Didactical knowledge development of pre-service secondary mathematics teachers

We present the results of a study on the didactical knowledge development of pre-service secondary mathematics teachers participating in a methods course. In this course, we expected pre-service teachers to learn and use a series of conceptual and methodological tools that could help them in the design of didactical units. We coded and analyzed the information contained in the transparencies used by the teachers while presenting their solution to a series of tasks proposed in the course. Four stages of didactical knowledge development were identified and characterized. The evolution in teachersÕ performance over time is described based on those stages

Seismic Spectral Monitoring of CO2 in a Geological Reservoir

Peak frequency is a spectral seismic attribute widely used for reservoir thickness estimation and hydrocarbon detection. In this work we apply this attribute in the context of the geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) and analyze its reliability as a thickness estimator for the gas accumulation. To model the vertical distribution of CO2, we solve the Buckley-Leverett equation with discontinuous flux function. A matrix reflectivity algorithm then computes, in the frequency domain, the seismic reflectivity. We find that the peak frequency variability due to CO2 saturation does not alter significantly its correlation with the accumulation thickness. We then extend the applicability of the spectral attribute by examining its time-lapse response to the evolution of the injected CO2 volume within a reservoir. We find that a description of the CO2-brine contact as well as the evaluation of the reservoir’s caprock sealing capacity can be obtained from this implementation. Peak-frequency time-lapse signatures when the CO2 forms an up-going front, evolves into a growing accumulation and leaks into the caprock are identified.Fil: Gómez, Julián Luis. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Departamento de Geofísica Aplicada; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ravazzoli, Claudia Leonor. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Departamento de Geofísica Aplicada; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Seismic reflectivity of a carbon dioxide flux

 In the context of the geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2), thecharacterization of the injected CO2 in a reservoir is of primeimportance for volume capacity evaluation and long-term siteperformance. In this article, we aim to characterize a CO2 accumulationin a deep layered aquifer by means of its seismic reflectivity. Formodeling the vertical distribution of CO2 saturation in the reservoir,we solve the Buckley-Leverett equation with discontinuous flux function,which describes two-phase flow in porous stratified media. To solve thisequation numerically we employ a finite-difference relaxation scheme.The scheme entails an upwinding reconstruction for the spatialderivatives and an implicit-explicit Runge-Kutta scheme for timeintegrations. Once the vertical distribution of CO2 is obtained, we usea matrix propagator algorithm to compute in the frequency domain, thegeneralized reflectivity of the reservoir due to the injected gas. Thebehavior of this reflectivity controls the amplitude of seismic wavereflections and strongly conditions the detectability of the CO2 volumein the space-time domain. The numerical approach used in this article iseasy to implement and allows to quantify the reflectivity of the carbondioxide distribution in a practical way. We show that the frequencybehavior of the reservoir reflectivity may help to interpret thevertical accumulation of CO2, which can be useful as a basis fortime-lapse geophysical monitoring.Fil: Gómez, Julián Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Departamento de Geofísica Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Ravazzoli, Claudia Leonor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Departamento de Geofísica Aplicada; Argentin

Semblanzas Ictiológicas: Matías Pandolfi

través de esta serie intentaremos conocer diferentes facetas personales de los integrantes de nuestra “comunidad”. El cuestionario, además de su principal objetivo, con sus respuestas quizás nos ayude a encontrar entre nosotros puntos en común que vayan más allá de nuestros temas de trabajo y sea un aporte a futuros estudios históricos. Esperamos que esta iniciativa pueda ser otro nexo entre los ictiólogos de la región,ya que consideramos que el resultado general trascendería nuestras fronteras

Meanings of fractions as demonstrated by future primary teachers in the initial phase of teacher education

Fractions are a fundamental content of primary-level education and must therefore be included in the training courses for primary school teachers. Experts argue that deep understanding is required to improve primary school teachers’ knowledge of this mathematical concept (Ball, 1990; Cramer, Post & del Mas, 2002; Newton, 2008). Our study focuses on the part-whole relationship as a crucial foundation in working with fractions. This paper characterizes some of the meanings of this relationship for a group of future primary school teachers

Meaning of the part-whole relation and the concept of fraction for primary teachers

The part-whole relation is complex and raises questions that affect different disciplines. Researchers have proposed different interpretations of the notions of fraction and rational number (e.g., Behr, Lesh, Post & Silver, 1983; Kieren, 1976). We highlight three kinds of relations in the study of rational numbers—the part whole-relation, the part-part relation, and the functional relation—through which we organize the different subconstructs of rational number. We claim that the meaning of fractions should be understood through three components: their mathematical structure, their representations and their senses