1.9 Changing sea-level Sedimentary rocks reveal how environmental conditions in Britain's geological past were extremely different from those of the present day (in fact ‘Britain’, like the rest of the Earth's geography is transitory when viewed in terms of the very long span of geological time). As well as evidence from sedimentary rocks, recent landforms also indicate that in the more recent geological past (within the Quaternary Period), sea-level was not the same as it is at present. 1.8.1 Moving around the rock cycle One way of illustrating the possible ways of moving material around the rock cycle is to draw a diagram that places the processes into their geological contexts. Since the rock cycle involves processes occurring on the Earth's surface and also within its interior, we use a cross-section through the Earth's crust and uppermost mantle to do this, as shown in Figure 19. In this diagram we have concentrated on the most common processes within the rock cycle. 1.3.2 Texture of igneous rocks What texture might we expect an igneous rock to have? An igneous rock will contain crystals that grew as the magma cooled. Each crystal will have started to grow unhindered by neighbouring crystals, so an igneous rock therefore has a crystalline texture in which the crystals are randomly oriented. To picture this, consider magma at an initial temperature of perhaps 1000 °C, as it slowly cools underground (see Figure 3, path (a) to (d)). Initially the magma is completely molten (Figure 1.2.2 Rocks Any naturally formed solid assemblage of mineral grains can be described as a rock. The mineral grains may be fragments of crystals or intact crystals and their size can range from a few micrometres (1 micrometre = 10−6m) to a few centimetres. A rock may consist of one type of mineral but more usually it consists of several minerals. Rocks can be classified according to the way in which the grains are arranged, although the identity of the minerals present (for example, the rock 1.2.1 Minerals A mineral is a solid material, formed by natural processes and with a chemical composition that falls within certain narrow limits. Its constituent atoms are arranged in a regular three-dimensional array or pattern and because of this, minerals form crystals with characteristic shapes. Although several thousand different kinds of mineral have been discovered, only a few are very common; for example, the mineral quartz, which forms many of the sand grains on a beach or in a desert. Becau 3.1.5 (E) Historical development of scientific knowledge Pupils should be taught some of the historical background to the development of scientific knowledge. 2.5 Review of learning outcomes Decide for yourself, by working through the table below, whether you have satisfied the learning outcomes for Part A. 2.4What is ‘capital’? Before we move on to look at the different types of business organisation, we will introduce one more concept. It is the concept of capital. It has, historically, been a very important concept in company law. But it is a concept not limited to company law. The next activity will allow you to reflect on your own ideas of what ‘capital’ means, without you needing to have any prior legal knowledge, or, for that matter, knowledge of any other discipline. 2.2 What is a ‘company’? In Part A, we will start by examining some of the basic concepts which will underpin your understanding of the course. We will begin by examining what you think a company is (you do not need to have previous legal knowledge for this). 2.1 Key themes and learning outcomes The key themes of Part A are: company; business; capital. After studying Part A, you should be able to: describe in general terms what a business is; demonstrate an appreciation of the concept of capital.  1.4 Law, skills and learning outcomes This course has a number of learning outcomes. In relation to a course of study, a learning outcome is simply something which you should be able to do (and to show that you can do) at the end of studying a particular course. The learning outcomes are concerned with ability to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of company law, and also ability to demonstrate a range of skills, including use of IT, research and problem-solving. In addition to being listed at the beginning of the cour Learning outcomes After studying this course, you should be able to: Part A: describe in general terms what a business is demonstrate an appreciation of the concept of capital. Part B: identify the main types of business medium demonstrate an understanding of the key characteristics of businesses run as sole traders determine what are the assets and liabilities of a business using numeracy skil Acknowledgements The following material is Proprietary (see terms and conditions) and is used under licence. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this course: Course image: Author(s): Keep on learning   There are more than 800 courses on OpenLearn for you to 4.2 Effect of the ECHR on English law prior to the Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) received the Royal Assent on 9 November 1998, and the main provisions were brought into effect on 2 October 2000. However, the UK had by then been a signatory to and had ratified the ECHR for nearly fifty years. What was the effect, if any, of the Convention on UK domestic law? We have already noted the supremacy of Parliament as the main law-making body in the UK. Under English law international treaties do not become part of domestic law unless and until some 3.8 Summary of Part B In Part B you learned more about the ECHR and the procedures of the ECtHR and how protocols have been used to ensure that the ECHR remains a living instrument. Part B also explored the new challenges created by the rapid expansion of HCPs at the end of the last century and the proposals for reform of the ECtHR. 3.6 The terms of the European Convention on Human Rights In 1952 the HCPs agreed that the European Convention on Human Rights should be extended to cover additional rights and freedoms. At the time of drafting the original treaty there were heated debates about whether rights relating to property, education and democratic participation were fundamental human rights. As a compromise these were omitted from the original treaty. Their later inclusion was achieved by an instrument known as a protocol, which, although much shorter than the original ECHR 3.5 The European Court of Human Rights Section II of the European Convention on Human Rights comprises thirty-three articles, which are all related to the setting up and conduct of proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights. They include, for example, the power to make rules governing how applications are made to the Court, how the Court is conducted, how judges are appointed to the Court and their period of appointment. Each HCP is able to appoint one judge to the European Court of Human Rights. In its original f 3.2 What is the European Convention on Human Rights? In the aftermath of the Second World War there were public disclosures of huge numbers of cases of brutal, inhuman and tyrannical treatment of people, frequently within the civilian populations of occupied countries. Many serious concerns arose about the way in which millions of people had been mistreated at the instigation of or with the connivance or concurrence of government. There was almost universal disgust and condemnation at the disclosures made, together with a general recognition th 3.1 Part B overview The European Convention on Human Rights was introduced in course W100_4 Europe and the law, and through your previous studies you have probably already considered cases (such as that of Diane Pretty) where articles of the European Convention on Human Rights were under debate. Here you will look at its legal implications in more detail. You will consider how the European Convention on Human Rights came into being, why it was considered necessary to create such an instrument, what are it
I am confident that I have a sufficiently comprehensive understanding to enable me to move on. I am sufficiently confident in my understanding to enable me to move on, but I am aware that I need to revisit the material later. I
Activity 1: What does ‘company’ mean?
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