Using a self-reflective journal to enhance science communication

In new times the ability to self-evaluate and reflect on one's own actions in communicating with others will be a crucial workplace skill. An innovative peer tutoring course for academic credit, by university science students in high schools, will be presented, with a review on its ability to develop a link between school tutoring and workplace communication. Course content relates to broad issues of science literacy, science communication and group situations and peer interactions. Students complete on-campus lecture and workshop component, and do 20-30 hours of in-school tutoring; assessment includes an examination, assignments in the form of journals, and a personal learning log of experiences. Findings from the first two years of the course, based on data sources of students' journal entries and responses to the end of unit evaluations (1996, n = 21; 1997, n = 21) are presented. Analysis focuses on the development of reflective skills and students' awareness of their personal power in detecting and solving problems and developing strategies to promote two way communication. The use of self-evaluation through reflective journals was found to enhance the effectiveness of tutoring. Implications for developing the 'human side' of science will be discussed, and the appropriateness of the course to develop these often under-represented aspects of science

Patterns of megafloral change across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains

The spatial and temporal distribution of vegetation in the terminal Cretaceous of Western Interior North America was a complex mosaic resulting from the interaction of factors including a shifting coastline, tectonic activity, a mild, possibly deteriorating climate, dinosaur herbivory, local facies effects, and a hypothesized bolide impact. In order to achieve sufficient resolution to analyze this vegetational pattern, over 100 megafloral collecting sites were established, yielding approximately 15,000 specimens, in Upper Cretaceous and lower Paleocene strata in the Williston, Powder River, and Bighorn basins in North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. These localities were integrated into a lithostratigraphic framework that is based on detailed local reference sections and constrained by vertebrate and palynomorph biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, and sedimentary facies analysis. A regional biostratigraphy based on well located and identified plant megafossils that can be used to address patterns of floral evolution, ecology, and extinction is the goal of this research. Results of the analyses are discussed

User's guide for the Nimbus 7 ERB Solar Analysis Tape (ESAT)

Five years of Nimbus 7 ERB solar data is available in compact form on a single ERB solar analysis tape (ESAT). The period covered is November 16, 1978 through October 31, 1983. The Nimbus 7 satellite performs just under 14 orbits a day and the ERB solar telescope observe the Sun once per orbit as the satellite passes + or - near the south pole. The data were carefully calibrated and screened. Mean orbital and daily values are given for the total solar irradiance plus selected spectral intervals. In addition, selected solar activity indicators are on the tape. The ERB experiment, the solar data calibration and screening procedures, the solar activity indicators, and the tape format are described briefly

Studies of effects on optical components and sensors: LDEF experiments AO-147 (ERB components) and S-0014 (APEX)

Some additional results of testing of optical filters and window materials and thermopile sensors of the two experiments are included. The Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment (APEX) interference filters exhibited much greater degradation in space than the ERB filters. The adhesion of the Indium washers to the APEX interference filters is reported

The effect of the low Earth orbit environment on space solar cells

The results of a space flight experiment designed to provide reference cell standards for photovoltaic measurements as well as to investigate the solar spectrum and the effect of long-term exposure of solar cells to the space environment are presented. This experiment, the Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment (APEX), was launched into low Earth orbit as part of the Long Duration Exposure Facility in 1984 and retrieved 69 months later. APEX contained over 150 solar cells of a wide variety of materials, designs and coverglasses. Data on cell performance was recorded for the first year-on-orbit

The effect of the low Earth orbit environment on space solar cells: Results of the Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment (S0014)

The results of post-flight performance testing of the solar cells flown on the Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment are reported. Comparison of post-flight current-voltage characteristics with similar pre-flight data revealed little or no change in solar cell conversion efficiency, confirming the reliability and endurance of space photovoltaic cells. This finding is in agreement with the lack of significant physical changes in the solar cells despite nearly six years in the low Earth orbit environment

Preliminary results from the advanced photovoltaic experiment flight test

The Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment is a space flight test designed to provide reference cell standards for photovoltaic measurement as well as to investigate the solar spectrum and the effect of the space environment on solar cells. After a flight of 69 months in low earth orbit as part of the Long Duration Exposure Facility set of experiments, it was retrieved in January, 1990. The electronic data acquisition system functioned as designed, measuring and recording cell performance data over the first 358 days of flight; limited by battery lifetime. Significant physical changes are also readily apparent, including erosion of front surface paint, micrometeoroid and debris catering and contamination

The large-scale surface uplift in the Altiplano-Puna region of Bolivia: A parametric study of source characteristics and crustal rheology using finite element analysis

PublishedThis is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.This paper focuses on the driving mechanism behind a 70 km wide region of ground uplift centered on Uturuncu volcano, in the Altiplano-Puna region of southern Bolivia. We present a series of forward models using finite element analysis to simultaneously test for first-order parameters that help constrain a viable model for the observed maximum line of sight uplift rate of 1–2 cm/yr between 1992 and 2006. Stresses from pressure sources with finite geometries are solved numerically, accounting for both homogeneous and heterogeneous mechanical rock properties in elastic and viscoelastic rheologies. Crustal heterogeneity is constrained by seismic velocity data that indicate the presence of a large low-velocity zone, the AltiplanoPuna magma body, at depths of ~17 km below the surface. A viscoelastic rheology is employed to account for time-dependent deformation and an inelastic crust. Comparing homogeneous and heterogeneous models demonstrates the significant impact of a mechanically weak, source-depth layer, which alters surface displacement patterns by buffering subsurface deformation. Elastic model results guide the source parameters tested in the viscoelastic models and demonstrate a range of possible causative source geometries. Our preferred model suggests that pressurization of a magma source extending upward from the Altiplano-Puna magma body is causing the observed surface uplift and alludes to a continued increase in this pressure to explain both the spatial and temporal patterns. We also demonstrate how a pressure-time function plays a first-order role in explaining the observed temporal deformation patternThis work was supported by the Natural Environmental Research Council (grant NE/G01843X/1), the European Union Framework Program 7 (grant 282759, “VUELCO”) and the Royal Society (University Research Fellowship). We thank Matthew Pritchard, Ciro Del Negro and editor James Tyburczy for their constructive review

The Demographic Characteristics of 1860 New Ulm, Minnesota, Germans

Demand for an increase in ethnically oriented course materials led to this study of the 1860 New Ulm (Minnesota) German community as an example of ethnic migration and community establishment. The New Ulm German community was defined for the purposes of this study as the 698 German-born adult migrants living in New Ulm and its functionally connected area in 1860. Detailed information concerning the specific places of origin, migratory routes and sequences of intervening stops, and organizational networks of support was collected. A series of maps and graphs represents the migration patterns