Friday, September 6, 2019
Elements of Reading Essay Example for Free
Elements of Reading Essay Reading is the process of making sense from print; comprehension is the goal of all reading. Comprehension is constructed by the reader, so no one understanding will match another’s, but how readers apply strategies as they process text influences the depth of understanding. There are four elements of reading: word identification, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary. We will begin with word identification, since it is the foundation of the reading process. Word Identification Several terms are associated with the identification of words: word attack, word analysis, word recognition, decoding. These are often used interchangeably and suggest the act of translating print into speech through the analysis of letter-sound relationships. Each term is connected with what is commonly called â€Å"phonics†â€â€a tool to analyze or attack wordsâ€â€which focuses attention on words parts and builds on phonemic awareness. â€Å"Word recognition†suggests a process of immediate word identification i. e. words retrieved from memory. It includes the concept of sight words (or sight vocabulary) and suggests a reader’s ability to recognize words rapidly/automatically by making an association between a particular spelling/pronunciation/meaning by applying an internalized knowledge of letter-sound relationships. Word recognition together with word attack skills leads to word identification. Many children develop knowledge about print before entering school through purely visual cues. These children enter first grade fully ready to analyze words, but others do not. They rely on your explicitly-planned lessons. Ehri’s study (as cited in Vacca, Vacca, Gove, Burkey, Lenhart, McKeon, 2003) claimed that there were developmental phases in word identification, whose characteristics could be readily identified, as children progressed. †¢The pre-alphabetic stage includes visual clues, such as those found on cereal boxes, traffic signs, and restaurant logos (stop sign, Burger King, KFC, McDonald’s). †¢The partial alphabetic stage, emerging during kindergarten and grade 1, includes some knowledge about letter-sound relationships (â€Å"S†looks and sounds like â€Å"Sammy, the snake†). †¢The full alphabetic stage includes enough knowledge about segmenting sounds (/c-l-o-ck/) to unlock the pronunciation of unknown words. †¢The consolidated alphabetic stage includes the ability to analyze multisyllabic words, using onsets and rimes. Fluency Fluency is the ability to read text in a normal speaking voice with normal intonation (the rise and fall of the human voice) and inflection (the pitch, stress and pauses). In the context of literacy, one is â€Å"fluent,†who can read with expression and comprehension. Students who are fluent have automaticity. They do not devote attention to decoding, but focus on the construction of meaning. Problems in fluency are a major contributing factor to students’ lagging achievement. They often arise due to the lack of early contact with literacy or diverse linguistic background. Repetition is key to increasing fluency. A mixture of six methods helps to increase fluency. †¢Predictable text: Children can rely on their intuitive knowledge of language and sense to read with less and less assistance. Ex. Max’s Pet †¢Repeated readings: Children can practice reading aloud alone, with a classmate or parents, and to the principal. †¢Automated reading: Children can listen and read along with a tape, a CD, or a computer program. They can also record themselves, listen, and repeat until fluent. †¢Choral reading: Children need to hear mature readers with expression. The oral reading of poetry with various voice combinations builds on a natural interest in rhythms and highlights the beauty of tonal qualities in spoken English. In choral reading, all fluency levels can participate in unison, take parts, or read refrains without embarrassment. †¢Readers’ Theater: This oral presentation of drama, prose or poetry involves children of all ages reading literature to audiences of children. With a few props, perhaps, but no costumes and no memorized lines, the emphasis is on what the audience hears. †¢Sustained Silent Reading (SSR): Classes and sometimes entire schools establish a daily, fixed time period for silent reading of self-selected material. Teachers also read, and there are no content-related questions asked. Stories (or a copy of them) can be sent home for rereading, after students have become very familiar with them by rereading during class. The goal is to increase the â€Å"pleasure principle†and enable children to become lifelong readers. Comprehension To understand text, a reader actively searches for meaning and responds to text as s/he decodes. Readers learn to monitor their own comprehension through metacognition. The dimensions of active reading comprehension involve specific questioning skills that require readers to â€Å"grapple with text†in order to organize their background knowledge, clarify ideas and support opinion. †¢Question/Answer Strategy †¢Ask questions that elicit questions in return. Such questions stimulate interest/arouse curiosity; they draw students into the story. Ex. Not â€Å"What is this picture about? †but â€Å"What would you like to know about this picture? ††¢Question/Author Strategy †¢Students engage in dialog with the author: What is the author trying to say? What does the author mean? Is x consistent with what the author told us before? †¢Think-Aloud Strategy †¢Teachers model the think-aloud process initially in order to help students learn to make inferences, using clues from the text and background knowledge to make logical guesses about meaning. K-W-L (What do I Know? What do I Want to learn? What I Learned) is one kind of graphic organizer, which is a visual to help students summarize and organize expository information. Building an awareness of underlying story structure enables students to organize information from narratives, so that they can better anticipate and make sense of what they read! †¢Simple structure: †¢Setting (Where? When? ) †¢Characters (Who? ) †¢Plot (Problem for which characters take action) †¢Complex structure: †¢Setting (Maybe more than one) †¢Characters †¢Plot (Two or more episodes with a chain of events; flashbacks, sometimes! ) Organizers are available commercially, but most teachers have a collection they may be happy to share. Vocabulary English has the largest vocabulary in the world: 600,000one million words. Students learn about 88,000 words by ninth grade in order to process text. It’s been estimated that children learn about three-four thousand words per year, which averages 16-22 words per day. Do we teach every single word? No; students acquire vocabulary on their own through usage, not via systematic instruction. What are words? They are labels for concepts, mental images of something. Ex. The word â€Å"picnic†will call to mind different ideas for everyone. We organize concepts into hierarchies by common features or similar criteria in order to make sense of complexity in our environment. Ex. The concept of â€Å"dog†has common characteristics, despite different breeds and behaviors. We have five vocabularies: listening, speaking, writing, reading, and body-language. The listening vocabulary develops first and is the largest until middle school, when the reading vocabulary becomes and ultimately remains the largest vocabulary. Our job as teachers is to promote students’ conceptual understanding of key vocabulary words, because learning words and expanding vocabulary has a strong influence on comprehension. What is the best means to teach vocabulary? Through multiple, varied encounters with words. Six principles to guide vocabulary instruction include featuring key words: †¢that convey major ideas in literature and content areas; †¢in relation to other words to develop shades of meaning; †¢in relation to students’ background knowledge; †¢in pre- and post-reading activities; †¢taught systematically, in depth, and reinforced; †¢that interest you: telling stories about the origin and derivation of words helps to create student interest in words. We organize knowledge into conceptual hierarchies, and vocabulary study is a key factor.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Photocatalytic Activity Investigation
Photocatalytic Activity Investigation The photocatalytic activity of the modified samples was investigated by the determination of the remaining concentration of the nominated pollutant, acetaldehyde, over various time intervals. Figures. 5 and 6 show the photodecomposition activity of different modified TiOà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ nanoparticles under 8w visible light irradiation in the continuous flow reactor with a flow rate of 95 ml/min. According to Figures. 5 and 6, all the modified samples show much higher photocatalytic activity than the pure TiOà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, confirming that N and Co doping is an effective way of improving the photocatalytic activity. The highest activity was observed for 1%Co-N-TiOà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ sample, and the 50 min irradiation by visible light resulted in 44.2% of acetaldehyde degradation for this sample. The increased visible light absorption and specific surface area are key factors that influenced the photoactivity of the different modified samples under visible light irradiation compared to pure TiO2. The decrease in the particle size and increase in the BET surface area (Table 1) contribute to the improvement of the acetaldehyde degradation. Table 1 shows that the crystallite size of samples decreases from 21.9 to 14.7 nm; this decrease may be beneficial for the photocatalytic activity. Compared with the N-TiO2 sample, Co-N/TiO2 photocatalysts have a larger surface area, which increases the photoactivity rate because of the large amounts of acetaldehyde molecules being adsorbed on the photocatalytic surface and easily reacted by photogenerated oxidizing species. The light absorption characteristics of the modified samples are extended towards the visible light region after N and Co doping, which implies that the formation of photogenerated charge carriers will be increased under visible light irradiation. Also, cobalt doping with a low cobalt content can act as a charge trap to prevent electron-hole recombination and improve the interfacial charge transfer to degrade acetaldehyde. After the optimal doping ratio of cobalt was exceeded (1wt % Co-N-TiO2), reduced photocatalytic activity was observed. This result can be due to the coverage of the surface of photocatalyst with increased cobalt ions (Co2+) which inhibited interfacial charge transfer due to inadequate amount of light energy available for activation of all the photocatalyst particles. Also due to excessive concentration, Co particles acting as recombination centers for photogenerated electrons and holes . Based on the acetaldehyde degradation results in this study, it is therefore evident that photocatalytic activity is strongly dependent on the doping ratio rather than the band gap of the samples and activities of the Co-N-TiO2 co-doped samples are higher than those of N-TiO2 or pure TiO2. **                    Fig. 5                   ** **                     Fig. 6                  ** Kinetic study The Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model has been extensively used to describe heterogeneous photocatalysis on titanium dioxide . This model successfully describes the kinetic of Eq. (3), which is the reaction between hydroxyl radical and adsorbed acetaldehyde. When the photocatalytic reaction obeys a Langmuir-Hinshelwood model, the relationship between the rate of reaction r (ÃŽ ¼mol g-1 min-1) and the acetaldehyde concentration Cact. (ÃŽ ¼mol l-1) can be described as follows in Eq. (4): Where k is the rate constant (ÃŽ ¼mol g-1 min-1) and Ka is the adsorption constant (l ÃŽ ¼mol-1). Some assumptions were used in Eq. (4). Only acetaldehyde is adsorbed on the catalyst surface and all intermediates and products desorbed immediately after chemical reaction; therefore, they have not been detected in Eq. (4). The mathematical modelling for the plug photoreactor at unsteady condition with the assumption of isothermal condition, ignored diffusion resistance and constant flow rate, the mass balance equation inside the continuous photoreactor would become as follows in Eq. (5): Where Q is the volumetric flow rate (l min-1), W is the weight of catalyst (g), V is the volume of the reactor (l), and t is the time of experiment (min). Kinetic parameters (k, K) were calculated using the Nelder-Mead method, which was used through computer programming in MATLAB by minimization of sum of squared of relative error, the difference between the calculated and experimental outlet concentration results, as the following objective function: By minimization of Eq. (6), kinetic parameters (k, Ka) are predicted and shown in Table 3. A good agreement among the predicted and experimental data were found that are shown in Fig. 7.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
The Age Of Enlightenment In 18th Century History Essay
The Age Of Enlightenment In 18th Century History Essay In the dictionary the Enlightenment is defined as a philosophical movement of the 18th century, characterized by belief in the power of human reason and by innovations in political, religious, and educational doctrine. The Enlightenment was enabled by the Scientific Revolution, which had begun as early as 1500. This intellectual, philosophical, cultural, and social movement spread through England, France, Germany, and other parts of Europe during the 1700s. I will discuss the Enlightenment and describe the impact it had on societies of the 18th century. Schmidt in his article describe what Enlightenment was by Kants definition, which is a mans tutelage which is the inability to make use of ones understanding without the direction or help from another. He describes how someone by depending on others to make choices for them. [1] Its main focus was on the welfare of mankind. The changes that came during the age of Enlightenment would provide not only a rational way of looking at society but freeing people from ignorance, superstition, and tyranny and make the world a safer and better place by providing liberty mentally and physically to those people. The utility of Enlightenment goes on to banish errors, truth drives out falsehood as light drives away darkness. [2] Based on thinkers that eagerly seek reason vainly supposed that a perfect society could be constructed by the use of common sense and tolerance. Religion was a main factor that stood in the way of societies becoming enlightenment during the 18th century. Because of religious superstitions and fanaticism it hindered peoples ability to rationalize in events that occur in everyday life. Schmidt points out that the goal of Enlightenment was to free the public from those fears, which robbed people of their happiness that was the goal of human association. [3] Support for religious toleration was difficult since the Catholic Church had a big stake on European societies. Clearly religious enlightenment had not become a groundswell from below by the 1780s. [4] For many centuries before the enlightenment scientist were persecuted and unjustly punished for coming up with theories and logical arguments about certain things. For example enlighten thinker Galileo [5] for challenging the church for his scientific discovery of how the universe works, was persecuted by the church and other establishments for coming up with theories that went against their beliefs. Other thinkers like Voltaire [6] devoted a great deal of his time attacking the fundamentals of Christianity including its scriptures and was joined by a band of rebellious thinkers known as the philosophe. [7] These thinkers gave path to a new way of thinking and in time brought ideas and changes to their societies. Monarchs themselves became enlighten and no longer held the beliefs of ruling by divine right but to the improvements of their realms and subjects by reasoning. The church was very instrumental in societies and before the age of enlightenment it did everything in their power to combat scholars, humanist, scientist etc. As societies began to become enlighten, a new religious view called Deism [8] emerged. Many inventions were created and policies brought forth by monarchs were aimed on trying to separate church and state to create a society of religious freedom. Human virtue and happiness were best achieved by t his newly established freedom from unnecessary restraints imposed by church and also the state. This period was mark by progression. One of the defining characteristics of modernity is the belief that things can change and should change, which the enlightenment has been seen as this era. [9] Changes occurred and Enlighten Absolutism emerged. Some Monarchs that were enlightened during the 18th century were Frederick II of Prussia, Catherine the Great of Russia, and Joseph the II, Holy Roman Emperor of Austria. Even though their foreign policy didnt change much as each ruler tried to expand their powers and acquire new territories by going to war, they made certain internal changes in their realm that expanded intellectual freedom and liberty. Their concern was now centered on rationalizing and advocating reform. Government was now protecting individual rights, and when the government violated peoples natural rights, it violated the social contract. An example was the French Declaration of the rights of man and the citizen, which showed what kind of freedoms French people w ere entitled to. These improvements made the average persons voice be heard and people started to feel these changes throughout their lives. The focus was now on both faith in nature and belief in progression, because it led to the betterment of human condition. This also resulted in economic expansion because many rulers embrace free trade and markets which improved their lives as well as their subjects. This gave rise to the Bourgeoisie [10] , who became prominent during the 18th century who voiced their opinions on the elite, like the nobility. Within a couple of generations saw improvements in education, criminal justice, taxation, religious freedom, and prosperity. [11] The common people were now able to feel like their voice was heard in their society. With these laws and freedoms granted people were able to get better jobs, belong to any religion of their choosing, and think for themselves and not be forced to believe or do things that they felt wasnt part of who they were. This age was a step further in progression in the field of science. Nature was starting to be seen differently. Diderot [12] gave the concept of nature the qualities of dynamism and individuality, or self-generating temporal process that submitted concepts of both Leibnizian and the Newtonian world systems in his thinking. [13] This thinking of appreciation of external nature was a step forward in knowledge of the surroundings of societies and the results of things that occur in nature. This period emphasized the importance of science like biology in society. How everything was connected to each other and discoveries were made that gave people the ability to look at things from another perspective. This is relevant to the enlightenment for the fact that people were viewing the world differently and discoveries and creation of something like the encyclopedia, and the teachings of science only led to the improvement of society, because technology started advancing and inven tions were made to make peoples life much easier. And science and the influence of reason led to new innovations in political thought. Then philosophers started to write topics that relate to government, politics, and rights. Montesquieu presenting the concept of separating of branches and Thomas Hobbes, John Locke who had different theories and ideas about what type of government there should be. Locke was not just a philosopher but a major ideologue. [14] Locke played a major role in the social contract theory, which tries to explain the ways in which people form states to maintain social order. These kinds of concepts and views gave people the chance to voice their opinion of how their government should rule their countries. It was a tough period because people had different opinion whether they wanted a limited government and absolute monarchy etc. These concepts would change society dramatically because with different government comes different laws and norms. This would have an impact on everyones lives. This and other factors led to wars like the French revolution. [15] People wanted change and th at is exactly what happened. Monarchy like the one in France collapsed. People started organizing and trying to protect their fellow citizens and themselves to keep their inalienable rights. Society in France underwent a massive transformation as feudal, aristocracy, and religious privileges changed because of liberal political groups that started masses on streets. This would mark the end of the enlightenment by historians but it lead to many changes to society in all fronts. Things like romanticism played a role in the ending of Enlightenment because people would reject scientific rationalization of nature and focus more on things of less value like art, music, and literature. Countries like America were started during the 18th century because of enlightenment ideals that colonist had when they fought England for their independence as well. That was a big victory for Enlightenment thinkers because this new nation would represent a lot of what the Enlightenment was based on. In the period of the Enlightenment there were many changes that brought changes to society in many forms. There came many good things from that time and bad. People started to use reason and logic for running their government, changing society for the betterment of its people, and innovations in science which led to many discoveries. These ideas, works, and principles of the Enlightenment would continue to affect Europe and the rest of the Western world for decades and even centuries to come. The thirty years wars [16] was also a cause of the enlightenment for its destructive wars that led many writers to criticize the government for regarding ideas of nationalism and warfare. Many things played a role during the Enlightenment but the impact and effect it had echoed around the world.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Niches of the Mind;The Brain and Language :: Intellect Evolution Essays
Niches of the Mind;The Brain and Language As the story goes, creation is characterized by expansion and contraction, disorder and order, random change and selection. It is observed in evolution how random change and disorder have brought about, from the scraps floating in a puddle on early earth, the fantastic diversity and incomprehensible complexity of life. The counterpart to this is death, making space for the new and guiding changes in the old through selection. What can this story tell us about the evolution of humans, and our most distinguishing trait; our ability to tell stories? The human intellect is widely understood to be that which distinguishes us from other animals. Mayr tells us that the rapid brain expansion that took place in Australopithecines and early Homo is correlated with two factors; a change in hominids niche, moving from the trees to bush savanna, and the development of speech. (p 252) This essay attempts to summarize some current explanations of the relationships between language and the brain in human evolution, and relate them to another characteristic of humans correlated with the human intellect- our social complexity. Symbolic communication is by no means limited to humans, or, for that matter, to the most complex organisms. Most fairly social animals have a range of about fifteen to thirty-five physical displays or calls. "As far as we know, cuttlefish, related to squids, have about the same size repertoire size as non-human primates do." (class notes Ling. 101) The evolution of animal communication is thought to have occurred through "ritualization of previously existing behavior" (class notes Ling. 101) In most animals, communicative displays are innate, that is, genetically determined. This is not at all the case in humans; human language is learned. Yet a few of the main things that distinguish human language from other animal communication, namely grammar and syntax, are argued by some linguists to be instinctive. (Pinker) In addition to the lack of syntax, grammar, and a large lexicon, other animals, including higher-order primates, lack a highly developed theory of mind; the ability to conceptualize others' "knowledge, beliefs, intentions and goals" (class notes Ling. 101) For a long time the increase in brain size was seen as being correlated with the increasing complexity of tool technology in Australopithecines and early Homo. This theory is loosing popularity due to the observance of widespread tool use in other primates, and is giving way to theories in which the main thrust is rising social complexity.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Similarities of hip-hop and the blues :: rap music
Rapping the Blues: The Similarities of hip-hop and the blues Hip-hop is one of the major music genres of today like the blues were in the 1950's. Stanley Crouch views hip-hop as being vulgar and obscene while he sees the blues as being one of the classic music genres. In actuality, these two genres are similar in many ways. A very important part of Stanley Crouch's life is his love for the blues. Many of his essays are related to or have aspects of the blues contained within them. Crouch relates topics that he writes about to the blues, because this is a subject he believes he is very familiar with. In The All American Skin Game, Stanley writes, "Jazz is very important to my vision of life in our time." (Lamb, 1). Jazz gives him a feeling of individuality and community. This means that when individuals push him, and he pushes them back, they both become better individuals as well as a better community. For Stanley, the blues tell the stories of the African-American community. Some of the stories talk about the harshness of their lives, but they also talk about the good times they had. [People] play the blues to get rid of the blues not to get them." (Lamb, 1). When people play or even listen to the blues, they are letting all of their worries go. They are not worrying about their job, the bills, or their kids. They are just trying to enjoy the moment when the blues are playing. The blues are some people's release from the stresses of their lives. To say it lightly, Stanley Crouch does not like the hip-hop genre of music. The dreadlocks, the clothing style, and the "vulgar": gold chains are just a few things he does not approve of at all. (Crouch, 1 ) It astounds him to see how far African-American music has fallen since the days of the Motown. Stanley was quoted as saying this about rap, "It is rudeness, vulgarity, and pornography disguised as ‘keeping it real.'" (Crouch, 1) He also went on to say the hip-hop music genre has the worst impact of all music genres on our culture today. (Crouch, 2) Crouch believes one does not need much talent to become a successful rapper unlike the jazz greats he listens to all the time. In Stanley Crouch's view, the only messages that rappers put in the minds of todays' youth is that they need to have sex, kill people, and do drugs all the time. Similarities of hip-hop and the blues :: rap music Rapping the Blues: The Similarities of hip-hop and the blues Hip-hop is one of the major music genres of today like the blues were in the 1950's. Stanley Crouch views hip-hop as being vulgar and obscene while he sees the blues as being one of the classic music genres. In actuality, these two genres are similar in many ways. A very important part of Stanley Crouch's life is his love for the blues. Many of his essays are related to or have aspects of the blues contained within them. Crouch relates topics that he writes about to the blues, because this is a subject he believes he is very familiar with. In The All American Skin Game, Stanley writes, "Jazz is very important to my vision of life in our time." (Lamb, 1). Jazz gives him a feeling of individuality and community. This means that when individuals push him, and he pushes them back, they both become better individuals as well as a better community. For Stanley, the blues tell the stories of the African-American community. Some of the stories talk about the harshness of their lives, but they also talk about the good times they had. [People] play the blues to get rid of the blues not to get them." (Lamb, 1). When people play or even listen to the blues, they are letting all of their worries go. They are not worrying about their job, the bills, or their kids. They are just trying to enjoy the moment when the blues are playing. The blues are some people's release from the stresses of their lives. To say it lightly, Stanley Crouch does not like the hip-hop genre of music. The dreadlocks, the clothing style, and the "vulgar": gold chains are just a few things he does not approve of at all. (Crouch, 1 ) It astounds him to see how far African-American music has fallen since the days of the Motown. Stanley was quoted as saying this about rap, "It is rudeness, vulgarity, and pornography disguised as ‘keeping it real.'" (Crouch, 1) He also went on to say the hip-hop music genre has the worst impact of all music genres on our culture today. (Crouch, 2) Crouch believes one does not need much talent to become a successful rapper unlike the jazz greats he listens to all the time. In Stanley Crouch's view, the only messages that rappers put in the minds of todays' youth is that they need to have sex, kill people, and do drugs all the time.
Focus Journal # 20, Sharon Olds, the Promise, 591
Focus Journal # 20, Sharon Olds, The promise, 591 May 2, 2012 I. Understanding: In this poem Sharon Olds wishes the reader to believe that when terminally ill a man should have say in whether he continues to suffer in pain while useless, or to keep living. II. Analyzing: In this poem Olds does a great job painting a visual picture in the readers mind. â€Å"We are also in our/bed, fitted naked closely/ along each other? half passed out/ after love, drifting back and/ forth across the border of consciousness, our/ bodies buoyant, clasped. These lines allow the reader to see how much the couple love each other, and the enjoyment they have together. The imagery in these lines is so amazingly written and described. The wife acknowledges the husbands fear that she will not kill him if he terminally ill. The narrator uses pathos while assuring her husband â€Å"I tell you you don’t/ know me if you think I will not/ kill you. †The impact of this line also shows just how much she loves her husband.The fact that the couple is â€Å"renewing our promise/ to kill each other†allows the reader to also feel great emotion towards the couple. The feeling of love and compassion is so great during this poem. III. Evaluating and Synthesizing: This poem had a very powerful emotional effect on me. I thought Olds did a beautiful job writing this poem. The argument Olds is arguing is so controversial and I respect her so much for writing this piece of literature. I honestly don’t know if I would ask my husband to kill me if I was terminally ill. That seems like a tough topic to think about.
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Fast Company Analysis
Fastenal Company was founded in 1967 in Winona, Minnesota by Bob Kierlin. During the first month of business, Mr. Kierlin only managed to make $157 in sales. Despite the slow start, Mr. Kierlin knew what he wanted to do to make Fastenal successful, and that was to provide the kind of service that keeps customers coming back. This is when â€Å"Growth Through Customer Service†was invented. Since then, â€Å"Growth Through Customer Service†has been the mission of Fastenal. Fastenal is an industrial supply company and since 1967, 2,500 stores have opened across 50 states, Canada, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Netherlands, Europe, China, and Singapore. Each store utilizes local inventory, outside sales staff, and on-site delivery vehicles to help save the customers’ time and money. Fastenal also owns and operates 16 Distribution Centers with a fleet of over 180 semi-trucks and trailers. Fastenal’s organization structure allows a customer to receive a fully-customized part hand delivered by an employee within three days. Fastenal’s main inventory is fasteners like screw, nuts, washers, and threaded rod. Fastenal has over 700,000 individual inventory items that range from power tools to tape to janitorial supplies. Fastenal’s target market is mainly focused on companies that consistently need to buy parts for the jobs they need to complete regularly. Fastenal even has vending machines stocked with custom inventory to provide companies in need of access to certain parts without having to come into the store each time. Vending machines are critical to the business strategy of Fastenal; the machines provide excellent customer service and convenience without an employee having to be present. It ensures that the companies with the vending machine will continuously and consistently purchase products. Fastenal’s marketing plan relies on monthly product deals that are distributed to every account owner each month. Outside sales staff and managers will deliver the catalogs each month. Fastenal also has an online presence, companies have the ability to go online and design an order template for quick and easy purchasing. Fastenal currently sponsors Carl Edwards from NASCAR, America’s most viewed sport, as an additional source of marketing. In May 2011, Fastenal made over 200,000 sales, 29% more than 2010. Fastenal opened nine new stores this month and 57 this year-to-date. Fastenal has also hired 2,000 more employees compared to 2010. Performance of the company varies from month to month because the winter months of the year typically have less construction occurring which results in a smaller demand of what Fastenal offers.
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