Bahareh Honarparvar's weblog

Norouz Festival in Iran

2008-11-25T10:03:00.000-08:00

Norooz festival, an ancient and everlasting celebration, is the ancient tradition of Iran which marks the arrival of spring and starts on the first day of spring (March 21) and lasts for 13 days.. In harmony with the rebirth of nature, the Persian New Year celebration, Norooz, always begins on the first day of spring. This celebration and its rituals go back to at least four thousand years ago. NoRouz means the "New Day", and refers to a new beginning, a new year. Although its historical origin is not known, it is certain that Norooz had been celebrated by kings and people throughout the monarchy of Achamenids and Sasanids and after the extinction of Yazdgerd's royal family, through Islam's pervasive jurisdiction, to the modern age of 21st century.
In Zoroastrianism, the annual seasonal renewal festival of Norooz in the spring is at the same time a solemn and joyful celebration of new life and revival of nature and the anticipated resurrection of the body when the world will be restored to its original and intended goodness - after the defeat of Ahriman (the spirit of evil and chaos) and his demons. Nowadays, the Norooz festival is celebrated in many countries including Afghanistan, Tajikestan, India, Irag, Pakistan, and Azarbaijan. At Norooz, children get fresh currency bills or coins from elderly relatives as gifts, but what it is most widely exchanged are lots of HUGs and Kisses for new friendships and renewing old ones!
According to Persian legends, Norooz is the first day of Creation. In mid-March - a week before the start of the New Year - people begin to clean their houses by washing carpets and rugs, painting the walls, and dusting off all their belongings: They call this Khaneh - takani in Farsi. Norooz represents much of what Iranian character, history, politics, and religion are all about. For centuries, Persians have applied the Norooz spirit to every dark challenge that has come their way. This spirit has made Norooz far more than just a New Year celebration over the course of history.
Honoring the spring's arrival - season of happiness and cheerful days - some wheat or other grains are grown: To do this, the grains are soaked in water, and then are spread on a plate to germinate. The crop is called 'sabzeh" which is thrown away on the 13th day. In the past, at the Eve of Norooz, some people used to strike an old earthenware pot on a wall and smash it in to pieces as a symbol of old days gone.One popular ceremony of the festival is setting a table called Haft-sin in which seven things are placed that begin with letter "s" in Farsi like sekkeh (coin), somagh (sumac), senjid (oleaster), serkeh (vinegar), sib(apple), etc.
The following is a list of "Haft-Seen" items and a brief description of their symbolic meaning or cultural significance.

· Sabzeh (sprouts, usually lentil or wheat): Representing fertility and the rebirth of nature. In ancient times, a sample of the grain to be planted in the spring was used as a test of how high the harvest would be that year.

· Seeb (apple): Represents natural beauty.

· Samanu (a pudding in which common wheat is transformed and given new life as a sweet, creamy pudding): Represents the reward of patience.

· Somaq (sumac berry used as spice): Represents the color of sunrise; with the appearance of the sun Good conquers Evil.

· Senjed (a sweet, dry fruit of the Lotus tree): Represents love and romance. It has been said that when a lotus tree is in full bloom, its fragrance and its fruit make people fall in love and become oblivious to all else!

· Seer (garlic): Represents health.

· Serkeh (vinegar): Represents age. In pre-islamic Iran, this item used to be wine.
Other items that you may see on Haft-Seen table:

A mirror, which represents the images and reflections of Creation that by Persian beliefs took place on the first day of Spring. On either side of the mirror are two candlesticks holding a flickering candle for each child in the family. The candles represent enlightenment and happiness.
Sonbol (Hyacinth): Spring flowers with the scent of heaven.
Sekkeh (coins): Represent prosperity and wealth.
A basket of painted eggs represents fertility.
A Seville orange floating in a bowl of water represents the earth floating in space.
A goldfish in a bowl represents life.
A flask of rose water known for its magical power is also included on the tablecloth.
And finally, incense (mounted in sprouts) whose fumes ward off evil spirits. The last Tuesday night of the year is spent jumping over bonfires in the hope that any bad spirits that may try to follow you into the New Year will fall into the fire, freeing you from their evil! This is similar to Halloween. The 13th day after the New Year is also celebrated, with a day-long picnic, to ward off the unlucky number 13 by spending the day out of doors.

Serious & Funny Chemistry Links

2008-11-21T01:35:00.000-08:00

Science Trivia - chemistry humor, jokes, games, quizzes and trivia.

Quick Chemistry Facts

Chemistry Resources - more links about chemistry.

Chemistry Biographies - chemists' biographies and images, chemistry timelines.

Different fields of chemistry

2008-11-21T01:22:00.000-08:00

Organic chemistry is the study of carbon compounds; biochemistry is the study of carbon compounds that wriggle.
A physical chemist is a student who goes to university thinking he might want to be a physicist, but gets intimated by the math!

ICT- based teaching and learning chemistry

2008-11-20T21:56:00.000-08:00

For the past few years, there has been a growing understanding of the important role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in science education. Various new models of education are evolving in response to the new opportunities that are becoming available by integrating Web-based technologies. ICT can serve as a tool for designing new learning environments, integrating virtual models and creating learning communities. However, not all teachers are convinced that ICT should be an integral part of their teaching strategies. Though ICT- based medium is considered to be commonly used, but lack of knowledge on how to utilize ICT for educational purpose were mentioned as barriers for ICT integration and ought to be further investigated.
We have investigated and emphasized the effect of ICT- enhanced environments, as a tool for designing new educational area, on teaching and learning chemistry which seems challenging due to the complex and abstract nature of scientific concepts especially at a secondary school level. Helping students understand scientific ideas and chemical phenomena is the purpose of every chemistry instructor. One way of teaching for understanding is to have students engage in information processing and problem solving activities that focus on real-world experience, and daily-life chemistry. Another way is to employ visualization tools for enhancing conceptual understanding among students . Information processing, Inquiry-based activities, project-based learning, problem solving and utilizing visualization can be done by integrating ICT into the curriculum.
Our goal is to explore the integration process of ICT into traditional teaching. The learning technologies were integrated to enhance inquiry-based learning, visualizations, and knowledge sharing. The current study investigated chemistry instructors’ perceptions toward ICT and their activities while practicing the newly introduced technologies.

The result of this study indicated that according to existing limitations in the formal curriculum, it is necessary to pay serious attention to new approach which helps teaching and learning process and removes the educational shortages through providing virtual environment.

How do you enjoy your life?

2008-11-20T11:58:00.000-08:00

In my opinion, if we want to enjoy our life we should have some hobbies beside our main job. I myself am used to taking a short break during my research activities and go to the closet shopping center or pore with my friends for a few hours to buy some necessary things. Also, I think I get more pleasure going to picnic. I get more pleasure going to a short trip out of the city than anything else. Strikingly, I am very enthusiastic a bout making stopover for several times at different recreational places on the way and watching peopleُs enjoyment. I try to a muse myself during those days and make a pleasant time full of good memories.
Moreover, I enjoy painting in my spare time. So, I often go the park once a week and choose fantastic and start painting for a while. I think this is a very good hobby for emotional people who want to express their own idea through different ways.

About me !

2008-10-14T04:25:00.000-07:00

I have created this blog to write my experiences in the world of chemistry and Quantum . I have always since a very young age been fascinated by chemistry. I invite you to explore my weblog, to see my contributions to the subject.As a PhD in Physical Chemistry (Comutational Chemistry), I will be glad to share my points of view with you, to find new friends and learn more.
I am a PhD in physical chemistry. I am interested in computational chemistry which deals with solving electronic structural problems of chemical compounds using specific chemistry software’s. In other words, I have to collect a lot of theoretical data of a given chemical structure and analyze them to find out some important facts about their electronic structures and then chemical properties of course, the theory needs to be tested by experiment. I have passed all my academic courses and also I have taken PhD general exam successfully. So, I am working on my thesis at the moment. I am doing getting. Though trained as a researcher, I define myself primarily as a project manager and am eager to engage myself to team working research activities. At Interdisciplinary Science Research Center, where I am completing my PhD program, I manage thesis and dissertation writing to masters and doctoral students. At Department of Science, Mathematics and technology education, Research Institution for Curriculum Development & Educational Innovations I am a project manager of the research entitled “Designing and Accrediting an ICT- based Effective Model for Learning and Teaching of Chemistry in High Schools”.
My scholastic research interest is broad and encompasses a wide variety of areas that fall under the heading of Interdisciplinary sciences (physical bio informatics) and chemical education (Innovative teaching and learning methods). My master’s thesis focused on Molecular Modeling of Water Clusters through Calculation of the NQR parameters.
Although my dissertation focused on the teaching and learning methods of chemistry (web-based or ICT) and other branches of science, I am equally interested in investigating the ways in which students correlate macroscopic phenomena in laboratory with microscopic scale that they understand from specific software’s and intend to pursue the role of computational chemistry and using software in my next project. A growing interest in these fields makes me able to paint a rich and detailed portrait of the innovative ways in which students are easily involved and creatively interacted with chemistry concepts.
I am enthusiastic to join to international research centers through finding post doctoral position or any other research offers.please feel free to contact me on my email: bahareh_honarparvar@Y!