I

Obesity represents a big threat to future generations. The magnitude of the consequences of

obesity is alarming. Experts have now identified the major factors leading to this problem, and

regardless of the order in which they are arranged they all agreed that the growing Hispanic

population in this country is at the highest risk. Research done so far has targeted four main

areas: race and acculturation, socio economic status, environment and parenting style.

II

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are developmental disabilities characterized by a

communication delay, social impairments, repetitive behavior, and rigidity. Autism, while a

specific diagnosis under that category of ASDs, is often used as a general term meant to include

autism, Asperger syndrome, and pervasive developmental disabilities-not otherwise specified.

Autism was identified as a diagnosis over fifty years ago and has been extensively researched for

the last few decades. While there have been strides in society’s understanding of autism, there is

still a great deal of research that needs to be done. Some of the current areas of autism research

include understanding the etiology of autism, language development, interventions, treatments,

social skills, and play. Play is an important feature of development, and children with autism

generally do not develop appropriate play skills. This literature review will examine the

meaning of play, play development, the skills developed in play, the features of autism that make

play challenging, and strategies to teach play skills to autistic children.

III

The hospitality industry is a very competitive field. As Byers (2015) stated, there are many

different approaches to determine how many stars a hotel should have. There are different

methods worldwide for attributing stars. There are at least five different approaches for

evaluating hotels and each approach may contain different processes and practices. For example,

in Europe there are strict set rules and agencies decide how many stars the hotels deserve. AAA

(American Automobile Association), CAA (Canadian Automobile Association), and Mobile are

the agencies that take care of hotel inspections in North America.There are also many websites

where a customer can find out the rating of a specific hotel. TripAdvisor, or OTA channels such

as Booking.com and Expedia, or magazine-based sources such as Forbes Travel Guide are some

of them. Additionally, each of these sources provides a different definition of a five-star hotel.

IV

The discussion between two basic types of adult learning is a century-long story, in the US and

worldwide. As knowledge increased, the conceptions of adult education evolved, the names of

these two types of learning changed, but the concepts behind these names kept elements of

similitude. Throughout the twentieth century a philosophical perspective of education led the

process. Under the philosophical lens the concepts of education and of society were deeply

interwoven, and educators were also social thinkers. In the last three decades, as the cognitive

sciences developed, their influence became more and more important to understand how the

human mind becomes knowledgeable, and new educational approaches based on cognitive

sciences are emerging, integrating elements of the philosophical perspective.

V
When one learns a different language, one sees a bigger world. Being able to speak more than

one language holds different perspectives for your future. But how are young children affected

by bilingualism? Until recently children were not exposed to more than one language in their

early years due to the belief that it might delay their language skills or harm their intellectual

development. Indeed bilingual and monolingual groups of children show different results when

performing a series of tasks to evaluate their cognitive development. This review of literature

found that bilingual children benefit in the following areas: cognitive development, attention,

executive control, language acquisition, and memory flexibility.

VI

The Montessori method has proven in many ways to be more effective than the traditional

curriculum and more adequate for the 20th and 21st centuries.  Montessori is an educational

approach that despite its age, 100+ years old, has been growing successfully in diverse social and

economic cultures. Researcers have suggested Montessori as a solution or part of the solution of

the US education crisis.(Zacks, 2012; Powell, 2009). A review of the literature on Montessori

has highlighted the fllowing areas of debate: Academics: reading and mathematics; Social life

and communication skills; Inclusion; Mobility in different backgrounds and diverse cultures; and

Technology.