Plethora of Plastics: Lesson Plan

Abstract: Students will engage in the mathematical modeling process by using statistics about a real world situation to build and assess linear and exponential functions to see when each model is appropriate. Students will investigate the growth of plastic creation and the rise of the resulting waste using technology and mathematics, to better understand the problem, make predictions and think about future decisions

Antarctica ice melting- Mathematical modeling lesson

Abstract: This lesson uses mathematical modeling to approximate the rise in sea level caused by the Antarctica ice sheet melting. Students must formulate questions and assumptions, compute answers, interpret in the context of the problem and then validate their model by assessing the reasonableness and other factors that might also impact the situation. The topics addressed through the mathematical modeling process include unit conversions and the relationship between surface area and volume

Brita

Abstract: This student activity sheet is designed to guide students through the mathematical modeling process as they investigate the impact of plastic water bottles on the environment. Students must formulate questions and assumptions, compute answers, interpret in the context of the problem and then validate their model by assessing the reasonableness and other elements that might also factor into the problem. Through the investigation of plastic water bottles, the activity presents students with a real life problem and the opportunity to practice critical thinking, unit conversions, measurement, basic geometry, and basic arithmetical computations

Not Another Hillbilly Salvation: Reading Welfare Assessment As Confession In Five Appalachian Counties

With the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRA) in 1996, the welfare system became more invasive through requirements for multiple assessments. In this thesis, I analyze seventeen qualitative interviews with welfare participants and workers in five Appalachian counties to examine the role of assessment processes in creating deserving and undeserving welfare subjectivities. Combining postmodern theory and qualitative research, I ask the question: how do local policies and practices produce "the Appalachian welfare participant"

Eleven landscape paintings

The thesis is an exhibit of eleven landscape paintings dealing with images of the movements and forces of earth's nature. Nature has a very definite relationship to my work, but I also include man and man-made objects. The result is landscape portraying figurative images. My work is done consciously and intentionally by the method which is expressed throughout the thesis. A catalogue of the eleven paintings is included

Leadership behaviors that build or destroy trust: a narrative study

The focus of this qualitative study was to examine how faculty members at three community colleges in North Carolina made meaning of concept of trust and to explore the leadership behaviors or actions that were perceived to build or destroy feelings of trust. More understanding about the nature of trust within higher education and the roles played by leaders in shaping trust within their organizations is needed, especially now as colleges are experiencing large numbers of retirements in key leadership roles. Trust is the cornerstone of a healthy, positive, productive organizational climate. Without trust between leaders and those whom they lead, organizational progress is slowed, even simple processes can become politicized and approached with caution. Risk-taking, the birthplace of innovation, is reduced, and collaboration is rendered difficult. Within a low trust environment, change is often approached with fear, not curiosity or hope. The actions or behaviors of leaders set the tone for trust within an organization. This narrative study explored faculty perceptions of trust and the leadership behaviors that build or destroy trust as expressed through participants' personal experience stories. Elements within and among stories were analyzed for patterns, which were later clustered into the following categories: ethics, valuing others, communication, competence, and consistency

Eight versions of a mother holding her baby

My thesis proper consists of eight paintings, each of which is dome in acrylics on a canvass Measuring twenty six inches by thirty-eight inches. The paintings are all of the same subject, a Mother holding her baby in her arms. Each painting was began with a drawing of these figures which was traced from a master copy made from an earlier painting. In doing the painting of the Mother and baby, I tried to emphasize intimacy by having the heads nearly touch each other, and by having the mother hold the baby closely. I also tried to emphasize this intimacy through similarity of brushwork in the head areas. The reason for repeating subject matter in my paintings was so that I could experiment with line and color and develop new ideas without the distraction of concern with subject natter and balance

Southampton PRegnancy Intervention for the Next Generation (SPRING):protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: The nutritional status and health of mothers influence the growth and development of infants during pregnancy and postnatal life. Interventions that focus on improving the nutritional status and lifestyle of mothers have the potential to optimise the development of the fetus as well as improve the health of mothers themselves. Improving the diets of women of childbearing age is likely to require complex interventions that are delivered in a socially and culturally appropriate context. In this study we aim to test the efficacy of two interventions: behaviour change (Healthy Conversation Skills) and vitamin D supplementation, and to explore the efficacy of an intervention that combines both, in improving the diet quality and nutritional status of pregnant women. METHODS/DESIGN: Women attending the maternity hospital in Southampton are recruited at between 8 and 12 weeks gestation. They are randomised to one of four groups following a factorial design: Healthy Conversation Skills support plus vitamin D supplementation (1000 IU cholecalciferol) (n = 150); Healthy Conversation Skills support plus placebo (n = 150); usual care plus vitamin D supplementation (n = 150); usual care plus placebo (n = 150). Questionnaire data include parity, sunlight exposure, diet assessment allowing assessment of diet quality, cigarette and alcohol consumption, well-being, self-efficacy and food involvement. At 19 and 34 weeks maternal anthropometry is assessed and blood samples taken to measure 25(OH) vitamin D. Maternal diet quality and 25(OH) vitamin D are the primary outcomes. Secondary outcomes are women's level of self-efficacy at 34 weeks, pregnancy weight gain, women's self-efficacy and breastfeeding status at one month after birth and neonatal bone mineral content, assessed by DXA within the first 14 days after birth. DISCUSSION: This trial is evaluating two approaches to improving maternal diet: a behaviour change intervention and vitamin D supplementation. The factorial design of this trial has the advantage of enabling each intervention to be tested separately as well as allowing exploration of the synergistic effect of both interventions on women's diets and vitamin D levels. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN07227232 . Registered on 13 September 2013

The Impact of Official Development Aid on Maternal and Reproductive Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: Progress toward meeting Millennium Development Goal 5, which aims to improve maternal and reproductive health outcomes, is behind schedule. This is despite ever increasing volumes of official development aid targeting the goal, calling into question the distribution and efficacy of aid. The 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness represented a global commitment to reform aid practices in order to improve development outcomes, encouraging a shift toward collaborative aid arrangements which support the national plans of aid recipient countries (and discouraging unaligned donor projects). METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a systematic review to summarise the evidence of the impact on MDG 5 outcomes of official development aid delivered in line with Paris aid effectiveness principles and to compare this with the impact of aid in general on MDG 5 outcomes. Searches of electronic databases identified 30 studies reporting aid-funded interventions designed to improve maternal and reproductive health outcomes. Aid interventions appear to be associated with small improvements in the MDG indicators, although it is not clear whether changes are happening because of the manner in which aid is delivered. The data do not allow for a meaningful comparison between Paris style and general aid. The review identified discernible gaps in the evidence base on aid interventions targeting MDG 5, notably on indicators MDG 5.4 (adolescent birth rate) and 5.6 (unmet need for family planning). DISCUSSION: This review presents the first systematic review of the impact of official development aid delivered according to the Paris principles and aid delivered outside this framework on MDG 5 outcomes. Its findings point to major gaps in the evidence base and should be used to inform new approaches and methodologies aimed at measuring the impact of official development aid