My partner and I researched a project named “Desert Island”. You can see the PowerPoint we made about this project in its best features. The PowerPoint is implanted below.
I liked the “Desert Island” project the most. The reasons I liked it are a lot. The first reason was that this project shows that UAE is capable of advancing in real state and evaluation. The second reason is that the location of the project is perfect. It’s within the UAE but far from the city. This is an advantage because it shows the beauty of the UAE and it’s far from the crowded city and its stress. Another good thing in this project is that it’s a city inside a city, because it’s made in islands that are already inhabited by people and it will draw a lot of attention to these islands and its historical importance like “Sir Bani Yas” and “Dalma Island”.
The least interesting project in my opinion was the “Emirates Pearl”. The reason behind my evaluation is that it’s located in Dubai. Dubai is already a crowded city and it will be hard to go shopping because the project lacks a shopping centre. And also it’s not appropriate for children because there isn’t a children playground. The last thing I noticed in the project is its design. The project is surrounded by some of Dubai best projects and that will make it less attractive.
My overall opinion is that these projects is useful because it will reveal the UAE potential in developing and it will offer job opportunities and may solve problems concerning accommodation shortage.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Cool Cities
Good Adaptations:
One of the good properties of the cool cities is that there will only be environmental cars and light rail transit. This will help reduce CO2 emissions from cars. In the cool cities video it showed that a third of the world’s emissions is from cars.
Another good point is that some cool cities will develop a technique to reduce the outside temperature. This will help people to walk freely inside the city.
The third positive point of the cool cities is there will be solar powered farms as the SDCJ video shows. This is a good way to prevent desertification. It’s also good because plants are vital to solve the global warming issue.
Bad Adaptations:
One of the problems in cool cities is that some cities are surrounded with water to supply the plants and other needs in the cities like cooling. Other cities will have sea water under the city like it’s written in “Cool ideas to beat the heat”. This will probably cause a water shortage.
Another negative point is that cool cities aren’t suitable for all people. That is because some people don’t want to replace the unfriendly environmental power sources with the power sources in cool cities.
The last unrealistic point is that making this type of city is very expensive. Every thing needed to make a cool city require a huge amount of money.
One of the good properties of the cool cities is that there will only be environmental cars and light rail transit. This will help reduce CO2 emissions from cars. In the cool cities video it showed that a third of the world’s emissions is from cars.
Another good point is that some cool cities will develop a technique to reduce the outside temperature. This will help people to walk freely inside the city.
The third positive point of the cool cities is there will be solar powered farms as the SDCJ video shows. This is a good way to prevent desertification. It’s also good because plants are vital to solve the global warming issue.
Bad Adaptations:
One of the problems in cool cities is that some cities are surrounded with water to supply the plants and other needs in the cities like cooling. Other cities will have sea water under the city like it’s written in “Cool ideas to beat the heat”. This will probably cause a water shortage.
Another negative point is that cool cities aren’t suitable for all people. That is because some people don’t want to replace the unfriendly environmental power sources with the power sources in cool cities.
The last unrealistic point is that making this type of city is very expensive. Every thing needed to make a cool city require a huge amount of money.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
My carbon footprint
I did a carbon footprint at http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/ . For those who don’t know what the definition of a carbon footprint is, it’s a way to measure the impact individuals have on the atmosphere and the environment in stipulations of the amount of green house gases. My footprint was 3.09 which I consider an awful result. It will need me 3.09 planets to cover my footprint levels. This is very dangerous because it will make the global warming problem worst.
My carbon footprint is high due to many reasons. The area I scored poorly was the traveling area. I use a large vehicle that produces large amounts of negative emissions. I use it to go to college, do errands, visit my friends and travel to different cities and countries. The area which came second in poor score was the stuff category. That’s because I have more than 5 high definition televisions, 5 laptops and 2 desktops, not mentioning the videogames. Also I have in my house what every house have from refrigerators to lamps. One Important thing that I have never considered is recycling. I never recycle because most of my usage is with things that can’t be recycled and if I had any, I don’t recycle them.
Every problem has a solution. I would consider the following solution steps towards the end of the raised footprint levels issue. First of all I can start using group transportation. Public transportation such as busses and group taxies are good in that they would reduce the amount of emissions by reducing the number of cars in roads. This could be difficult because some people would think themselves better than riding a bus. Another way to minimize my footprint levels is by reducing the amount of time I use in any electronic devise. For example, instead of using the laptop for 5 to 7 hours a day, I should use it for 3 hours maximum. Also I should change the type of lamps I use in my house with environment friendly lamps. The last way I figured was recycling anything that can be recycled.
In conclusion, individuals can make a difference in reducing the amount of carbon emissions. If every person tried to reduce his share of the green house effect in minimum, this shall help solving the global warming issue.
My carbon footprint is high due to many reasons. The area I scored poorly was the traveling area. I use a large vehicle that produces large amounts of negative emissions. I use it to go to college, do errands, visit my friends and travel to different cities and countries. The area which came second in poor score was the stuff category. That’s because I have more than 5 high definition televisions, 5 laptops and 2 desktops, not mentioning the videogames. Also I have in my house what every house have from refrigerators to lamps. One Important thing that I have never considered is recycling. I never recycle because most of my usage is with things that can’t be recycled and if I had any, I don’t recycle them.
Every problem has a solution. I would consider the following solution steps towards the end of the raised footprint levels issue. First of all I can start using group transportation. Public transportation such as busses and group taxies are good in that they would reduce the amount of emissions by reducing the number of cars in roads. This could be difficult because some people would think themselves better than riding a bus. Another way to minimize my footprint levels is by reducing the amount of time I use in any electronic devise. For example, instead of using the laptop for 5 to 7 hours a day, I should use it for 3 hours maximum. Also I should change the type of lamps I use in my house with environment friendly lamps. The last way I figured was recycling anything that can be recycled.
In conclusion, individuals can make a difference in reducing the amount of carbon emissions. If every person tried to reduce his share of the green house effect in minimum, this shall help solving the global warming issue.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
An inconvenient truth (Evaluation)
An inconvenient truth was a very exciting documentary. Watching it was very enjoying and thrilling. The presenter of this documentary, Al Gore knew how to deliver his point of view and was very good in getting the attention of his audience. He was really good in choosing the right information in the right time which helped him to make the people interested and curious about the rest of the story.
Al Gore used charts, cartoons and pictures to help him communicate with the audience and with the usage of these things it made it easy to the people to understand the presentation. Another good thing in Al Gore that he was very calm which gave the listeners the feeling that they are listening to a friend and someone they knew for a long time. He was funny and relaxed and that mad it even easier to deliver his point of view.
In the end, when he talked about his personal life and the accident with his son and the death of his sister and how it made him think about the future and changed his worldview, that was a great way to show the people that he is honest and he is not only a politician, but also a person who live in the earth and trying to help saving the world.
Al Gore used charts, cartoons and pictures to help him communicate with the audience and with the usage of these things it made it easy to the people to understand the presentation. Another good thing in Al Gore that he was very calm which gave the listeners the feeling that they are listening to a friend and someone they knew for a long time. He was funny and relaxed and that mad it even easier to deliver his point of view.
In the end, when he talked about his personal life and the accident with his son and the death of his sister and how it made him think about the future and changed his worldview, that was a great way to show the people that he is honest and he is not only a politician, but also a person who live in the earth and trying to help saving the world.
An Inconvenient Truth (Summary)
An Inconvenient Truth is a documentary movie talking about the growing issue of global warming. Al Gore a previous congress and used to be a presidential candidate, says that its us, the people, who are helping in growing global warming and that every one living in this earth need to do something about it before it’s late.
The reasons he showed were many, such as the rising temperature of the oceans, the increasing levels of carbon dioxide, the continuous rainfalls and many other reasons. He also gave us evidence for his reasons. The evidence he gave for the oceans heating up is that hurricanes, are becoming much worse that ever and one of the hurricanes he mentioned was hurricane Katrina. As for the carbon dioxide levels he showed a graph about CO2 levels in a period of time. The graph showed that the amount of CO2 in the present is far more than any period of time in the past. Finally he showed pictures of huge floods and testimonies of citizens as an evidence for the rainfalls.
In general the film was good and inspiring. The global warming issue is indeed a dangerous problem and could affect every living being. All of the issues Al Gore mentioned were supported and he gave examples for each one what helped him in delivering the point
The reasons he showed were many, such as the rising temperature of the oceans, the increasing levels of carbon dioxide, the continuous rainfalls and many other reasons. He also gave us evidence for his reasons. The evidence he gave for the oceans heating up is that hurricanes, are becoming much worse that ever and one of the hurricanes he mentioned was hurricane Katrina. As for the carbon dioxide levels he showed a graph about CO2 levels in a period of time. The graph showed that the amount of CO2 in the present is far more than any period of time in the past. Finally he showed pictures of huge floods and testimonies of citizens as an evidence for the rainfalls.
In general the film was good and inspiring. The global warming issue is indeed a dangerous problem and could affect every living being. All of the issues Al Gore mentioned were supported and he gave examples for each one what helped him in delivering the point
Monday, April 21, 2008
Critical Thinking (Hmmm)
What is critical thinking? Critical thinking begins when someone needs to know more about something or how that thing works and what will happen if we changed something. Therefore the definition of critical thinking is a higher level of thinking and it’s limitless. As some might say critical thinking is thinking outside the box.
Critical thinkers usually are good listeners. They listen carefully to what the others are saying and able to give a feedback. Critical thinkers also try to support their beliefs. They also able to distinguish incorrect or irrelevant information. Curiosity also in critical thinkers they show an interest to know every thing about a certain topic they even try to find new ways and different methods to do everything.
Bloom’s taxonomy which is a classification of the levels of thinking shows that there are six categories for the levels of thinking divided into two groups, simple and complex. Knowledge which is the first category, it means that a person is able to name and recognize or recall something and it’s the simplest type of thinking. The second type of think
ing is called comprehension which basically means to understand. After that comes the application, which is the ability to use the knowledge and comprehension to solve problems. Analysis is the forth type in bloom’s pyramid; it’s when a person can examine or break down a problem or a certain thing. Redesigning something or putting something back together in a different way comes under the synthesis. The last type of thinking and the most complex way is the evaluation; it’s when a person is able to discuss and rate on a certain topic and can conclude from this topic.
In conclusion the benefits of critical thinking are lot and very important. Critical thinkers will manage to understand lot of ideas. They will have the ability to create new things. People also will be capable of think reasonably and logically.
Critical thinkers usually are good listeners. They listen carefully to what the others are saying and able to give a feedback. Critical thinkers also try to support their beliefs. They also able to distinguish incorrect or irrelevant information. Curiosity also in critical thinkers they show an interest to know every thing about a certain topic they even try to find new ways and different methods to do everything.
Bloom’s taxonomy which is a classification of the levels of thinking shows that there are six categories for the levels of thinking divided into two groups, simple and complex. Knowledge which is the first category, it means that a person is able to name and recognize or recall something and it’s the simplest type of thinking. The second type of think
ing is called comprehension which basically means to understand. After that comes the application, which is the ability to use the knowledge and comprehension to solve problems. Analysis is the forth type in bloom’s pyramid; it’s when a person can examine or break down a problem or a certain thing. Redesigning something or putting something back together in a different way comes under the synthesis. The last type of thinking and the most complex way is the evaluation; it’s when a person is able to discuss and rate on a certain topic and can conclude from this topic.In conclusion the benefits of critical thinking are lot and very important. Critical thinkers will manage to understand lot of ideas. They will have the ability to create new things. People also will be capable of think reasonably and logically.
Monday, March 24, 2008
My Profile ( MomEnTs Of My LiFe)
Mmmm...
Where should I begin...? Like any other child I had a normal life. You know the way kids act, most of it was happy, except the times I was whipped from dad. I’m originally from Yemen, but I was born and raised in the UAE, specifically in a region called (Al Wathba). To be honest I’m grateful for being raised there and at the same time I have some regrets. It wasn’t like being raised in the city. but that what made me tough through the years, for example I remember the last time I cried, it was when I was 6 years, and that’s my picture to the left( I know I know )
but after that I learned that its no use crying anymore, and I have to face what I can face and return to my father for what I couldn’t face. My family name is Al Afifi, a lot of you might not know it It’s the royal family of Al yafey (yeah yeah I am arrogant and I love it :p)
Enough with the sad memories. Let’s begin in my current happy life :p
Right now am a student in ADMC (no photographs please) :p. I’m in my secon d year studying engineering. I was planning to study Chemical engineering but I changed my mind due to personal reasons. Lot of guys told me that if still couldn’t decide what major I should study ill find out in this course, which I am doing right know.
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And it true. I decided to study civil engineering
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As for my hobbies I like ping pong (table tennis) I started this hobby last year in ADMC.
I spent most of my time there just to play it. I hated it first but you know what they say you won’t know until you try.
I also like to play video games and my best game ever is Call of Duty in XBOX360. I also like to play chess. My father used to play it a lot but according to him ha can't play as much as he used to be because his doctor told him that it makes his brain tired. (I don’t know whether it means his so smart or he cant think of a way to win) :p
As for my future its nothing special, like every one else i want to have a good job (a desk job so that I will not work a lot) and have a high salary :p
And i want to get married to whoever the lucky girl might be (yes she’s lucky).
That’s all for now... Ill see you guys later with another boring story of my life
Bye bye
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