Searching for Evidence of Life in Deep Time and Space

Cyanobacterial mats provide insights into ancient benthic microbial communities and their biosignatures. Thick mats occupy hypersaline saltern ponds at Guerrero Negro, Baja California, Mexico. Mat biota maintains rapid rates of biogeochemical processes under steep and rapidly changing environmental gradients. Cycling of C, O, and S all increased identically with temperature, indicating the tight coupling of these cycles. An enormous microbial diversity exhibits a highly structured spatial distribution of populations. Combined universal clone libraries from all mat layers indicated Bacteria/Archaea/Eukarya ratios of 57:7:1. More than 10,000 unique bacterial sequences were present. The relative abundance of Archaea increased with depth - below 10 cm, solvent-extractable archaeal lipids were twice as abundant as bacterial lipids. Only 15 species of Eukarya were found among 890 clones analyzed. Degradation of the mats insoluble macromolecular organic fraction (IMOM) by hydropyrolysis released a complex variety of linear, branched and polycyclic alkane structures, e.g., hopanes, methylhopanes and steranes. Covalent binding of these biosignatures into IMOM aids their long-term geological preservation. Mars rover missions revealed evidence of long-lived fluvial lacustrine systems and organics in associated mudstones. NASAs Mars 2020 rover mission will examine sediments in Jezero crater, including a delta and shoreline carbonate deposits, environments that on Earth have sustained microbial mats

A Case Study of Growth of Community Revitalization Movement in Chizu, Tottori Prefecture, Japan

Kaso is the deterioration of community infrastructure resulting from the migration of young people from rural areas to urban centers. It occurred in Japan during the period of rapid economic growth after World War II. Due to the conservative nature of remaining rural residents, community revitalization is often difficult. This paper uses the theory of social norms to analyze a case of successful community revitalization resulting from community empowerment

効果的な英語教育のために:日本人教員とネイティブ教員の協働を目指して

English language educators pull from a wide range of experiences, theories, and pedagogies. This is true all over the world, but is particularly interesting in the case of Japan. Japanese teachers of English and native speaker teachers have quite different experiences and attitudes regarding foreign language education. Taking a social constructionist view, this paper will examine how these two groups construct English language education differently.英語教員はそれぞれが幅広く様々な教授経験、教育理論、そして教授法を持っており、それは世界中どの国の英語教員にも当てはまることである。しかし日本では、外国語教育に関して日本人教員とネイティブ教員との間に大きな違いが見られる点が、特に興味深い。本稿では社会構築主義の視点から、日本人英語教員とネイティブ教員とが英語教育を行なう上でどのように異なっているのかを考察する

Marine Microbial Mats and the Search for Evidence of Life in Deep Time and Space

Cyanobacterial mats in extensive seawater evaporation ponds at Guerrero Negro, Baja California, Mexico, have been excellent subjects for microbial ecology research. The studies reviewed here have documented the steep and rapidly changing environmental gradients experienced by mat microorganisms and the very high rates of biogeochemical processes that they maintained. Recent genetic studies have revealed an enormous diversity of bacteria as well as the spatial distribution of Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya. These findings, together with emerging insights into the intimate interactions between these diverse populations, have contributed substantially to our understanding of the origins, environmental impacts, and biosignatures of photosynthetic microbial mats. The biosignatures (preservable cells, sedimentary fabrics, organic compounds, minerals, stable isotope patterns, etc.) potentially can serve as indicators of past life on early Earth. They also can inform our search for evidence of any life on Mars. Mars exploration has revealed evidence of evaporite deposits and thermal spring deposits; similar deposits on Earth once hosted ancient microbial mat ecosystems

Astrobiology, Mars Exploration and Lassen Volcanic National Park

The search for evidence of life beyond Earth illustrates how the charters of NASA and the National Park Service share common ground. The mission of NPS is to preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and future generations. NASA's Astrobiology program seeks to understand the origins, evolution and distribution of life in the universe, and it abides by the principles of planetary stewardship, public outreach, and education. We cannot subject planetary exploration destinations to Earthly biological contamination both for ethical reasons and to preserve their scientific value for astrobiology. We respond to the public's interest in the mysteries of life and the cosmos by honoring their desire to participate in the process of discovery. We involve youth in order to motivate career choices in science and technology and to perpetuate space exploration. The search for evidence of past life on Mars illustrates how the missions of NASA and NPS can become synergistic. Volcanic activity occurs on all rocky planets in our Solar System and beyond, and it frequently interacts with water to create hydrothermal systems. On Earth these systems are oases for microbial life. The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has found evidence of extinct hydrothermal system in Gusev crater, Mars. Lassen Volcanic National Park provides a pristine laboratory for investigating how microorganisms can both thrive and leave evidence of their former presence in hydrothermal systems. NASA scientists, NPS interpretation personnel and teachers can collaborate on field-oriented programs that enhance Mars mission planning, engage students and the public in science and technology, and emphasize the ethics of responsible exploration

Service-Learning Leadership Development for Youths

Service-learning without intentional leadership development is trivial and shallow, these youthful authors point out. And such leadership development requires adults and young people to work collaboratively in the design of service-learning. When that happens, the outcome will be both profound learning and successful projects

The Blue Dot Workshop: Spectroscopic Search for Life on Extrasolar Planets

This workshop explored the key questions and challenges associated with detecting life on an extrasolar planet. The final product will be a NASA Conference Publication which includes the abstracts from 21 talks, summaries of key findings, and recommendations for future research. The workshop included sessions on three related topics: the biogeochemistry of biogenic gases in the atmosphere, the chemistry and spectroscopy of planetary atmospheres, and the remote sensing of planetary atmospheres and surfaces. With the observation that planetary formation is probably a common phenomenon, together with the advent of the technical capability to locate and describe extrasolar planets, this research area indeed has an exciting future

日本の学士課程教育における効果的／非効果的アクティブ・ラーニングに関する質的分析

This paper examined effective and ineffective attempts to integrate active learning into Japanese undergraduate classes. We found that effective programs had high teacher involvement, clearly explained learning objectives, and clear lines of communication between instructors and field settings.本稿は，日本の高等教育における効果的／非効果的とされているアクティブ・ラーニングの実践を考察した。その結果，効果的だったアクティブ・ラーニングの実践では，教員がしっかりと学生活動に関与し，学習の目的を明確に説明しており，大学と活動先との間でしっかりとコミュニケーションが図られていた

Open Voice 改訂の歩み : 英語学習者のアウトプット力増強に向けたアクティブ・ラーニングのために

An important key to success at developing communicative abilities in a second language is actively practicing the four communication skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). With this in mind, the Open Voice system was developed to support students’ active engagement with the skills of writing and speaking. This paper explains how the Open Voice system was developed and revised in order to increase English Language Learner output.外国語習得においては、読む、書く、聞く、話す、の4技能を能動的に練習することが、コミュニケーション能力を身につけるために重要な鍵となる。岡山県立大学が独自に開発した英語教材 Open Voiceは、ライティングとスピーキングのスキルを高めるため、学生が積極的に学習に取り組めるようデザインされている。小論では、 英語学習者のアウトプット力増強に向け Open Voiceがどのように改訂されてきたかを述べるとともに、アクティブ・ラーニングの要素が効果的に導入されていることを明らかにした

A social skills approach to English language education in Japan

The primary purpose of language is to interact with other people; it is a social process. Due to long-term historical isolation, Japanese social interactions can be quite different from those of European cultures. These differences, which are usually not addressed in EFL curriculum, can create difficulties for Japanese students, both in terms of interacting with foreign faculty and in terms of having meaningful relationships with non-Japanese people. Japanese students would therefore benefit from explicit social skills training to help them thrive in non-Japanese social environments. This paper will explain how social skills approaches can be adapted into the EFL classroom and outline areas for future research