Effectiveness of Semantic Mapping in Increasing Reading Comprehension for English Language Learners

Students must be able to read and process academic texts, construct written documents using academic language, and understand spoken language, specifically in English (Lucas, Villegas, & Freedson-Gonzalez, 2008). In the state of California, nearly half of the students speak a language other than English at home (Edwards, Leichty, & Wilson, 2008). Several different interventions have been studied to address the issue of reading comprehension and English Language Learners. Semantic mapping has been successful because in activating student\u27s prior knowledge and connecting to novel topics (Carrell, Pharis, & Liberto, 1989). This study explored the effects of semantic mapping on ELL students. The study used a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent group, pretest-posttest quantitative research design to compare reading comprehension achievement scores among ELL students. During the six-week intervention period, the control group received an unmodified set of lessons drawn from the Wonders ® curriculum, while the treatment group received the pre-reading intervention, semantic mapping. Reading comprehension was measured using the Scholastic Reading Inventory Test (SRI) and data analyzed using independent and paired t-tests. Although the results were not significantly different, the mean score for the treatment group increased more than the control group. These results are consistent with the current research on semantic mapping. Future recommendations include using a larger sample size and conducting interviews with students prior to taking the SRI to determine what strategies were used during testing

Evolución del grado de desertificación y su relación con los aspectos socioeconómicos en la cuenca del río Santa María, Catamarca, Argentina

298-308Este trabajo revisa las características del proceso de desertificación en los Valles Áridos con especial énfasis en la cuenca del río Santa María. Hace referencia al avance de la desertificación ocurrida entre 1997 y 2012 a través de un índice que fue construido a partir de la combinación de indicadores biofísicos. Habida cuenta de que es necesario relacionar la desertificación con indicadores socioeconómicos, se realizaron encuestas en el área bajo estudio para indagar sobre aspectos socioeconómicos, lo que permitió construir indicadores. Los resultados obtenidos indican que la desertificación ha aumentado en todos los casos, excepto en el sitio donde se aplican prácticas sustentables. Al mismo tiempo los indicadores socioeconómicos indican que un mayor grado de desertificación se presenta asociado a las explotaciones menores a la unidad económica, formas de tenencia más precarias, mayor inequidad en la distribución del ingreso y mayor pobreza e indigencia, superando ampliamente los valores nacionales y provinciales. Es por ello que la evaluación del grado de desertificación y su relación con indicadores socioeconómicos resulta imprescindible a fin de monitorear y revertir este proceso

Evolución del grado de desertificación y su relación con los aspectos socioeconómicos en la cuenca del río Santa María, Catamarca, Argentina

298-308Este trabajo revisa las características del proceso de desertificación en los Valles Áridos con especial énfasis en la cuenca del río Santa María. Hace referencia al avance de la desertificación ocurrida entre 1997 y 2012 a través de un índice que fue construido a partir de la combinación de indicadores biofísicos. Habida cuenta de que es necesario relacionar la desertificación con indicadores socioeconómicos, se realizaron encuestas en el área bajo estudio para indagar sobre aspectos socioeconómicos, lo que permitió construir indicadores. Los resultados obtenidos indican que la desertificación ha aumentado en todos los casos, excepto en el sitio donde se aplican prácticas sustentables. Al mismo tiempo los indicadores socioeconómicos indican que un mayor grado de desertificación se presenta asociado a las explotaciones menores a la unidad económica, formas de tenencia más precarias, mayor inequidad en la distribución del ingreso y mayor pobreza e indigencia, superando ampliamente los valores nacionales y provinciales. Es por ello que la evaluación del grado de desertificación y su relación con indicadores socioeconómicos resulta imprescindible a fin de monitorear y revertir este proceso

Crystal structure of (1E,3E)-4-methylthio-2-nitro-3-phenylsulfonyl-1- pyrrolidino-1,3-butadiene, C15H18N2O4S2

Abstract C15H18N2O4S2, monoclinic, P121/c1 (No. 14), a = 8.754(3) Å, b = 12.499(2) Å, c = 15.599(3) Å, β = 95.09(2)°, V = 1700.1Å3, Z = 4, Rgt(F) = 0.049, wRref(F2) = 0.128, T = 294 K

Proposals for Innovation and Improvement of the Quality of Life in Caprine Pastoralist Communities of Subsistence in the Monte Desert, Argentina

In a satisfactory alliance between the main environmental policy organizations and the academy, the National Observatory on Land Degradation and Desertification (ONDTyT) is created. The ONDTyD provides information regarding status and trends of land degradation/desertification in order to promote prevention and mitigation measures used for advising public and private decision-makers in Argentina. It is based in the development of 17 Pilot Sites that constitutes the local level network, providing bio-physical and socio-economic indicators of land degradation. In this network the pilot site of the Monte, the largest dry region of Argentina (Lavalle desert, Mendoza), aims to improve the living conditions of native communities dedicated to subsistence goat farming, located below the poverty line. Precipitation ranges from 80-100 mm/year, strongly affecting productive activities. The proposal includes innovative traits in an area whose natural resources have been devastated. It is framed within a conception of rural territory development generating sustainable development strategies of rural indigenous communities, improve the status of the ecosystem through an integral management of natural and cultural resources, and improve socioeconomic conditions of inhabitants, compatibilizing ecosystem regeneration with investment in infrastructure and services, diversification of productive activities and generation of employment. An interdisciplinary group designed the proposal and the integrated desertification assessment in the fields with active community participation through their knowledge, land and livestock. The pilot case can be replicated throughout the territory. The work combines participatory and integrated methodologies, showing that the Observatory is a successful example of partnership building between the political and scientific-technological sectors in Argentina

A New Horned Crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene Hominid Sites at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

BACKGROUND: The fossil record reveals surprising crocodile diversity in the Neogene of Africa, but relationships with their living relatives and the biogeographic origins of the modern African crocodylian fauna are poorly understood. A Plio-Pleistocene crocodile from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, represents a new extinct species and shows that high crocodylian diversity in Africa persisted after the Miocene. It had prominent triangular "horns" over the ears and a relatively deep snout, these resemble those of the recently extinct Malagasy crocodile Voay robustus, but the new species lacks features found among osteolaemines and shares derived similarities with living species of Crocodylus. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The holotype consists of a partial skull and skeleton and was collected on the surface between two tuffs dated to approximately 1.84 million years (Ma), in the same interval near the type localities for the hominids Homo habilis and Australopithecus boisei. It was compared with previously-collected material from Olduvai Gorge referable to the same species. Phylogenetic analysis places the new form within or adjacent to crown Crocodylus. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The new crocodile species was the largest predator encountered by our ancestors at Olduvai Gorge, as indicated by hominid specimens preserving crocodile bite marks from these sites. The new species also reinforces the emerging view of high crocodylian diversity throughout the Neogene, and it represents one of the few extinct species referable to crown genus Crocodylus

Rejuvenation of Service Exposed Alloy 713C Turbine Blades

NRC publication: Ye