Palestinian refugees attend school in the eastern Bekaa Valley town of Taalabaya, Lebanon, in May. AP
Palestinian refugees attend school in the eastern Bekaa Valley town of Taalabaya, Lebanon, in May. AP
Palestinian refugees attend school in the eastern Bekaa Valley town of Taalabaya, Lebanon, in May. AP
Palestinian refugees attend school in the eastern Bekaa Valley town of Taalabaya, Lebanon, in May. AP

Hot weather lowers exam results, study shows


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Hotter weather can lead to lower exam results, a major university study has suggested.

Researchers at Harvard University, the University of California Los Angeles and Georgia State University quantified what teachers have long known: students in warm classrooms find it harder to concentrate and are more easily distracted.

The results, which were published this month, indicate that hot weather may reduce learning in both the short and long run.

Hot weather on the day of an exam, as well as extended heat during the school year, lowered test scores, the study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in the United States showed.

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Read more:

UAE weather: Hot and humid as temperatures continue to climb

UAE's Indian school pupils achieve above average CBSE exam results 

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Previous studies have shown how hotter countries tend to be poorer and how in laboratory conditions test subjects perform worse on cognitive tasks when the heat is increased. But the US research was the first major study to show how higher temperatures affect students in the classroom.

Entitled "Heat and Learning", it linked test scores from 10 million American students to daily weather data. The results showed that an average temperature increase of just 0.55C over a year resulted in a 1 per cent decrease in learning.

The researchers also suggested that climate change will also affect learning. If hotter classrooms reduce learning, then the future earnings of students will fall. And if temperatures continue to rise as predicted by global warming models, students from an average-sized classroom could together lose $25,000 over their lifetime if air conditioning is not installed.

The impact of hot weather on learning is more likely to affect poor students, the study notes.

The research builds on an earlier study of New York City high school exit exams. That study showed students who take an exam on a 32 degree day are 12 per cent more likely to fail than if they took the same exam on a 22 degree day.

The researchers advise that teachers should consider increasing grades for students who are forced to take exams in hot settings.

For parents worried about the impact of heat on their children’s learning, the study provides some comfort: air conditioning in schools eliminates the negative impact of hot weather on learning.

Saturday's schedule at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

GP3 race, 12:30pm

Formula 1 final practice, 2pm

Formula 1 qualifying, 5pm

Formula 2 race, 6:40pm

Performance: Sam Smith

ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA

Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi

Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser

Rating: 4.5/5

Mountain%20Boy
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The specs

Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now

 

 

Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000

Available: Now

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg

Rating: 4/5

Honeymoonish
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.

• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.

• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

Schedule:

Friday, January 12: Six fourball matches
Saturday, January 13: Six foursome (alternate shot) matches
Sunday, January 14: 12 singles

Uefa Nations League: How it works

The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.

The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.

Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.

Venom

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed

Rating: 1.5/5

Why seagrass matters
  • Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
  • Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
  • Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
  • Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
RESULT

Huddersfield Town 2 Manchester United 1
Huddersfield: Mooy (28'), Depoitre (33')
Manchester United: Rashford (78')

 

Man of the Match: Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town)

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