Municipal water quantities and health in Nunavut households: an exploratory case study in Coral Harbour, Nunavut, Canada

Background: Access to adequate quantities of water has a protective effect on human health and well-being. Despite this, public health research and interventions are frequently focused solely on water quality, and international standards for domestic water supply minimums are often overlooked or unspecified. This trend is evident in Inuit and other Arctic communities even though numerous transmissible diseases and bacterium infections associated with inadequate domestic water quantities are prevalent. Objectives: Our objective was to explore the pathways by which the trucked water distribution systems being used in remote northern communities are impacting health at the household level, with consideration given to the underlying social and environmental determinants shaping health in the region. Methods: Using a qualitative case study design, we conducted 37 interviews (28 residents, 9 key informants) and a review of government water documents to investigate water usage practices and perspectives. These data were thematically analysed to understand potential health risks in Arctic communities and households. Results: Each resident receives an average of 110 litres of municipal water per day. Fifteen of 28 households reported experiencing water shortages at least once per month. Of those 15, most were larger households (5 people or more) with standard sized water storage tanks. Water shortages and service interruptions limit the ability of some households to adhere to public health advice. The households most resilient, or able to cope with domestic water supply shortages, were those capable of retrieving their own drinking water directly from lake and river sources. Residents with extended family and neighbours, whom they can rely on during shortages, were also less vulnerable to municipal water delays. Conclusions: The relatively low in-home water quantities observed in Coral Harbour, Nunavut, appear adequate for some families. Those living in overcrowded households, however, are accessing water in quantities more typically seen in water insecure developing countries. We recommend several practical interventions and revisions to municipal water supply systems

Generalization Strategies in Finding the <i>n</i>th Term Rule for Simple Quadratic Sequences

In this study, we identify ways in which a sample of 18 graduates with mathematics-related first degrees found the nth term for quadratic sequences from the first values of a sequence of data, presented on a computer screen in various formats: tabular, scattered data pairs and sequential. Participants’ approaches to identifying the nth term were recorded with eye-tracking technology. Our aims are to identify their strategies and to explore whether and how format influences these strategies. Qualitative analysis of eye-tracking data offers several strategies: Sequence of Differences, Building a Relationship, Known Formula, Linear Recursive and Initial Conjecture. Sequence of Differences was the most common strategy, but Building a Relationship was more likely to lead to the right formula. Building from Square and Factor Search were the most successful methods of Building a Relationship. Findings about the influence of format on the range of strategies were inconclusive but analysis indicated sporadic evidence of possible influences

The mediating role of a teacher’s use of semiotic resources in pupils’ early algebraic reasoning

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11858-012-0421-2.This paper focuses on the semiotic resources used by an experienced sixth-grade teacher when her pupils are working on a mathematical task involving written text and the two inscriptions of figure and diagram. Socio-cultural analytical constructs such as semiotic bundle, space of joint action and togethering are applied in order to enable and frame the collective activity of the teacher and pupils. Four extracts from different situations in the classroom illustrate the important role of both teacher gestures and pupil gestures, interacting with other modalities such as speech and inscription, in the process of making sense of pupils’ appropriation of coordinating two dimensions in a diagram. It is argued that the nature of the mathematical task is an important entry point into early algebraic reasoning. The study emphasises the mediating role of the dynamics of semiotic bundles produced in teacher–pupil dialogues as a promising way to address the fundamental relationships between mathematics, pupil and teacher in a classroom context in order to provoke pupil involvement and engagement when experiencing mathematics