Manta Rays essays

Manta Rays essays Rays are a flattened type of fish with wide fleshey pectoral fins that look like wings. Their skin is rough and scaly. The ray has a short, whip-like tail, and gills on the outside of the body. The rays mouth is broad and rectangular and contains small teeth in the lower jaw. Two cephalic lobes extend from the front of the rays head. These are used to crush prey for food since their teeth are small and useless for eating. Rays have no bones. Their skeleton is made of cartilage. Cartilage is a tough substance that is not as hard as bone. Some parts of their skeleton, like their vertebrae, are calcified. Even the rays skull is flattened. Manta Rays do not have stingers on their tails like the stingrays. Their color varies from black to gray-blue on its back. It has a white underside with gray splotches. Manta rays can measure up to 29 feet long and 22 feet wide. They can weigh up to 3,000 pounds. Manta rays are nicknamed devil rays because their extended fins look like devils horns. The word Manta in Spanish means cloak or blanket. The rays are closely related to the shark. Manta rays are the largest of all the rays. One common myth is that a manta ray can capsize a boat by leaping out of the water and crashing into the boat. Another myth is that the manta can drown swimmers by wrapping around them. Both these myths are untrue. Actually the rays even appear to enjoy the company of the divers and will play around the divers instead of swimming away from them. Manta Rays have a high ratio of brain weight to body weight. They are extremely intelligent. Scientist believe rays are probably smarter than sharks. They are also very curious animals. Rays often approach divers and just watch them. Manta rays are powerful creatures. They are harmless, non-aggressive, and are also non-territorial. The earliest known rays date back to the Jurassic period, which is about 150 million years ago. Since ray...

PBS -- Positive Behavior Support

PBS Positive Behavior Support PBS stands for Positive Behavior Support, which seeks to support and reinforce appropriate behavior in school and eliminate negative, problem behaviors. Focusing on reinforcing and teaching the behaviors that lead to learning and school success, PBS has proven to be significantly better than the old methods of punish and suspend. Using Positive Behavior Support There are a number of successful strategies for supporting positive behavior.  Among them are color behavior charts (as in the illustration,) color wheels, token economies and other means of reinforcing good behavior. Still, the other important components of a successful positive behavior plan include routines, rules, and clear expectations.  Those expectations should be posted in the halls, on classroom walls and all the places students will see them.   Positive Behavior Support can be class-wide or school-wide. Of course, teachers will write behavior plans in collaboration with behavior specialists or psychologists that will support individual students, called BIPs (Behavior Intervention Plans) but a class-wide system will put everyone in the class on the same path. Positive Behavior Support plans can be adapted to support students with disabilities.  By making modifications to the plans, and using the reinforcers designed for the whole school, or the strategy (color chart, etc.) to describe the behaviors and the consequences (i.e. Quiet hands when the clip goes to red.  No calling out when the clip goes to red, etc.)   Many schools have school-wide positive behavior support plans.  Usually, the school has a single set of cues and prompts for certain behaviors, clarity about school rules and the consequences, and means to win prizes or special privileges.  Often, the behavior support plan includes ways that students can win points or school bucks for positive behavior which they can use toward prizes donated by local businesses. Also Known As: Positive Behavior Plans Examples: Miss Johnson started a Positive Behavior Support plan for her classroom. Students receive raffle tickets when they are caught being good. Each Friday she pills a ticket from a box, and the student whose name is called gets to pick a prize from her treasure chest.