Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Social sciences for Baccalaureate

Secondary and Vocational Education

Secondary education is designed for students aged 12 to 16 years. It includes two cycles, each consisting of two grades. This stage is designed to transmit the basic elements of culture to students, preparing them to take on responsibilities and training them for the labor market.

Another vital stage is vocational education. This stage consists of two courses, and the minimum age to enter is 16. The objective of vocational education is to facilitate the entry of young people into the labor market and to respond to the requirements of the system of production.

Higher Education in the Basque Country

Higher education, also called university, consists of two types: public and private. In the Basque Country, there...

Understanding Earth's Shape and Planetary Motion

Evidence for Earth's Spherical Form

For centuries, humanity has sought to understand the true shape of our planet. Here's compelling evidence supporting Earth's near-spherical form:

• Lunar Eclipses: During a lunar eclipse, Earth's shadow cast upon the Moon consistently appears circular. This observation strongly suggests that Earth is either a sphere or a circular disc. The latter is highly improbable, as no traveler has ever found an "edge" to our world.
• Eratosthenes' Observations: The ancient Greek scholar Eratosthenes provided early evidence of Earth's curvature. His observations of the varying length of shadows cast by sticks in different locations at the same time of day demonstrated that Earth'

Formal and Empirical Scientific Knowledge

Formal scientific knowledge is that which occurs in science and mathematics. Here, we consider the formal aspects without reference to its content.

Experimental scientific knowledge is that which occurs in the natural sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology, etc.

Historical Development of the Concept of Science

Philosophy once took care of all knowledge, and all knowledge was philosophy. To know was to understand the causes. Philosophers thought that by discovering the essence of a thing, they would know its properties and behaviors. As experience says nothing about these essences, these thinkers were limited to natural observation. From the seventeenth century, the concept of science changed. Galileo...

Linguistic Diversity: Languages and Dialects

Language as a means of contact is a right and a common need for all human beings, regardless of the language we employ. Linguistic diversity exists because all languages change and evolve.

Defining Language and Dialect

We must distinguish between the concepts of language and dialect. A language is the communication tool used by speakers of a community and is a fundamental part of their culture. A dialect is a local variety of a language. In history, a dialect evolves to differ from the original language and can end up becoming a distinct language. Multiple languages share a certain level of similarity when they share a common origin.

Languages in Contact: Bilingualism and Diglossia

Bilingualism and Multilingualism

Contacts...

The Progressive Biennium (1854-1856)

During the Progressive Biennium (1854-1856), progressive governments attempted to implement genuinely liberal measures that had been suspended since 1844. Key reforms included:

• Restoration of military service.
• Implementation of progressive municipal laws, allowing mayors to be elected by residents.
• Restoration of freedom of the press.

The Non-Enacted Constitution of 1856

The starting point was the development of a new constitution. The text remained a project, similar to the 1837 Constitution, as the Constitution of 1856 was never enacted (the non-nata Constitution). It included progressive ideological pillars:

• Bicameral National Sovereignty, with both houses elected.
• Shared legislative power between the Crown and

Peripheral Nationalisms

Throughout the nineteenth century in Spain, intellectual and political groups publicly differentiated the characteristics of the peripheral areas of the peninsula from the traditional state unit. These peculiarities were designated with the concepts of regionalism and nationalism, questioning the territorial structure of the state. The state model adopted by Spanish liberalism was centralized and unitary, continuing the model imposed by the Bourbons in the eighteenth-century Decree of Nueva Planta.

Faced with this standardization, a series of peripheral nationalisms arose, opposing it and defending their peculiarities as a people. They posed a new way to see Spain: diverse and multinational. Their origins lie in a cultural

Classification of Colonial Systems

We can distinguish between two primary types of colonies:

• Exploitation colonies had a sparse population that migrated from the metropolis and focused on the systematic exploitation of natural resources.
• Settlement colonies had a strong contingent of European emigrants who enjoyed the same rights and privileges as those in the metropolis, often imposing metropolitan ways on the indigenous population.

Administrative Structures and Governance

Colonies were divided according to their type of government and relationship with the metropolis:

• Colonies: These territories lacked self-government and were directly subordinated to the metropolitan administration. Authority was usually held by a governor, and these territories

Semantics is the study of meaning attributable to syntactically well-formed expressions. Syntax concerns the rules and principles of how to build semantically interpretable expressions from simple expressions, but in itself does not attribute meanings.

• Linguistic semantics: Deals with the encoding and decoding of semantic content of linguistic structures.
• Logical semantics: Studies the relationship between sign language and reality, including the conditions for a sign to be applied to an object, and rules that ensure an exact meaning.
• Semantics in cognitive science: Tries to explain why we communicate, and what is the psychological mechanism that is established between speaker and listener during this process.

Homonymy refers to the relationship...

The Republicans and Their Formulations

The Republican position was weakened by the political restoration of the monarchy. During this era, Republican ideology underwent a profound identity crisis. Evidence of this was found in the various partisan factions that emerged, each working with the remnants of the revolutionary period:

Key Republican Factions

1. The Possibilist Party: Linked to Emilio Castelar, this group championed universal suffrage and the institution of the jury, seeking new methods to achieve its goals.
2. The Progressive Party: Founded by Ruiz Zorrilla, this party—which held power during the reign of Amadeo I—was the only faction that trusted in military intervention to gain power, a strategy prompted by Zorrilla's exile in Paris.

Doctrinal Principles of the Spanish Restoration

The political system of the Restoration was designed and implemented by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, often said to be with the help of Práxedes Mateo Sagasta. Cánovas, a liberal historian and politician, was formed in the ranks of the Liberal Union and possessed a deep knowledge of Spanish history, which illuminated his vision for the nation.

Key Doctrinal Principles of the Restoration Scheme:

1. Overcoming Instability and Achieving Pacification

   The Restoration was not just about restoring the legitimate Bourbon dynasty; it also aimed to overcome the political instability of the previous period and achieve social and political pacification of the country.

2. Synthesis of Old and New: The "Internal Constitution"