Uncovering Models and Visualizations in the Chemistry Classroom, an Assessment of Classroom Activities and Lessons

Chemistry education, although difficult, can be improved through the use of modeling and visualizations in the classroom. Example case studies throughout will show the importance of models and questioning techniques used to assess student understanding. By injecting mental models, physical scientific models, cartoons, analogies and computer simulations into the curriculum, chemistry can become a subject where seeing the unseen is possible

Geologic Analysis of the Upper Jurassic Cotton Valley Formation in Jefferson County, Mississippi

Though the Cotton Valley Group is productive in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, little is known about production potential of the Bossier Formation (Lower Cotton Valley Shale) in southwest Mississippi. The Bossier Formation in Jefferson County, Mississippi is an organic-poor, carbonate-rich mudrock with siliciclastic intervals. Examination of cuttings by petrographic and scanning electron microscopy revealed fractures that have been filled by calcite and poreilling pyrite. Porosity exists within and around pyrite framboids, in unfilled fractures, and within peloid grains. Organic matter is rare in Lower Cotton Valley samples suggesting it is not self-sourcing. Total Organic Carbon (TOC) values are low (0.86-1.1% TOC) compared to the productive Haynesville Shale Formation (2.8% TOC). Porosity of the Lower Cotton Valley Shale is low (2.5- 4.2%) compared to productive Haynesville Shale Formations (8-12%). With current technology and gas prices, the Lower Cotton Valley Shale in Jefferson County, Mississippi does not have production potential

Geologic Analysis of the Upper Jurassic Cotton Valley Formation in Jefferson County, Mississippi

Though the Cotton Valley Group is productive in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, little is known about production potential of the Bossier Formation (Lower Cotton Valley Shale) in southwest Mississippi. The Bossier Formation in Jefferson County, Mississippi is an organic-poor, carbonate-rich mudrock with siliciclastic intervals. Examination of cuttings by petrographic and scanning electron microscopy revealed fractures that have been filled by calcite and poreilling pyrite. Porosity exists within and around pyrite framboids, in unfilled fractures, and within peloid grains. Organic matter is rare in Lower Cotton Valley samples suggesting it is not self-sourcing. Total Organic Carbon (TOC) values are low (0.86-1.1% TOC) compared to the productive Haynesville Shale Formation (2.8% TOC). Porosity of the Lower Cotton Valley Shale is low (2.5- 4.2%) compared to productive Haynesville Shale Formations (8-12%). With current technology and gas prices, the Lower Cotton Valley Shale in Jefferson County, Mississippi does not have production potential

Developmental Delays in Executive Function from 3 to 5 Years of Age Predict Kindergarten Academic Readiness

Substantial evidence has established that individual differences in executive function (EF) in early childhood are uniquely predictive of children’s academic readiness at school entry. The current study tested whether growth trajectories of EF across the early childhood period could be used to identify a subset of children who were at pronounced risk for academic impairment in kindergarten. Using data that were collected at the age 3, 4, and 5 home assessments in the Family Life Project (N = 1,120), growth mixture models were used to identify 9% of children who exhibited impaired EF performance (i.e., persistently low levels of EF that did not show expected improvements across time). Compared to children who exhibited typical trajectories of EF, the delayed group exhibited substantial impairments in multiple indicators of academic readiness in kindergarten (Cohen’s ds = 0.9–2.7; odds ratios = 9.8–23.8). Although reduced in magnitude following control for a range of socioeconomic and cognitive (general intelligence screener, receptive vocabulary) covariates, moderate-sized group differences remained (Cohen’s ds = 0.2–2.4; odds ratios = 3.9–5.4). Results are discussed with respect to the use of repeated measures of EF as a method of early identification, as well as the resulting translational implications of doing so

Integrating Item Accuracy and Reaction Time to Improve the Measurement of Inhibitory Control Abilities in Early Childhood

Efforts to improve children’s executive function are often hampered by the lack of measures that are optimized for use during the transition from preschool to elementary school. Whereas preschool-based measures often emphasize response accuracy, elementary school-based measures emphasize reaction time (RT)—especially for measures inhibitory control (IC) tasks that typically have a speeded component. The primary objective of this study was to test in a preschool-aged sample whether the joint use of item-level accuracy and RT data resulted in improved scoring for three IC tasks relative to scores derived from accuracy data alone. Generally, the joint use of item-level accuracy and RT data resulted in modest improvements in the measurement precision of IC abilities. Moreover, the joint use of item-level accuracy and RT helped eliminate floor and ceiling effects that occurred when accuracy data were considered alone. Results are discussed with respect to the importance of scoring IC tasks in ways that are maximally informative for program evaluation and longitudinal modeling

Foreword: Corporations on Trial for Human Rights Violations

An introduction to the journal is presented

Climate Change: The Equity Problem

A substantial proportion of the United States population is at or below the poverty level, yet many of the greenhouse gas emissions reduction measures proposed or adopted to date will increase the costs of energy, motor vehicles, and other consumer goods. This essay suggests that although scholarship and policymaking to date have focused on the disproportionate impact of these increased costs on the low-income population, the costs will have two important additional effects. First, the anticipated costs will generate political opposition from social justice groups, reducing the likelihood that aggressive measures will be adopted. Second, to the extent aggressive measures are adopted, they will miss large potential emissions reductions because the low-income population will be unable to respond by purchasing less greenhouse gas-intensive, but more expensive, consumer goods. The essay proposes a novel remedy to address this problem: equity offsets. These offsets will allow other individuals and organizations to subsidize low-income individuals\u27 purchase of less greenhouse gas-intensive goods, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the political opposition to emissions reduction measures, and the hardships caused by the higher costs of consumer goods. The essay suggests that the creation of a private or public equity offset program along these lines is feasible and will begin to address all three implications of the climate change equity problem

Inclusion of an Introduction to Infrastructure Course in a Civil and Environmental Engineering Curriculum

Civil infrastructure refers to the built environment (sometimes referred to as public works) and consists of roads, bridges, buildings, dams, levees, drinking water treatment facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, power generation and transmission facilities, communications, solid waste facilities, hazardous waste facilities, and other sectors. Although there is a need to train engineers who have a holistic view of infrastructure, there is evidence that civil and environmental engineering (CEE) programs have not fully addressed this increasingly recognized need. One effective approach to address this educational gap is to incorporate a course related to infrastructure into the curriculum for first-year or second-year civil and environmental engineering students. Therefore, this study assesses the current status of teaching such courses in the United States and identifies the incentives for, and the barriers against, incorporating an introduction to infrastructure course into schools’ current CEE curricula. Two distinct activities enabled these objectives. First, a questionnaire was distributed to CEE programs across the United States, to which 33 responses were received. The results indicated that although the majority of participants believe that offering such a course will benefit students by increasing the breadth of the curriculum and by providing a holistic view of CEE, barriers such as the maximum allowable credits for graduation, the lack of motivation within a department—either because such a course did not have a champion or because the department had no plans to revise their curriculum—and a lack of expertise among faculty members inhibited inclusion of the course in curricula. Second, three case studies demonstrating successful inclusion of an introduction to infrastructure course into the CEE curriculum were evaluated. Cases were collected from Marquette University, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and West Point CEE programs, and it was found that the key to success in including such a course is a motivated team of faculty members who are committed to educating students about different aspects of infrastructure. The results of the study can be used as a road map to help universities successfully incorporate an introduction to infrastructure course in their CEE programs

Seasonal and Diurnal Patterns of Temperature Inversion Formation and Breakup in a Topographically Complex Urban Environment

Measuring air temperatures and winds at several heights in a dense urban area over a nine-month period reveals important seasonal differences in patterns of atmospheric stability, boundary-layer circulation, and other important factors that affect concentrations of air pollutants. The study site in Portland, Oregon includes natural topographic variations from 5 meters above sea level at the shore of a heavily industrialized stretch of the Willamette River, up to 50 meters above sea level atop a nearby bluff where residents often complain of poor air quality. This study installed, and continues to maintain, a network of remote automated weather stations ranging in altitude from river-level to the rooftops of buildings up to eight stories high, spanning a range of 70 m in the vertical from the lowest to highest station altitude, within an area of only 0.25 square km. Prior to this study, the density of weather observations in this area was often insufficient for resolving the conditions relevant to analyzing and monitoring air pollution events, but the significantly higher resolution of meteorological data now available for the area shows promise for addressing these issues. Station measurements include air temperatures and humidities at multiple heights per station, wind direction, wind speed, gust speed, solar radiation in multiple wavelength ranges, direct-diffuse ratios of solar radiation, air pressure, precipitation rates, leaf wetness, soil moisture, thermal-infrared radiant temperatures, kinetic temperatures, and boundary layer fluxes. This study also designed new tethersonde sampling methods to complement the ground-based stations with high-resolution data on vertical profiles of air temperatures, humidity, and winds within the boundary layer. Results show strong, low-level temperature inversions that are often more diurnally-constant in winter than in other seasons, with important implications for local air pollutant concentrations. Applications include improved understanding of local atmospheric patterns, which could help to inform better policies for addressing air quality issues

Copper sulphate treatment induces <i>Heterozostera</i> seed germination and improves seedling growth rates

Evidence for seed germination and/or seedling recruitment in wild populations of the Southern Hemisphere seagrass H. nigricaulis are lacking. Additionally, seeds of H. nigricaulis, have proven extremely difficult to store and germinate in laboratories, even when using techniques for germination proven successful in other Zosteraceae. Prior studies reveal Zosteraceae seed and seedling failure may be correlated with oomycete infections. Copper sulphate treatments can reduce oomycete and other seagrass infections in laboratory tests. Here, we tested whether copper sulphate seed treatments promote germination and seedling growth in H. nigricaulis. We found treatment with 2.0 ppm copper sulphate solution induced significant seed germination and led to 3 times more photosynthesizing H. nigricaulis seedlings after 3 months. Thus, in addition to reducing disease, copper sulphate appears to be a novel cue for H. nigricaulis germination and improves seedling development and success in H. nigricaulis. This discovery will improve our opportunities to overcome biogeochemical germination cues and bottlenecks for Zosteraceae and improve seed-based seagrass restoration strategies where copper sulphate treatment is available to pre-treat and cue germination and promote seedling development and growth