zusak expresses through his novel?Character analysis – Journal entries that might inspire you 1/13, 1/14Hans v. Rosa Venn diagram 1/13, 1/14Frau Diller and Rudy Steiner Notes Homework 1/22, 1/25Perfect Place – Book Thief characters 1/28, 1/29 â€Å"What Role Do You C hoose?† triangle 2/19, 2/22Two charactersYour notes (your ideas for essay, Book Thief pages, Book Thief quotations) Novel and Book Thief Power of LanguageOne option: In The Book Thief, words have the power to both destroy and save lives. Examine how characters in the novel (for example, Liesel, Max, Ilsa Hermann, Hitler, Rosa and/or Hans) use words to destroy and to save. What are some of the effects of their words? Discuss at least two characters’ relationships with the power of language.Another option: The Book Thief is, on one level, the story of Liesel Meminger’s relationship with books. At the beginning of Zusak’s novel, Death advises the reader, â€Å"All told, she owned fourteen books, but she saw her story as being made up predominantly of ten of them. Of those ten, six were stolen, one showed up at the kitchen table, two were made for her by a hidden Jew, and one was delivered by a soft, yellow-dressed afternoon. When she came to write her story, she would wonder exactly when the books and the words started to mean not just something, but everything† (30). Near the end of the novel , Liesel confesses her conflicting emotions about the major’s wife’s library, â€Å"I love this place and hate it, because it is full of words† (522). Discuss at least two of Liesel’s books, and the significance of those books to her developing appreciation of the power of language.Power of language – Journal entries that might inspire you 1/15, 1/19Liesel’s Books (Books # 1-4) 1/22, 1/25Book # 5 2/3, 2/4Books #6 and 7 2/5, 2/8Book #8 2/11, 2/16Books # 9-11 2/25, 2/26Books # 12-13Your notes (your ideas for essay, Book Thief pages, Book Thief quotations)Utopia/dystopiaA utopia is an imaginary place, situated in a particular time and space, that is socially, morally, and politically ideal. A dystopia is an imaginary place, also situated in a particular time or place, but which is socially, morally, and politically terrible, a state in which people are dehumanized, oppressed, terrorized, or completely dominated. While these are imaginary places , all societies display some characteristics of both. Find and discuss utopian and dystopian moments throughout The Book Thief. Is there a connection between the two? Are they dependent upon one another?Utopia/dystopia – Journal entries that might inspire you 1/22, 1/25Perfect Place – Book Thief characters 2/19, 2/22Two charactersYour notes (your ideas for essay, Book Thief pages, Book Thief quotations)Upstander triangleEach character in The Book Thief played a role in World War II Nazi Germany. Some were victims, others were perpetrators of evil and injustice, and many others (who chose to take no action) were bystanders. Among them, however, were rescuers or upstanders who acted against the evil and injustice they saw around them. Describe the roles that characters in The Book Thief fit into, and how they came to play each role. What qualities did the characters possess to fit into these roles? Did some characters play more than one role at a time? Did they change ro les? Why? What inspired or invited or compelled characters to move from bystanders to upstanders/rescuers?Upstander triangle – Journal entries that might inspire you 1/28, 1/29 â€Å"What Role Do You Choose?† triangle 2/19, 2/22Two characters 2/19, 2/22Rescuer biography (on assigned rescuer)Your notes (your ideas for essay, Book Thief pages, Book Thief quotations)Character analysisCompare and contrast two characters in The Book Thief. Focus on personality traits, where the characters fit in the upstander triangle, whether they perceive their world as more utopian or dystopian, and their perspectives on the power of language. How are these characters important to a core message (theme) that Zusak expresses through his novel?Character analysis – Journal entries that might inspire you 1/13, 1/14Hans v. Rosa Venn diagram 1/13, 1/14Frau Diller and Rudy Steiner Notes Homework 1/22, 1/25Perfect Place – Book Thief characters 1/28, 1/29 â€Å"What Role Do You Cho ose?† triangle 2/19, 2/22Two charactersYour notes (your ideas for essay, Book Thief pages, Book Thief quotations)

Universal Indicator Definition

A universal indicator is a blend of pH indicator solutions designed to identify the pH of a solution over a wide range of values. There are several different formulas for universal indicators, but most are based on a patented formula developed by Yamada in 1933. A common mixture includes thymol blue, methyl red, bromothymol blue, and phenolphthalein. How Colors Are Used Color change is used to identify pH values. The most common universal indicator colors are: Red 0 ≠¥ pH ≠¥ 3Yellow 3 ≠¥ pH ≠¥ 6Green pH 7Blue 8 ≠¥ pH ≠¥ 11Purple 11 ≠¥ pH ≠¥ 14 However, the colors are specific to the formulation. A commercial preparation comes with a color chart that explains the expected colors and pH ranges. While a universal indicator solution may be used to test any sample, it works best on a clear solution because its easier to see and interpret the color change.