The effects of adult guidance and peer discussion on the development of children's representations: evidence from the training of pedestrian skills

It was hypothesised that practical training is effective in improving children's pedestrian skills because adult scaffolding and peer discussion during training specifically promote E3 level representation (linguistically-encoded, experientially-grounded, generalisable knowledge), as defined by Karmiloff-Smith's (1992) representational redescription (RR) model. Two studies were conducted to examine in detail the impact of this social input, in the context of simulation-based training in roadside search skills. Five- to eight-year-olds were pre-tested on ability to detect relevant road crossing features. They then participated in four training sessions designed to promote attunement to these, under peer discussion condition vs adult guidance conditions (Study 1), and adult-child vs adult-group conditions (Study 2). Performance at post-test was compared to that of controls who underwent no training. Study 1 found that children in the adult guidance condition improved significantly more than those in the peer discussion or control conditions, and this improvement was directly attributable to appropriation of E3 level representations from adult dialogue. Study 2 found that progress was greater still when adult scaffolding was supplemented by peer discussion, with E3 level representation attributable to children's exploration of conflicting ideas. The implications of these findings for the RR model and for practical road safety education are discussed

FIRST NATIONS’ MOOSE HUNT IN ONTARIO: A COMMUNITY’S PERSPECTIVES AND REFLECTIONS

 Moose (Alces alces) hunting and other means of forest food production employed by members of First Nations communities are undertaken as part of their treaty rights in Ontario, articulated in specific nation-to-nation agreements with the Government of Canada on behalf of the British Crown. Aroland First Nation in Northwestern Ontario is party to Treaty 9 (1905), which overtly protects the community’s rights to hunt throughout the unoccupied tracts of Crown land claimed as “traditional territory.” Traditional use supersedes provincial authority and, as such, is not managed by provincial policy or regulation. This jurisdictional divide has presented an interesting history and many challenges for both provincial managers and First Nations land users. Strained relationships between provincial authorities and First Nations, emergent from decades of misunderstandings of jurisdictional authority, have presented difficulty in all aspects of natural resource management. In this paper, we engaged community-based researchers in an exploration of the community’s perspective of the current and historical management regime. We also quantified the annual moose harvest by the First Nation, an assessment that is never undertaken by provincial managers; our results show a 40% error in provincial calculations. This error could have significant implications for future moose populations, as well as wildlife managers and both provincial and First Nations hunters. In collaboration with community members, we interpret the results, discuss implications, and provide recommendations for future consideration

Architecture and culture during the period of Italian colonization of North Africa

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, February 2001.Includes bibliographical references (p. 451-480).This dissertation examines the intersection of the modern and the colonial in architecture and culture during the period of Italian colonization of North Africa from 1911 to 1943. Rather than see the colonies as merely a projection of the metropolitan context, this research reverses this relationship by examining how colonialism was crucial to the formation of modernity. The focus of this investigation has been the appropriation of indigenous Libyan constructions by Italian architects working in this region - an appropriation that was justified by the contention that this culture was Mediterranean. The incorporation of these vernacular buildings within a Mediterranean tradition was a means of designating their modernity. It was also a method for these architects to efface the Arab content of these sources by creating a broader geographical category whose identity was Italian. This general theme has been structured around three distinct but interrelated topics of investigation, with the objective being to create a more complex understanding of this phenomenon. These topics are; the discourse on modernity in Italian architecture in magazines and publications and its intersection with the prospects for a modern colonial architecture, the "politics of representation" of the indigenous culture of Italy's colonies in exhibitions and fairs in Italy and abroad, and the formation of a Mediterranean identity in the creation of a tourist system in the · Libyan colonies. This research has examined these themes against the broader cultural context of Italian colonialism; such as the "indigenous politics" of the Italian colonies, the exoticism of colonial literature, and the scientific practices of anthropological and ethnographic research. This project ultimately reveals two different approaches to the appropriation of local culture by architects working in the Libyan colonies - both of which are modern. The first of these viewed the vernacular as the abstract basis for a contemporary architecture, while the second argued that these references should be literally re-enacted to harmonize with the pre-existing environment. This dissertation asserts that the conflicts and confluences between these two modernities characterized both the architecture of colonialism and the larger "cultural" project of the Italians in Libya.by Brian L. McLaren.Ph.D

Radon and King Solomons Miners: Faynan Orefeild, Jordanian desert

Concentrations of 222Rn were measured in ancient copper mines which exploited the Faynan Orefield in the South-Western Jordanian Desert. The concentrations of radon gas detected indicate that the ancient metal workers would have been exposed to a significant health risk and indicate that any future attempt to exploit the copper ores must deal with the hazard identified. Seasonal variations in radon concentrations are noted and these are linked to the ventilation of the mines. These modern data are used to explore the differential exposure to radon and the health of ancient mining communities

HOW MOOSE SELECT FORESTED HABITAT IN GROS MORNE NATIONAL PARK, NEWFOUNDLAND

Current Parks Canada policy does not allow moose (Alces alces) to be hunted in National Parks in Newfoundland and Labrador; combined with the extirpation of wolves (Canis lupus), this policy creates a situation where introduced moose (A. a. americana) are relatively predator-free in Gros Morne National Park. Forested areas of this park are frequently disturbed by defoliating insects resulting in extensive young conifer forest; increasingly, more areas are identified as failing to regenerate to normal tree densities or “not sufficiently restocked” (NSR). We used data from GPS-collared moose that occupy areas of the park where limited timber cutting is allowed for domestic purposes and a very detailed and current forest inventory exists; such areas are still dominated by insect and wind disturbance, including a large designation of NSR forest. We hoped to determine whether moose are found preferentially in disturbed forest versus other landscape patches during summer or winter, during day or night, and under certain temperature conditions. Variability in habitat availability and habitat use by moose appears to preclude forest management options directed at specific habitat types