Ducks leave an impressionAlthough s

Ducks leave an impression

Although scientists are at odds over exactly what percentage of birds living 110 million years ago looked, walked, or quacked like ducks, they are now all in agreement about one thing - some of them had webbed feet.

Recently, researchers digging near Jinju, South Korea discovered tracks of an otherwise unknown bird imprinted in clay. The scientist, who described their find in an online issue of a well-known German magazine, say the fossilized footprints override earlier evidence of when web-footed birds came into existence, pushing the date back at least 25 million years.
It is assumed that birds probably made the tracks as they wadded in the shallow water in search for food. Jong-Deock Lim of the Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas also pointed out that because the space between the toes of the mystery bird were not fully webbed, they were probably only occasional swimmers, spending most of their time on land.

Interestingly enough, the webbed fossil footprints, which appear alongside the fossil prints of land-dwelling birds and dinosaurs, also show evidence of a rear-pointing digit, or first toe. Scientist suspect that the earliest shore birds, having recently evolved from tree-dwelling relatives, would most likely have had such a toe.


How have you contributed to solving a challenge and to implementing change or reform?

Every teacher knows that not all students are good examinees. Some are too tense, become over-anxious or too stressed and then perform below expectations just when it matters most. Teachers try to help by compensating, believing that if they boost a student’s academic knowledge, they will cure his fear of exams.

So, last years, drawing on my teaching experience and sports psychology skills, I completely rewrote the Business Studies Revision Course at this secondary school. The central idea of the course is to treat the examination as an event, a challenge, a performance, much like a sports match, a drama production, or perhaps a concert, but bigger and more important and very definitely on the public page. The idea is to show that the exam is not a test, but an opportunity to show how good the candidate is.

The object is to improve students’ final performance by increasing self-confidence, control and ability to cope. The theme of ‘total preparation for performance’ teaches them that while knowledge and examination techniques are obviously important, they are only two of the five skills required. The others being coping strategies, metal skills and management skills. These additions give a new dimension to a student’s revision, increasing enjoyment and motivation. They widen a student’s focus and help to convince some of the less confident students that there are many ways in which they can actively contribute towards their self-confidence and self-esteem.