Which is the most abundant gas in the earth’s atmosphere? You may be more familiar with oxygen as we draw in oxygen with every breath. However, it is not oxygen but nitrogen which dominates the earth’s atmosphere and amounts to approximately 78% of the earth’s atmosphere. In fact, just like water, nitrogen is cycled into the earth and into the atmosphere. Let us gather some information about the nitrogen cycle. The various processes involved in the nitrogen cycle are nitrogen fixation/conversion of N2, nitrification, assimilation, ammonification, and denitrification. Let us go through them in brief. 1. Nitrogen Fixation/Conversion of Nitrogen: Most of the nitrogen in the atmosphere enters the earth’s surface through a process known as nitrogen fixation via the action of nitrogen-fixing bacteria and algae. Only a very small amount is fixed and enters the earth via rainfall in … Continue reading →
Which process is crucial for maintaining the intricate ecosystems of the amazing planet that we inhabit? The water cycle is the process by which water evaporates, condenses and then precipitates and is replenished back into the earth’s ecosystems. Let us now briefly garner some information about the water cycle. The water cycle consists of the following processes through which the water gets transformed and replenished, namely, evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. The water cycle with its three main processes, namely, evaporation, condensation and precipitation are discussed in brief below. Evaporation: What will happen if you heat a glass of water? It will obviously evaporate. If you look at this same phenomenon at the humongous scale of the earth, what can you decipher? Does the water in the oceans, rivers, lakes and other water bodies remain as it is? What is the … Continue reading →
Overcoming obstacles and challenges and the attitude and determination with which one faces any obstacle or challenge plays a great role in maintaining a healthy emotional life. Can you imagine what life would be like if Thomas Alva Edison had not invented the light bulb? Do you know a famous quotation attributed to what it took to come up with his revolutionary invention? Read the quotation given below and reflect on it and write down how you can learn from it and relate it to your own life. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” This quotation epitomizes the attitude required to overcome any obstacle. Each and every “mistake,” obstacle, challenge or “failure” in life can be regarded as an opportunity to learn and grow and may even be a blessing in disguise. Here are … Continue reading →
How long do you watch TV in a day and in a week? How much time do you spend playing video games? How many chocolates do you eat in a week? Think of all the habits that you have developed and write your thoughts on whether they are good or bad, balanced or beyond limits, etc. Addiction is any habit which one does not maintain a control over or is harmful to you. It could be consuming food/drink or performing an activity, which can have an adverse effect on your health and disturb and adversely affect the people around you too. An important aspect of developing one’s emotional intelligence lies in being able to say “no” to what could possibly harm you or setting thoughtful limits to a particular habit such as watching TV or playing a video game. Here … Continue reading →
Think about all the emotions that you went through for this whole month. Maintain an emotion tracker for a week and write down the emotions you go through daily. You can also draw different faces. Reflect on what made you feel a particular way. How do you express each emotion? We can go through a wide range of emotions as human beings and that is the special and amazing part of being human and the human experience. What did you write down or draw? A range of faces, happy, excited, hopeful, bored, sad, angry, upset, etc., might have filled your page. Emotional intelligence can be defined as the ability to perceive, evaluate and regulate emotions. A person who has a good emotional intelligence will be able to maintain a sense of equanimity in the face of challenges and resolve conflicts … Continue reading →
Do you do your daily exercise and some yoga too? Do you rotate your entire arm region in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction, forward or backward? What about your neck? Think of all the exercises and movements you do which involve moving the regions where two bones meet. A joint, as the word itself implies, is the area of the human body where two bones meet. Shall we now learn about the types of joints found in our amazing human body? Fixed, Slightly Movable and Freely Movable Joints According to the level of mobility, joints can be generally classified into fixed joints, slightly movable joints and freely movable joints. Fixed joints: Fixed joints or immovable joints, like the joints in the skull which are known as sutures, cannot move. The joints of the skull, sutures, are held together by fibrous … Continue reading →
