ncreasing High School Students’ Environmental and Scientific Literacies Through Outdoor Investigations

Getting out of the classroom can be some of the most memorable and rewarding experiences for students. As an AP Environmental Science teacher, I began thinking of ways students can perform outdoor investigations while increasing their environmental literacy. The research question I posed for this project is: how can high school science teachers improve students’ environmental and scientific literacy and help them understand their environmental impact through outdoor investigations? After researching different techniques and ideas, I decided on creating three different outdoor investigations that focus on three different systems of Earth. The first investigation focuses on water; students will be conducting various water quality tests where they can determine if the water is healthy for aquatic organisms and/or human consumption. The second investigation deals with soil texture and quality. During this investigation, students will be comparing soil quality taken from two different ecosystems. The last investigation has students taking a look at the air quality around their school. They will set up two different tests with one collecting data on particulate matter, and the other will focus on carbon dioxide emissions from various vehicles. The goal from all three of these investigations is to get the students outside into nature while learning important problem solving and critical thinking skills. Overall, students will be able to benefit and increase their environmental literacy from performing these outdoor investigations, but they are not enough to create environmentally literate students alone. Students need multiple different resources and methods in order to achieve the best results, but getting students outside and conducting hands-on research is one of the best ways to increase awareness towards the environment

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This thesis is a product of my attempt to discover why I make art. The intent is not to define a specific work or body of work, but rather to explore the personal context that informs my decision-making process. The writing style and tone are as much a reflection of my artistic inclinations as are the actual topics I have chosen to address. Much of this thesis is not serious, because much of the time I am not a serious person. A portion of this thesis is quite serious, and I hereby formally apologize for that fact

Study of self-assembling block co-polymer templated hydroxyapatite nanocomposites gel by urease enzymetic urea hydrolysis

This study aimed to develop a biomimetic approach to achieve the natural biomineralization of bone. Temperature and pH-sensitive self-assembling tri- and pentablock co-polymer templated Hydroxyapatite (Ca5(PO4)3OH) (HAp) nanocomposite hydrogels were synthesized, and enzyme-catalyzed urea decomposition was used to increase pH gradually and homogeneously. XRD, SEM, TEM and EDS analysis confirmed the formation of HAp. The hydrogels showed the existence of amorphous HAp. The inorganic phase exhibited thin sheet-like structure with a length of hundreds nanometers, and only 5-10 nm thick. Both high-resolution TEM and scanning TEM microimages, electron diffraction and SEM confirmed the nano-crystalline phase of HAp in dry state. The nano HAp sheets assembled to form clusters in the presence of polymer. The inorganic components account for 4-6 wt% of the total hydrogels. It is also proved by NMR that organic and inorganic components intimately associated with each other that formed nanocomposites. Samples prepared with Pluronic at 37oC showed smaller nanocomposite size than PAA. It is also found that by the same urea-urease method without polymer, low inorganic ion concentrations (0.2M and 0.4M) and low temperatures (room T and 37oC), resulted in mainly calcium carbonate (CaCO3, calcite) whereas for higher Ca2+ and PO43- concentrations and temperatures (i.e., 1.0M and 1.5M at 60oC), HAp was the dominant phase. The urease activity has been confirmed to be affected by high concentration of buffer phosphate solution. Low phosphate concentration may facilitate the urea hydrolysis to release CO2 at a faster rate which reacts with Ca2+ to form CaCO3

Optimization Methods in Electric Power Systems: Global Solutions for Optimal Power Flow and Algorithms for Resilient Design under Geomagnetic Disturbances

An electric power system is a network of various components that generates and delivers power to end users. Since 1881, U.S. electric utilities have supplied power to billions of industrial, commercial, public, and residential customers continuously. Given the rapid growth of power utilities, power system optimization has evolved with developments in computing and optimization theory. In this dissertation, we focus on two optimization problems associated with power system planning: the AC optimal power flow (ACOPF) problem and the optimal transmission line switching (OTS) problem under geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs). The former problem is formulated as a nonlinear, non-convex network optimization problem, while the latter is the network design version of the ACOPF problem that allows topology reconfiguration and considers space weather-induced effects on power systems. Overall, the goal of this research includes: (1) developing computationally efficient approaches for the ACOPF problem in order to improve power dispatch efficiency and (2) identifying an optimal topology configuration to help ISO operate power systems reliably and efficiently under geomagnetic disturbances. Chapter 1 introduces the problems we are studying and motivates the proposed research. We present the ACOPF problem and the state-of-the-art solution methods developed in recent years. Next, we introduce geomagnetic disturbances and describe how they can impact electrical power systems. In Chapter 2, we revisit the polar power-voltage formulation of the ACOPF problem and focus on convex relaxation methods to develop lower bounds on the problem objective. Based on these approaches, we propose an adaptive, multivariate partitioning algorithm with bound tightening and heuristic branching strategies that progressively improves these relaxations and, given sufficient time, converges to the globally optimal solution. Computational results show that our methodology provides a computationally tractable approach to obtain tight relaxation bounds for hard ACOPF cases from the literature. In Chapter 3, we focus on the impact that extreme GMD events could potentially have on the ability of a power system to deliver power reliably. We develop a mixed-integer, nonlinear model which captures and mitigates GMD effects through line switching, generator dispatch, and load shedding. In addition, we present a heuristic algorithm that provides high-quality solutions quickly. Our work demonstrates that line switching is an effective way to mitigate GIC impacts. In Chapter 4, we extend the preliminary study presented in Chapter 3 and further consider the uncertain nature of GMD events. We propose a two-stage distributionally robust (DR) optimization model that captures geo-electric fields induced by uncertain GMDs. Additionally, we present a reformulation of a two-stage DRO that creates a decomposition framework for solving our problem. Computational results show that our DRO approach provides solutions that are robust to errors in GMD event predictions. Finally, in Chapter 5, we summarize the research contributions of our work and provide directions for future research

Consumer Response to Genetically Modified Foods

The consumer trait and characteristic identification, and corresponding relationship to the genetically modified food product's negative reactions was determined from a 354 respondent, 130 item mailed survey. The survey and partially mediated model from Mowen's 3M Model of Personality and Motivation explained how personality traits influence genetically modified food reactions.Consumer/Household Economics,

Punishment in School: The Role of School Security Measures

Although investigation of school security measures and their relationships to various outcomes including school crime rates (Gottfredson, 2001), perpetuation of social inequality (Ferguson, 2001; Nolan, 2011; Welch & Payne, 2010), and the impact on childhood experiences has seen significant growth within the last 20 years (Newman, 2004; Kupchik, 2010), few studies have sought to explore the impacts of these measures on suspension rates. Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study (2002), I explore the relationship between security measures and in-school, out-of-school, and overall suspension rates. Results indicate schools with a security officer experience higher rates of in-school suspensions but have no difference in rates of out-of-school or overall suspensions compared to schools without a security officer. No other measure of security was related to higher suspension rates. As prior literature suggests, schools with greater proportions of black students experienced significantly higher rates of all suspension types. Finally, different types of parental involvement correlated with both higher and lower suspension rates

Shifting parenting styles and the effect on juvenile delinquency.

The importance of parenting styles on childhood development and early adolescent social and behavioral outcomes has been well documented within academic literature (Schaffer et al., 2009; Brand et al., 2009; Claes et al., 2005; Sirvanli-Ozen, 2005; Darling & Steinberg 1993; Lamborn et al., 1991) and the effects of parenting styles on juvenile delinquency have also been well researched (Hoeve, 2007; Pires & Jenkins, 2007; Claes et al., 2005; Duncan et al., 1998; Kandel, 1996; Simons & Robertson, 1989). While there have been a number of studies which show parenting practices evolve with the age of the child (Dix et al., 1986; Feldman et al., 1989; Smaller & Youniss, 1989), and parenting practices can change due to the effects of circumstances such as discrimination (Brody et al., 2008) and divorce (Simons et al., 1993), the literature on adolescent behavior and parenting styles has overlooked the impact of shifting parenting styles on delinquency. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the current research examines 1) the extent and nature of parenting style changes during adolescence, and 2) the influence of such parenting style shifts on juvenile delinquency. Results indicate that shifts from authoritative to uninvolved or permissive parenting correlate with an increase in juvenile delinquency. Correspondingly, a shift from uninvolved parenting to authoritative parenting is shown to correlate with a decrease in juvenile delinquency. A shift from permissive to authoritative parenting also corresponded with an increase in juvenile delinquency between waves. The contextual factors of parenting style shifts and the correlation with juvenile delinquency are assessed and discussed

Effect of Outcome Knowledge On Repeated Performance Evaluations

Outcome information has been shown to have a significant impact on performance evaluations in a wide variety of decision settings. Studies of outcome effects on performance evaluation typically examine a one-time decision. Often, however, managers must repeatedly evaluate performance. This study examines how outcome information affects the revision of multiple performance evaluations over time. The results have important implications for research into the sensitivity of evaluators to the sequence of the receipt of positive and negative information. Implications of these results for performance evaluation in multiple areas of business are discussed