Balancing chemical equations

Here's a tutorial on balancing chemical equations hosted on the Ohio State University site. There are text-only and audio-enhanced versions of the tutorials. Might come in handy now that final exams are coming up.

"Current events" in 1896

Yes, I still discourage students from relying entirely on Wikipedia for research. But this is one example that shows how great it is as a stepping stone to other things.

1896 is a significant year for Filipino history. It was the year that the Katipunan was discovered by the Spanish authorities (leading to the revolution), and it was also the year of Jose Rizal's execution.

What else happened?

Wikipedia's entry on "1896" compiles other events that happened in that pivotal year. The Summer Olympics were held in Athens, Greece. The first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average was published. An earthquake and tsunami in Sanriku, Japan killed over 20,000. The first X-ray photograph was taken.

Knowing what was "current" in the world during a historical period places many things in context.

Tagalog/Filipino grammar

As a Tagalog myself, I take the language for granted and am not as nitpicky with grammar when I use it. It becomes important eventually to learn more about it in a serious, academic way -- if you want to be able to write flawless Filipino formally.

If you missed some important lessons or would just like to refresh your memory, here are a few Tagalog grammar resources online:

• Tagalog grammar Wikipedia entry - Click on "discussion" as well, to see the kind of questions that came up about the topic.
• Tagalog Grammar site at seasite.niu.edu - The lessons here are in English, and assumes that you are familiar with English grammar.

Philippine creation myths

Professor D.L. Ashliman at the University of Pittsburgh has compiled Philippine creation myths on his online library of folk tales and mythology.

Translated into English, there are creation stories with Igorot, Bagobo, Tagalog origins, and more. The major source used is a 1916 book called Philippine Folk Tales by Mabel Cook Cole.

Not exactly "Malakas at Maganda," but it's an additional reference in case you're doing research on alamat.

Animated animal cell mitosis

Mitosis, that process of cell division that results in new cells, is taught in second-year biology. (It still is, right?) The whole process goes through various phases, which textbooks often illustrate.

Wouldn't it be great if it were animated, though?

Cellsalive.com has it -- animal cell mitosis, the animated version. Clicking on a "phase" shows you a still image of that phase, so you can move back and forth to see the differences.

Some lessons really do need something more than textbook illustrations to be effective. With a process like mitosis, for example, it's better to see just how one phase flows into another. You could imagine it, but not everyone has that vivid an imagination.

Calculating percentages

The Tutors4You site has a quick tutorial on calculating percentages. It describes how percentages and fractions are related. If you're OK with fractions, then you'll be OK with percentages.

This would be great to master because you actually will encounter percentages a lot in regular life. Calculating discounts, making sure you don't get surprised when your restaurant bill comes with 12% VAT and 10% service charge, paying for your credit card with a 3.5% interest rate...

Noli Me Tangere, a 1912 English translation

From the archives of Project Gutenberg, here is The Social Cancer, A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere, translated by Charles Derbyshire from the original work of Jose Rizal.

It contains a Translator's Introduction, which describes the Philippines under Spanish rule, Rizal's life, and the context of the novel. If you're writing a Noli book report, the introduction is worth looking at for more insights to guide you. Beware, though -- the translator uses words like "apogee" and "halcyon" -- an online dictionary would come in handy!

There have been many other (possibly better) translations published after this one, but if you need a Noli English version and don't mind when it's from, then at least this is free.

Spell it, say it, define it, use it in a sentence

Some people know how every English word is pronounced or spelled. (Or claim to know, at least.) I don't. And for those words I always have trouble with, I usually go to Answers.com.

An Answers.com entry about a word contains more than its definition. Just today I looked up how "tiara" is pronounced, and now I know that, as well as its Latin and Greek source words, its translations in a dozen languages, and even how a tiara made.

Now, I could go to a regular online dictionary for what I needed, but I think I learn more when I read all those extra bits.

Know Your Asian Capitals

I had to memorize the capitals of countries in Asia in second year high school. My teacher quizzed us on it through graded recitation, which really made me nervous because of the potential public humiliation of it. I passed, and until now I still remember the capitals of Oman, Turkey and Laos -- but I have no idea where they are on a map, or what kinds of cities they are.

The Asian geography tutorials on the Sheppard Software site put it all in perspective. Choose an online quiz (there are tutorial, beginner, and other levels) and you'll learn capitals and countries and where they are on the map. The Tutorial level also gives basic information about the capital city, just so you know a little more about it.

Once you've familiarized yourself with the region's geography, try the Asian Capitals quiz on Triviaplaza.com. Did you pass?

There are how many Philippine regions again?

My old "Araling Panlipunan" book would probably say 12 regions, plus the National Capital Region. Your book should be more recent, but it's good to check online anyway.

• The National Statistical Coordination Board website says we have 17 regions, as of September 2007. (That "as of" is important!)
• The DMOZ Open Directory says 17 as well, and includes short descriptions of each region.
• The Regions of the Philippines Wikipedia entry says 17 too, and includes a history of the regional divisions, as well as links to the entries of each province.

I noticed that these sites of the three, only Wikipedia classified Palawan as belonging to Region 6. (It was transferred from Region 4B.) Which reminds me why it's good to check more than one source.

Grammar Girl

Everyone needs help with grammar. English is just that complicated! You might be in the honor roll or can write a decent "formal theme composition", sure -- but don't think that there's nothing else you need to know.

Grammar Girl offers short podcasts on grammar topics like how to use hyphens, "between versus among" and other sources of confusion. If you're at an internet cafe right now and don't have an mp3 player handy, you can read transcripts of the grammar tips instead.

Online Filipino-English Dictionary

Some school subjects require papers to be written exclusively in Filipino, some in English. The problem is that as a student, you most likely have both languages in your brain. Gersam.com has an online Filipino-English dictionary that can help you find the appropriate translations.

It's not perfect, though, because not all Filipino words have a direct translation in English, and vice versa. But this site provides "Alternate Words" at least, which can help you find a good-enough substitute.

If you can afford it, though, do get yourself a nice, thick Filipino-English dictionary from the nearest bookstore. It's just handy.

*UPDATE: Looks like Gersam.com has been down lately. You can check out the Tagalog Dictionary instead, which provides not just the definitions of words, but also related words. This is worth a bookmark!

Geometry tutorial at library.thinkquest.org

Geometry is one of those subjects that you can't be lazy about at the beginning of the school year. I know -- I sort of slacked off in the first few weeks of geometry, and as a result I had trouble with it the whole year because everything depended on my understanding of the basic concepts, proofs, theorems.

The Geometry tutorial at library.thinkquest.org can help you catch up on those basics, in case you started off like I did. The lessons are short, mostly illustrated, and there are practice tests with answers to help you.

Wikipedia

Despite the controversy about letting students use Wikipedia for research, I still think it's too useful to ignore.

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to. This both a good and bad thing -- good because you get to read the shared knowledge of the world, and bad because people can post misleading or untrue information. The active Wikipedia community has rules to protect the integrity of their project, but all the same, you have to be careful and check with other sources if your Wikipedia info is correct.

Which is what you're supposed to be doing anyway. Even if your source is an old-school, heavy encyclopedia volume, it's still not enough -- you should not be using that as your only source of info. Encyclopedia entries are short summaries and may contain outdated information. Good thing the Internet is around so getting more sources is easier.

Wikipedia works best when you use it only as a guide to get more information. Check the "References" on the bottom of the page, and you'll see other websites that are probably better resources for your topic.

Alibata - fatoprofungus.net

Alibata (or Baybayin) is an ancient Filipino writing system, with roots tracing back to pre-colonial life in the islands. The Alibata pages in fatoprofungus.net contain more info about its origins.

Most likely you will graduate from college without being required to learn to write in alibata. But if you'd like to learn on your own, you can check out the site's Usage Guide or simply type a word into the online transliterator.

scholar.google.com

Google Scholar is a search engine for academic papers and documents, or "scholarly literature", as they put it. You can find many references for your "review of related literature" here, although many sites provide only abstracts and not the full text of documents. If you hit a dead end with an article that you can't read for free, search for related work of the authors -- maybe you'll find other sites that have more information.

This is also very helpful when your topic is something that is too current ("blogging habits of high school students", "social networks" etc) for your school library to have gotten good resources on it already.

ottobib.com

Tip for that term paper: OttoBib is a website that automatically generates entries for your bibliography in the different format standards. (APA, MLA, Turabian, etc... depending on what you need.)

You'll need the ISBN of the book you're referencing, so you should take note of it in case you found the book in a library. But even if you didn't note it down, you can find a book's ISBN online anyway. (Hint: Google can help.)

www.gutenberg.net

Project Gutenberg is a site that collects books that are in the public domain, publishing them in various electronic formats.

The ebooks here are free to download, and you can read them on your PC or other gadgets that can read text files. Project Gutenberg has also managed to collect works in Tagalog, Cebuano, and Iloko.

If you can't decide which one of the millions of free ebooks to start with, you can try:

• Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
• Lineage, Life and Labors of José Rizal, Philippine Patriot
• Homer's The Iliad
• Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome

The Rules

The sites posted here are just to help you get the facts -- what you write must still come from your own understanding.

In other words:
Do not copy and paste directly from websites without citing your source.
Do not cite "Google" or "Wikipedia" (and other similar sites) as your only source.
Do not plagiarize.