Adelina DiTullio\u27s Portfolio

My name is Adelina DiTullio, a student at Duquesne University studying Early Childhood Education. I am an incoming senior and expected to graduate in the Spring of 2021. My portfolio is a collection of work I have produced throughout my academic career in the School of Education at Duquesne University. This portfolio is an assembly of my experiences in the field and training in the classrooms, ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade in all subjects. Included in this portfolio are the modes and assignments that have guided and shaped me into the learning theorist I am today. Through lesson plans, personal teaching statements, and a variety of teaching resources I have created, my portfolio encompasses the type of teacher I hope to become, as well as, the reasons and rationales pushing me toward the field of education. Additionally, included in this portfolio are assignment pieces, infographics, and a variety of lesson plans, all in which I have created to better understand the pedagogy of Early Childhood Education. Personal touches, such as an introductory letter and video and teaching statements were also included to further brand this portfolio, showcasing my individualized path toward becoming an educator and the educator I aspire to become. The creation of my portfolio was intended to be built and improved upon as my studies continue, adding more content and resources as I learn. Through this portfolio, I hope it becomes apparent the depth of the education program at Duquesne University, particularly the complexity of learning that is required. I have been truly blessed with opportunities and experiences from my studies at Duquesne and will continue to learn and grow as an educator while finishing my degree and furthering my education career.https://dsc.duq.edu/portfolios/1015/thumbnail.jp

An Examination of Planning and Implementing Brain-Based Strategies in the Elementary Classroom

Brain-based learning can positively impact student motivation, attitudes and academic achievement. Much of the research is situated in a quantitative paradigm designed to measure motivation, attitudes toward learning, and academic achievement. The purpose of the study was to investigate the extent to which teachers are aware of brain-based learning theory and applying the concepts of the theory to their teaching. The qualitative study utilized brain-based learning theory as a research framework. The study employed a semi-structured, face-to-face interview method to gain a better understanding of what information teachers currently know about brain-based learning and what they need in order to create classrooms that implement curriculum using brain-based learning theory. The study also explored the extent to which teachers learned about brain-based learning theory in their teacher preparation programs. The study has implications for pedagogy as well as curriculum choices in school districts and teacher preparation programs. Findings include evidence that teachers had little knowledge of brain-based learning theory unless they had engaged in professional development specific to brain-based learning. However, teachers often unknowingly implemented brain-based learning strategies. Findings also include evidence that teachers did not recall learning about brain-based learning theory in their teacher preparation programs. The study includes recommendations for general education teachers, higher education faculty and future research

Young woman with blurry vision

A 26‐year‐old female with no significant past medical history presented to the emergency department with 1‐week history of blurred vision and difficulty with depth perception, most pronounced when looking to the left or right while driving. She is a teacher and remarked that her students noted her eyes were “moving funny” when she looked in either direction. On examination, when the patient gazed to the right, extraocular movements showed an inability to adduct the left eye past the midline and delayed abduction of the right eye. Additionally, with gaze to the left, extraocular movements showed inability to adduct the right eye past the midline and delayed abduction of the left eye

Equity and Neuroscience in the Year of COVID-19

In lieu of an abstract, here is the article\u27s first paragraph: In the era of COVID-19, difficult adjustments have been made. The world of education is very different. Many of us aren’t able to see our students every day. We monitor student progress and growth but worry that we are not doing enough. We are unable to give morning hugs and high fives. We can’t always be there to listen and comfort the way we used to do. As educators, though, we are problem solvers. We did not create this crisis, but we continue to figure out ways to make this challenge work the best we can. Neuroscience can help us do that

Regulation of Algal Blooms in Antarctic Shelf Waters by the Release of Iron From Melting Sea Ice

During summer 1995-96, we measured iron in the water column and conducted iron-enrichment bottle-incubation experiments at a station in the central Ross Sea (76°30\u27S, 170°40\u27W), first, in the presence of melting sea ice, and 17 days later, in ice-free conditions. We observed a striking temporal change in mixed-layer dissolved iron concentrations at this station, from 0.72-2.3 nM with sea ice present, to 0.16-0.17 nM in ice-free conditions. These changes were accompanied doubling of algal (diatom) biomass. Our incubation experiments suggest that conditions were iron-replete in the presence of sea ice, and iron-deficient in the absence of sea ice. We surmise that bioavailability iron was released into seawater from the melting sea ice, stimulating phytoplankton production and the biological removal of dissolved iron from the mixed layer, until iron-limited conditions developed. These observations suggest that the episodic release of bio-available iron from melting sea ice is an important factor regulating phytoplankton production, particularly ice-edge blooms, in seasonally ice-covered Antarctic waters

Iron and Manganese in the Ross Sea, Antarctica: Seasonal Iron Limitation in Antarctic Shelf Waters

Dissolved iron and manganese and total dissolvable iron were measured in water column samples from the Polynya Region of the southern Ross Sea in cruises in Nov.-Dec. 1994 (spring 1994) and Dec. 1995 to Jan. 1996 (summer 1995). Iron and manganese addition bottle incubation experiments were also performed on these cruises to assess the nutritional sufficiency of ambient iron and manganese concentrations for phytoplankton growth. Generally high dissolved iron concentrations (\u3e0.5 nM) and relatively complex iron and manganese vertical profiles were obtained in spring 1994 vs. summer 1995. Dissolved iron concentrations in the upper water column averaged 1.0 nM in spring 1994 and 0.23 nM in summer 1995, excluding 2 stations where concentrations exceeding 1 nM were attributed to inputs from melting sea ice. The Observed differences in the iron and manganese distribution between spring 1994 and summer 1995 were attributed to seasonal decreases in bottom water upwelling and sea ice melting, which supplied these metals to the upper water column, combined with the cumulative removal of iron and manganese from the water column throughout the spring and summer, due to biological uptake, vertical export, and scavenging by suspended and sinking particles. Results of metal addition bottle incubation experiments indicated that ambient dissolved Iron concentrations were adequate for phytoplankton growth requirements in spring and early summer, when algal production is highest and Phaeocystis antarctica dominates the algal community, whereas low dissolved Iron concentrations limited algal community growth later in the summer, except in stratified, Iron enriched water near melting sea ice, where diatoms are able to bloom. Observations and inferred seasonal distribution of P. antarctica and diatoms in this water suggested that iron availability and vertical mixing (i.e., irradiance) exert the primary controls on phytoplankton growth and community structure in the southern Ross Sea in spring and summer

Influence of Irradiance and Iron on the Growth of Colonial Phaeocystic antarctica: Implications for Seasonal Bloom Dynamics in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Laboratory culture experiments were used to investigate the growth rate of colonial Phaeocystis anarctica as a function of irradiance and dissolved iron concentration. The experiments were conducted with a P. antarctica strain isolated from the southern Ross Sea, Antarctica, and made use of natural, low-iron (P. antarctica attained an average maximum cell-specific growth rate of 0.37 d-1at an irradiance of 68 μE m-2s-1, above which growth rates decreased to 0.27 d-1 at an irradiance of 314 μE m-2s-1. The dependence of growth rate on ambient dissolved iron concentration was examined in dose-response type bioassay experiments using realistic subnanomolar additions of dissolved iron. The experimental results indicate significant changes in the iron requirements for growth of colonial P. antarctica as a function of irradiance, with our estimates of the half-saturation constant for growth with respect to dissolved iron (Kμ) ranging from 0.26 nM at ~20 μE m-2s-1, to 0.045 nM at similar to 40 μE m-2s-1 and to 0.19 nM at ~ 90 μE m-2 s-1. We interpret these variations in K, as reflecting an increase in the cellular iron requirements of colonial P. antarctica at suboptimal and supraoptimal irradiance, such that the cells require higher ambient dissolved iron concentrations to attain maximum growth rates under Such irradiance conditions. The experiments also provide evidence of a relationship between iron availability and the relative proportion of colonial versus solitary P. antarctica cells, whereby the colonial form appears to be favored by higher dissolved iron concentrations. Our experimental results suggest that the initiation and termination of colonial P. antarctica blooms in the Ross Sea are determined by the combined effects of irradiance-driven changes in cellular iron requirements and a seasonal decrease in dissolved iron availability

Temporal and spatial patterns in the Ross Sea: Phytoplankton biomass, elemental composition, productivity and growth rates

The temporal and spatial patterns of phytoplankton biomass, productivity, and particulate matter composition in the Ross Sea were assessed during cruises in January 1990 and February 1992. Biomass and primary productivity in the southern Ross Sea were greatest during mid-January, with surface chlorophyll concentrations, particulate organic carbon levels, and integrated primary productivity averaging 4.9 Ixg L \u27l, 0.54 mg L-•, and 2.63 g C m • d \u27•, respectively. Comparable mean concentrations and rates for February were 1.1 Ixg L \u27l, 0.29 mg L \u27l, and 0.78 g C m \u27•- d \u27• (decreases of 76, 46, and 70%, respectively), indicative of the scale of temporal changes. A distinct south-north transition also was observed both in productivity and phytoplankton biomass, with the lowest values occurring in the northern Ross Sea. East-west gradients in phytoplankton biomass and composition occurred within the southern Ross Sea. The areal productivity of the Ross Sea ranged from 0.15 to 2.85 g C m • d -• and is among the highest found in the entire Antarctic. Carbon:chlorophyll ratios were uniformly high but were highest (150) in 1990 in the diatom-dominated western Ross Sea. Surface growth rates were modest, averaging less than 0.2 day \u27• during both seasons. We hypothesize that the marked seasonality in the region provides an environment in which net growth rates, although slow, are maximized through low loss rates and which allows biomass to accumulate in the surface layer. Furthermore, the temporal variations are quantitatively similar to the observed spatial variations. Therefore the dominant determinant of phytoplankton biomass and productivity at any one point on the Ross Sea continental shelf is the stage of the seasonal growth cycle

Polar Microalgae: New Approaches towards Understanding Adaptations to an Extreme and Changing Environment

Polar Regions are unique and highly prolific ecosystems characterized by extreme environmental gradients. Photosynthetic autotrophs, the base of the food web, have had to adapt physiological mechanisms to maintain growth, reproduction and metabolic activity despite environmental conditions that would shut-down cellular processes in most organisms. High latitudes are characterized by temperatures below the freezing point, complete darkness in winter and continuous light and high UV in the summer. Additionally, sea-ice, an ecological niche exploited by microbes during the long winter seasons when the ocean and land freezes over, is characterized by large salinity fluctuations, limited gas exchange, and highly oxic conditions. The last decade has been an exciting period of insights into the molecular mechanisms behind adaptation of microalgae to the cryosphere facilitated by the advancement of new scientific tools, particularly “omics” techniques. We review recent insights derived from genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics studies. Genes, proteins and pathways identified from these highly adaptable polar microbes have far-reaching biotechnological applications. Furthermore, they may provide insights into life outside this planet, as well as glimpses into the past. High latitude regions also have disproportionately large inputs into global biogeochemical cycles and are the region most sensitive to climate change