Chapter 7 Flashcards
Childhood obesity
In a child, having a BMI above the 95th percentile, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 1980 standards for children of a given age.
pester power
the ability to get adults to do what they want, which includes pestering their parents to buy calorie-dense snacks that are advertised on television or that other children eat.
Asthma
A chronic disease of the respiratory system in which inflammation narrows the airways from the nose and mouth to the lungs, causing difficulty in breathing. Signs and symptoms include wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing.
How does growth during middle childhood compare with growth earlier or later?
Middle childhood is a time of slow and steady growth, unlike the rapid growth of infancy and of puberty.
Why is middle childhood considered a healthy time?
Children have fewer diseases, and are more cautious about poisons, streets, and other dangers.
How does physical activity affect the child’s development?
Physical activity improves strength, internal organs, and the brain.
How do fine motor skills interact with academic skills?
Fine motor skills are needed for many academic skills, including reading and writing.
What seems to be the effect of learning to play a musical instrument?
Parts of the brain develop more rapidly.
What are several reasons some children weigh more than the norm?
Some are genetically destined to be big children, some are overfed, and some move less and watch television more.
What are the short-term and long-term effects of childhood obesity?
The immediate effects may be reduced friendship and lower self-esteem. The long-term effects include stress on the body organs, especially the heart.
Why is asthma more common now than it was 50 years ago?
Many of the conditions that make breathing more difficult are part of modern life, including times spent indoors, carpets and bedding, roaches, air pollution.
Concrete operational thought
Piaget’s term for the ability to reason logically about direct experiences and perceptions.
Classification
The logical principle that things can be organized into groups (or categories or classes) according to some characteristic that they have in common.
Seriation
The concept that things can be arranged in a logical series, such as the number sequence or the alphabet.
Working memory
Memory that is active at any given moment.
Knowledge base
A body of knowledge in a particular area that makes it easier to master new information in that area.
English language Learners (ELLs)
Children in the United States whose proficiency in English is low — usually below a cutoff score on an oral or written test. Many children who speak a non-English language at home are also capable in English; they are not ELLs.
Bilingual education
A strategy in which school subjects are taught in both the learner’s original language and the second (majority) language
ESL (English as a Second Language)
A U.S. approach to teaching English that gathers all of the non-English speakers together and provides intense instruction in English. Students’ first languages are never used; the goal is to prepare them for regular classes in English.
Immersion
A strategy in which instruction in all school subjects occurs in the second (usually the majority) language that a child is learning.
Why did Piaget call cognition in middle childhood concrete operational?
Because children can understand and apply (operate) things that they can experience and see (concrete).
How does Piaget’s description explain how children learn math?
Piaget described children’s grasp of conservation, change, seriation, and logic, all of which underlie manipulation of numbers.
How does Vygotsky explain cognitive advances in middle childhood?
Vygotsky emphasized mentoring and scaffolding, as children use language and observation to master the concepts values by their culture. In addition, responsive adults find each child’s zone of proximal development, and help the child learn the next concept or skill.
Why does memory improve markedly during middle childhood?
Children develop and learn to use memory techniques, with a better understanding of what needs to be remembered and how to do it.