Operation Fine Girl Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Operation Fine Girl - Essay Example lt my stomach turn, I wanted to throw up as I sat listening to the accounts of how parents were killed or made to watch as their daughters were raped. As the video stated, Sierra Leone is classified as the poorest country in the world and it shows in the way that they treat their women and the way that a majority of the country obviously lives in abject poverty. I feel that the United Nations Human Rights Commission should step into this situation and put an end to the atrocities and sexual abuse against women. The women of Sierra Leone need to be saved and shown that they actually have a future even though they are rape victims. They need to be taught that the rape was not the end of they are. Rather, it is only the beginning of their lives. They are not the enemy of their country but its backbone. They are not sex slaves, but women who deserve all the respect that should be accorded to them as the givers of life. They do not deserve to be raped, held hostage for years on end, and then discarded like a piece of

Organization Analysis For UNEP ( United Nation Environment Program ) Research Paper

Organization Analysis For UNEP ( United Nation Environment Program ) - Research Paper Example Employees being a part of UNEP’s prosperity have been mentioned on several occasions. Not much will be mentioned without addressing the organizational theories that have been applied in UNEP since it came into existence. It is easy to understand managerial theories, and identify how they are applied in daily operation of UNEP. UNEP is a thriving organization with so many achievements that have seen the environment being conserved and sustainable development achieved. The information has been gathered from the UNEP website, its documentaries, and from textbooks with relevant information on organization theories and environmental issues. Introduction and Background of the Organization (UNEP) It was until after the UN Conference concerning the Human Environment of 1972 that UNEP was established. The Conference took place in Stockholm, Sweden, and suggested the initiation of a global body to serve as the UN’s environmental conscience system. The UN General Assembly responde d by adopting Resolution 2997, which created the following: The UNEP Secretariat, whose headquarters was placed in Nairobi, Kenya, to offer a central point for environmental coordination and activities in the UN system, led by an Executive Director, ranked as the UN Under-Secretary-General. UNEP Governing Council, which comprised of 58 countries designated for four-year terms by the General Assembly of the UN. This was accorded the task of reviewing the state of the global environment, creating UNEP’S programme precedence, and budget approval. A voluntary Environment Fund was also set up to finance the initiatives of the organization, to be complemented by trust funds and money assigned by the regular budget of the UN. From 1972 down to the 1990s, global governments had declared their pledges to the sustainable development principles. In May 2000, the first Worldwide Ministerial Environment Forum was convened by UNEP in Malmo, Sweden. The forum’s main aim was to send a strong note to the UN General Assembly meant to revisit the sustainable development discussion at the millennium meeting in September 2000. Although the millennium presented many opportunities to UNEP, several challenges also came up. In 2005, the organization’s task was further strengthened when the UNEP Governing Council endorsed the Ball Strategic Plan to apply capacity development and technology support programmes nationally. The critical final years of the world’s commitment to meet the Millennium Development Goals will ensure that UNEP goes on providing vital information, practical support, and policy advice to the UN member nations as they collectively work to achieve UN Charter’s promise of a globe of social progress and better living conditions in a wider freedom. UNEP as an organization concerned with environmental matters is large enough to look into the issues at a global point of view. Its Governing Council meets this task appropriately by reportin g to the UN General assembly via the Social and Economic Council. There is equitable representation in each region, where the 58-members elected for the four-year terms represent each state as follows: African States have 16 seats, Asian States have 13 seats, Eastern Europe has 6, Caribbean and Latin American States have 10, while Western Europe and the remaining States have 13 se

A Woman in Berlin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Woman in Berlin - Essay Example This indicates the urge for self-preservation in a human being to the extent of availing such grim unworthy options. But the Russians had no educated Officer class to take appropriate decisions and exercise proper control over their men. Most of the officers were peasants as also the troops he commanded, but under the protection of the higher-ups in the army, she got better facilities, and then secured a typewriter through a friend to produce a fair copy of her jottings. Ultimately, she settled in America. (B.)The living conditions of the German people were absolutely horrid. They mostly occupied the basements of the bombed buildings and had no proper ration and clothing. Living in a war situation presents innumerable difficulties for the party that has lost in the war. Firstly, it is most humiliating to live as a loser. Secondly, what would be the next step of the army personnel, under whose mercy they have to spend time, is another serious problem. Many of the survivors shifted fro m one basement to another. In normal circumstances such pathetic living conditions are unthinkable. (C)In the present case, the residents have mostly supported each other, and for rejecting such advances there should be very strong reasons, such as conflict amongst different nationalities. (D)Human memory is very short, and one cannot say that the sufferings undergone by a particular generation of any country will be remembered by them for all time to come. But what happened is part of the history that cannot be obliterated by anyone. The coming generations, as students of history or the citizens of the country will continue to evaluate the facts. The politicians and the administrators of the country are not likely to commit the same mistakes that caused immense harm to the economy and damage to the psyche of the people. 2. (A) The men of the German force, were suddenly thrown into humiliating circumstances. They had lost everything, their prestige, rank, property and in many cases their family members were dead or missing. The end of war was a great relief, and they were confronted with a new set of economic problems. Many of them had lost their thinking power and were in a state bordering insanity. (B). The perspectives in which stories relating to their experiences were told differed in details but not in substance much. German soldiers talked about their bravery at the fronts. The author elucidates the issue thus: â€Å"And they loved to tell their stories which always involved exploits that showed them in a good light.†(149) I think that the German soldiers were not responsible for the plight in which they were put into. When they were asked to surrender by the higher authorities, they had no option but to surrender. They had no role in directing the politics of the state. Only the grave issue before them was to take care of their family and household. In that grim situation anyone would turn cynical. Many had to confront the situation of loss of l ife of their family members, rape of their wife and children by the Russian soldiers, total destruction of the property etc. In no way such soldiers were liable for condemnation for their so-called impotence. (C) After the ravaging World War II at the fronts where guns and

Organization Analysis For UNEP ( United Nation Environment Program ) Research Paper

Organization Analysis For UNEP ( United Nation Environment Program ) - Research Paper Example Employees being a part of UNEP’s prosperity have been mentioned on several occasions. Not much will be mentioned without addressing the organizational theories that have been applied in UNEP since it came into existence. It is easy to understand managerial theories, and identify how they are applied in daily operation of UNEP. UNEP is a thriving organization with so many achievements that have seen the environment being conserved and sustainable development achieved. The information has been gathered from the UNEP website, its documentaries, and from textbooks with relevant information on organization theories and environmental issues. Introduction and Background of the Organization (UNEP) It was until after the UN Conference concerning the Human Environment of 1972 that UNEP was established. The Conference took place in Stockholm, Sweden, and suggested the initiation of a global body to serve as the UN’s environmental conscience system. The UN General Assembly responde d by adopting Resolution 2997, which created the following: The UNEP Secretariat, whose headquarters was placed in Nairobi, Kenya, to offer a central point for environmental coordination and activities in the UN system, led by an Executive Director, ranked as the UN Under-Secretary-General. UNEP Governing Council, which comprised of 58 countries designated for four-year terms by the General Assembly of the UN. This was accorded the task of reviewing the state of the global environment, creating UNEP’S programme precedence, and budget approval. A voluntary Environment Fund was also set up to finance the initiatives of the organization, to be complemented by trust funds and money assigned by the regular budget of the UN. From 1972 down to the 1990s, global governments had declared their pledges to the sustainable development principles. In May 2000, the first Worldwide Ministerial Environment Forum was convened by UNEP in Malmo, Sweden. The forum’s main aim was to send a strong note to the UN General Assembly meant to revisit the sustainable development discussion at the millennium meeting in September 2000. Although the millennium presented many opportunities to UNEP, several challenges also came up. In 2005, the organization’s task was further strengthened when the UNEP Governing Council endorsed the Ball Strategic Plan to apply capacity development and technology support programmes nationally. The critical final years of the world’s commitment to meet the Millennium Development Goals will ensure that UNEP goes on providing vital information, practical support, and policy advice to the UN member nations as they collectively work to achieve UN Charter’s promise of a globe of social progress and better living conditions in a wider freedom. UNEP as an organization concerned with environmental matters is large enough to look into the issues at a global point of view. Its Governing Council meets this task appropriately by reportin g to the UN General assembly via the Social and Economic Council. There is equitable representation in each region, where the 58-members elected for the four-year terms represent each state as follows: African States have 16 seats, Asian States have 13 seats, Eastern Europe has 6, Caribbean and Latin American States have 10, while Western Europe and the remaining States have 13 se

The Role of Early Relationships Essay Example for Free

The Role of Early Relationships Essay In this assignment I will discuss the role of early relationships in the development of child behaviour. This involves many factors such as the family, child rearing styles, theory and development of attachment. I will discuss and explain experiences which I have come across within the childrens sector and how these are influenced by the developmental theory. I will then discuss in depth how the main developmental perspectives play a part in early years. P3. The role of family when considering child rearing is vital as this is where the bonding process begins; as this bond is formed the child develops an attachment to the person therefore creating a relationship. This bond in the beginning is primarily developed with the babys main care provider, not necessarily the mother, as children are brought up in diverse family structures. Family structures such as: nuclear family which involves both parents being together to bring up the child not relying on others for support, lone parent families which is either the mother or father bringing the child up with out the support of a partner, reconstituted families where two adults become partners whilst parenting children from a previous relationship and finally extended families where there is a close knit support from other family members such as grandparents who live together with the parent(s) and child. Many families dont fit ideally into just one of these support units and may be a single parent family with the close support of other family members even though they do not live together as one family unit, this then affects the people which the child develops primary attachments with as the parent may work and the grandparents become the main childcare providers for the child therefore forming multiple attachments. P3. The ways in which child rearing has developed over time has changed dramatically not only due to the ways in which a family is structured but how the care is managed. The first theory of child rearing was developed by Truby King he suggested babies should be toilet trained as young as possible, have a feeding routine and spend lots of time outdoors in order to reduce the chances of infant mortality and disease therefore cutting down the adult to child contact. We now realise that this would affect the childs opportunities to bond, develop relationships and attachment with its carers. During the 1950s and 1960s Benjamin Spock, whos theory is more child-lead than the previous, emphasised the importance of building a strong relationship between the child and its carers by encouraging parents to be more flexible with the child illustrating more affection listening to the childs individual needs but still appreciated the need for a routine. His suggestions, which were published as a guide to parents, counteracted the strict advice of paediatricians and doctors at this time. Medical professionals insisted that unremitting feeding routines should be undertaken whilst they also disapproved of parents openly showing affection towards their child. What good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is usually best after all (Spock B, Saidwhat.co.uk) His theory was focused on the physical aspect of relationship development believing that the child should be wrapped up to give them the feeling of security as they had in the womb of their mother, he believed that routine changes and feeds every four hours would suffice the child and leave them feeling happy, he also believed that a babys every cry should not be answered if the routine was in place as they didnt physically need anything more. P3. Penelope Leach developed further this approach suggesting that child rearing should be child-centred rather than child lead, meaning that responding to the childs social, emotional and cognitive needs not only reaffirmed the child but also the parents by allowing more bonding time. She helped parents understand their childs needs and cries, suggesting on-demand feeding is a better approach than feeding at set times as it better suits the childs individual needs. Leach therefore allowed parents to be carers of their child permitting them to spoil their child with love and affection rather than being there to enforce control and discipline. P3. Kitzinger looked into this further in the mid 1970s and believes that a child should be cared for in a way that is natural and instinctive for both the child and the mother. Sheila Kitzinger says that parents need to see their children as social beings that need human interaction and companionship not just servicing by being fed, bathed and changed.

Enzyme Kinetics Laboratory Report

Enzyme Kinetics Laboratory Report How the changes in substrate concentration (PNPP), changes in temperature, changes in pH and the presence of an inhibitor (phosphate ions) effects the rate of reaction of the reaction between PNPP and water catalysed by the enzyme acid phosphates which produces PNP and phosphate as its products . Using spectrophotometer to measure the absorbance of the products formed through hydrolysis of substrate. Abstract: The purpose of this scientific paper was to replicate earlier findings of experiments in enzyme kinetics and to see if enzyme behaviour and activity is influenced by 4 factors- change in substrate concentration, temperature, pH and the presence of a competitive inhibitor. In the first section where the substrate concentration was altered whilst the enzyme concentration was kept constant the relationship was found to be hyperbolic this can be explained using the Michaelis -Menten equation and the Lineweaver burk plot which was also used to obtain Km values of 0.25 and Vmax values of 0.12UNIT. The increase in [S] increased the rate of reaction at first but when [S] too much the initial velocity started to decrease. The increase in temperature led to a general increase in the initial velocity until the temperature reached 347 K where the enzyme denatured. The optimum temperature of the reaction was in the range 310 K- 323.2 where the rate increased at its fastest. The third section was the effect of pH on the enzyme activity. The optimum pH of the reaction was 5.5. This pH gave the highest reading of absorbance which means that the rate of hydrolysis was at its highest. Finally the last section of the experiment was the effect of competitive inhibitor on the rate of reaction. The investigation showed that the inhibitor used (phosphate ions) was a non-competitive inhibitor. The inhibitor did lower the initial velocity of the reaction when it attached to the enzyme at random. Introduction: This laboratory report is on the topic of enzyme kinetics, previous work in this particular field was carried out in the 1700s, when biological catalyst enzymes were discovered and studied. As understanding of enzymes increased scientist carried out basic laboratory experiments such as the conversion of starch to sugar by saliva to increase their understating of enzymes and how they function. However the first actual incident where enzymes were understood in detail was in 1897-by Edward Buchner .Since then on, till this period of time factors which effect the velocity/ rate of reaction and enzymes have been studied widely by many scientists globally. The modern scientists have a deep understanding of enzyme kinetics. The purpose of this laboratory report is to confirm previous findings covered in various sources of scientific literature and journals. Enzymes are often described as organic catalysts which increase the rate of reaction of a bio-chemical reaction ( David L.Nelson etal 2008). Enzymes increase the rate velocity of various reactions that occur in a biological system such as the mammalian digestive system. Enzymes can have functions including transfer, synthesis or breakdown of molecules. It is important to mention that enzymes are proteins which speed up the rate of reaction without being used up themselves i.e. they are reusable. Enzymes have a very specific active site which is complementary to a specific substrate 3 dimensional structure. The specificity is due to the complementary hydrophilic/hydrophobic charge, electrical charge and shape of active site on the enzyme. The binding of an enzyme with an specific substrate produces an enzyme substrate complex (ES).The rate at which the enzyme substrate complex is formed is dramatically increased or decreased in changes in substrate concentration, temperature, pH and presence of an competitive inhibitor the effect of these 4 factors on the enzyme activity is known as enzyme kinetics (Jeremy M. Berg etal 2006).Enzymes work on the concept of transition states. Transition state of enzymes is the phase where the substrate is not a yet a product and not a substrate. Enzymes reduce this phase .The difference between the free energy of the reactants and the free energy of the transition state is the activation energy (Ea).The minimum energy required for a success full reaction to occur. Enzymes speed up the rate of reaction by lowering the activation energy barrier. A typical enzyme substrate reaction can be simplified and be written as: The enzyme studied in this investigation was acid phosphatase. This enzyme can be identified by its Enzyme Commission Number (EC number) which is 3.1.3.2. Now I will briefly discuss the enzyme kinetic properties of acid phosphatase. The enzyme acid phosphatase catalyses the removal of phosphate group from organic molecules. Its primary mechanism of action is to bring a substrate molecule into contact with a molecule of water .This results in catalysis and the removal of phosphate group. Finally an hydroxyl group is attached to the substrate molecule. An example of this is the reaction shown below. This reaction was studied in this laboratory investigation. Acid phosphatase p-nitrophenylphosphate (PNPP) + water phosphate + p-nitrophenol(PNP) In the reaction above PNPP is the synthetic substrate, which is described as chromogenic.At. At high purity this compound is completely colourless. PNPP is hydrolysed by the enzyme acid phosphatase this produces phosphate and PNP. The product produced is yellow and can be measured using a colorimeter. The first part of the investigation concerns the effect of substrate concentration on the rate of reaction. I predict and expect that at an increase in substrate concentration (PNPP) will lead to an increased rate if reaction/initial rate. The reason for this is that an increase in substrate concentration increases the chances of a successful collision occurring between the enzyme and substrate increasing the likelihood of ES complex and product (PNP) formation results in an overall increase rate of reaction. This will produce a fist order reaction on a graph. However it is important to mention that at high substrate concentration the enzyme will be fully saturated this will reduce the rate of reaction as the there are too many substrate than enzymes. On a graph this would show a plateau. The maximum velocity of the reaction or the Vmax would be expected to be close to this region. Therefore I predict to see a hyperbolic relationship on a graph. Section B of this investigation concerns the effect of temperature on the rate of reaction. I would exepcet to find that an increase in temperature would result in an increase in the rate of reaction. The reason for this phenomenon is that as there is increase in kinetic energy being applied to enzymes and substrates it increases the chances of collision occurring so more product (PNP) is formed per unit time. However I also believe that temperatures above 50 -70 degrees Celsius would denature the enzymes active site and the 3 dimensional structures. At this stage the enzyme will not be complementary in shape to the substrate. This would mean that no reaction can be completed so the rate of reaction will decrease. It is important to state that the enzyme is going to have an optimum temperature at which the ES complexes and products are made at the fastest velocity. The increase in temperature increase the amount of molecules which have higher energy than the Ea barrier this in turn increases the amount of molecules which can react increasing the rate of reaction or initial velocity. I believe the optimum temperature is going to range between 20-40 degrees Celsius. The third part of this lab report is based on the effect of pH on the rate of reaction again I believe that at extremes of pH such as acidity or alkalinity will affect the rate of reaction. This may cause the enzymes structure to denature and will cause a lower rate of reaction and lower rate of product formation because the enzyme will not be complementary to the substrate. I would expect this enzyme to have a low optimum pH of around 5-2 as it is acid. Finally the last section of this investigation concerns the effect of a competitive inhibitor (phosphate ions) on the rate of reaction. Inhibitor in this case the phosphate ions will compete with the actual substrate PNPP for the active site of the enzyme acid phosphatase. These inhibitors can only attach to the active site of the enzyme due to their complementary properties. The concentration of the inhibitors will be kept constant and the concentration of the substrate PNPP will be altered. I believe that as the concentration of PNPP increases the rate of reaction will increase this is because the PNPP can out- compete the competitive inhibitor and reverse the effect of the inhibitor. Materials and Methods: All procedures were carried out as described in the lab schedule. No alterations were made to any of the procedures carried out throughout the experiment. Discussion: The first section of this lab report relates the effect of substrate concentration on enzyme activity. I shall briefly discuss and explain what my data shows and means. Graph 3 which is the graph of Michaelis Menten of collected data. The relationship between the rate of an enzyme-catalysed reaction and the substrate concentration can be describes as hyperbolic. The graph and tables 2 show that as the concentration of substrate (PNPP) increases from 0.00 Mmols to 0.20 Mmols of substrate the initial velocity or the rate of reaction shows an increase in too. The relationship can be describes as fist order as the [V] rises almost linearly with the increase in [S]. However after the concentration increase from 0.20- to 3.00 Mmols the initial velocity shows a gradual increase and then gradually levels of or slopes here graph shows 0 order relationship. This supports the prediction I made in the introduction. The graphs indicates that as the concentration of substrate increase the rate of reaction increase this is because of the increase chances of a collision between a substrate and an enzyme. This in turn increases the rate at which ES and P are formed. However after the concentration increase after 0.20 3.00 Mmols the rate stars to level off. The reasoning behind is this is that there are too many substrates than compared to enzymes an all enzymes are described to be fully saturated .At this phase the reaction is at its Maximum velocity and cannot increase in rate unless more enzymes are added therefore enzyme concentration is the limiting factor. I can tell that the data I collected from the experiment in the lab is accurate and valid as the graph which compares the theatrical data and the collected data show similarities in the trend line the Vmax the km and as well as the points and there is no anomalous data point on either of the 3 graphs. My findings support the findings of many previous investigations and journals as the graphs show a similar relationship as to the findings to previous work. The implications of this investigation can be used widely to determine the Vmax and KM. These values can be used for medical purposes since the enzyme acid phosphatase is manufactured by the body to remove phosphate groups. The limitation of Michaels Menten plot is that the Km and Vmax cannot be accurately determined. Therefore a Lineweaver burk plot is plotted. The Lineweaver burk plot shows that the KM and Vmax are very similar to the ones from the Michaelis Menten plot. Finally KM is an approximate measure of the affinity of an enzyme for its substrate.A small value of KM indicates a high affinity of the enzyme for the substrate. From my graphs (1 +2) I can tell that the KM was 0.24 and therefore small. This means that the enzyme acid phosphatase has a high affinity for the synaesthetic substrate PNPP. This means that small concentration of substrate PNPP is enough to run the reaction at half of maximum velocity (1/2 Vmax). The next section of the investigation concerns the effect of temperature on the rate of reaction. I predicted an increase in temperature will increase the rate of reaction or the initial velocity of the e reaction until the enzyme denatures and the protein sequence becomes damaged an unravels. The actual reason for why the protein sequences unravel is that the protein has too much kinetic energy and the amino acids vibrate and this causes the non covalent forces to be weakened. There is an increase in the rate of reaction as the temperature increases from 278 -323 K the increase is almost linear. However after the temperature 323 K-to 347 K the enzyme denatures and unravels. This is proved by the last point on the graph which doesnt fit the line of best fit. Overall the graphs and data all prove my predictions correct. There is no other anomalous data present. The third section concerns the effect of pH on the rate of reaction. As we have discovered before the enzyme used was acid phosphatase so the pH at which it works at best the optimum temperature will be in the acidic pH regions. I can confirm from my graph that the optimum pH of the reaction is in the region 5-5.5 which is indeed acidic. pH of 5.5 gives the highest absorption value, this therefore means that the rate of hydrolysis was at its fastest. A possible explanation for the change in the experimental design is that the pH may denature the enzyme if the enzyme was added first the active site and 3 dimensional shape of the enzyme could be altered at extremes of pH such as 2 which is quite acidic. The pH does not affect the substrates 3 dimensional structure in the same ways as the enzymes. Therefore to obtain valid results /data the design for this part of the experiment was slightly altered. pH has a very strong effect on enzyme activity .This is because enzymes work on the basis of mechanisms such as induced fit hypothesis and lock and key . The enzymes have a specific active site due to the complementary 3 dimensional active site with the substrate. According to the induced fit hypothesis the enzyme can undergo some change in the 3- dimensional structure in order to fit the substrate. However a change in pH changes the enzymes active site structure. An increase in H+ ions can change the active site structure due to the fact that h+ ions can interfere with any polar molecules on enzymes protein structure. Amino acids side chains can be protonated and may be damaged due to the extreme pH (concentration of H+ )this may result in the protein sequence to unravel which means that the active site is not complementary to the substrate and the rate of reaction decreases as no or little ES are formed which results in little products formed. The final section concerns the effect of a competitive inhibitor (phosphate ions) on the rate of reaction. From my graph I can tell that the inhibitor present was an non-competitive inhibitor. I can tell this by looking at the Lineweaver Burk plot where the trend lines cross the 1/Vmax intercept at different values but cross the 1/km intercept at the same values. This means that this type of inhibitor does not affect the KM but does lower the Vmax values. Non competitive inhibitor has the same effect as lowering the total volume of enzyme. This type of inhibition is reversible. It binds to a site away from the enzymes active site it denatures the active site so no other substrates can bind to the active site. This in turn lowers the rate of reaction and the rate at which products are formed. However this type of inhibitor also binds to the enzyme substrate complex I can therefore conclude that the non competitive inhibitor does lower the rate at which the products are formed. References: Books: David L. Nelson et al (2008) Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry ,W.H Freeman and Company Jeremy M. Berg et al (2006) Biochemistry, W.H Freeman and Company Lab schedule (2009) Enzyme Kinetics MODULE LSC10034 EXPERIMENT 4 Lecture Notes: Lectures notes (2009) Dr John Mills- Module LSC-10034 Proteins and Enzymes lectures 9, 10, 11 (Figures 1-5) Absorbance values- Table 4 and Table 6 Emma Ezekiel Web Pages: EC Number -http://www.brenda-enzymes.org/php/result_flat.php4?ecno=3.1.3.2 Seen :20 November 2009

Jigsaw Dinosaurs :: essays research papers

Jigsaw Dinosaurs Jigsaw Dinosaurs is a non-fiction book as well as a child’s toy under one hard cover. The non-fiction aspect of it offers some introductory detail on the physical appearance and social behavior of six different dinosaurs: Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, Diplodocus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops and Oviraptor. These are presented on each left-hand page along with information inserts about some of the smaller dinosaurs: Ornitholestes, Lesothosaurus, Compsognathus, Protoceratops, Velociraptors and Quetzalcoatlus. To complete the left-hand page is a 'stone-age' information rock sign, on each page, offering a little-known dinosaur fact under the title: Did you know? The toy aspect of it involves six different jigsaw puzzles elaborating on the main dinosaur being discussed on the left-hand page. The puzzles, illustrated by Anne Sharp, fully occupy each right page in the book. These puzzles make learning for the younger children easier, and more fun because of the clear simplicity of them. The last double page of the book is an illustrated time line following the common dinosaurs through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. This sums up the dinosaur period quite nicely. The illustrations are colored in highly appealing blue and green, red and yellow, purple and orange. The colors are moody, evoking the eeriness of the Mesozoic period. The illustrations fit the large text nicely so if this is being read aloud children will be able to follow lovely detail in the illustration, which will assist with gaining memory retention. Children will be able to track dinosaurs mentioned in text on one page, in illustrations on another: another fun game for dinosaur recognition. There is a nice sense of action about the illustrations, which is also reflected in the text. For example, the text asks: "Do you think the Struthiomimus will see the T Rex in time?" and Anne Sharp draws a distracted Struthiomimus and a T Rex ready to pounce. Very effectively. These could be used as hypothetical scenarios to encourage young kids to create their own imaginative plots to fit the illustration and the text question: Do you think... And what will happen next...? As there is no definitive ending supplied. So, this book offers some great catalysts for developing creative thinking in children. And even on re-reading, children could be encouraged to offer different responses, and even dramatize the very scenarios they create, further intensifying their pleasure in what they have read here. There are strong and weak points associated with having a book that is also a puzzle.