Developing Integral Ecologists: Description and Analysis of the State of Environmental Education at Jesuit High Schools in Light of Religious Ecological Commitments and Science Education Research

This research responds to numerous calls to focus more immediately and deeply on environmental education in the context of local communities. Jesuit high schools offer a rich network to study this movement, as schools with long histories of scholarly and moral concerns for forming students to think about and act on worldwide problems. The key research question is: How can science education research inform environmental education in these schools? The research methodology includes data collection and analysis of publicly-accessible website data, phone interviews with teachers, and a literature review of science education research. Recommendations are given for vertically aligning the diverse environmental education activities at these schools with coherent standards for student development of specific environmental competencies

Cultivating Teacher Expertise in the Landscape of Green Chemistry: The Development of Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Beyond Benign’s Lead Teacher Program

Chemistry Education, Green Chemistry, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Professional Learning Communities, Sustainability, Teacher Trainin

Methane emissions and production potentials of forest swamp wetlands in the eastern Great Xing'An Mountains, Northeast China

Measurements of methane flux at a few inundated sites in China have been extrapolated to obtain estimates on a national scale. To enable those national estimates to be refined and to compare flux from geographically separated sites comprising the same wetland types, we used a closed chamber method to measure methane flux in uninundated Betula platyphylla-and Larix gmelinii-dominated peatlands in the Northeast China. Our measurements were taken from both vegetated and bare soil surfaces, and we compared flux with environmental measures including vegetation biomass, soil temperature and soil characteristics. We found that methane flux was low, and that there were no significant differences between wetland types, indicating that environmental influences were dominant. We found that flux was positively correlated to temperature in the surface layers of the soil, the above-ground biomass of the shrub and herb layers, total soil carbon and total soil nitrogen; and we suggest that emissions may be due to anaerobic microcosms in the surface layers. The methane production potentials of the soils were low and similar between both sites but inconsistent with the differences between fluxes, and inconsistent with production potentials and fluxes reported from the same wetland types elsewhere, indicating that there were subtle environmental differences between wetlands classed as being of the same type. Differences between fluxes in vegetated chambers with bare soil chambers were insignificant, indicating that no methane emission through aerenchyma occurred at our sites. We concluded that wetland type was not an accurate predictor of methane flux.Bing Yu, Philip Stott, Hongxian Yu, Xiaoyu L

Healing Earth Environmental Textbook

Healing Earth is a free, online environmental science textbook for upper level secondary school students, beginning college students, and adult learners. We invite teachers around the world to use this resource in their classrooms and share their experience with us. Healing Earth is an ongoing project, so we hope that everyone—teachers, young students, adult learners—will join us in using and improving Healing Earth.https://ecommons.luc.edu/facultybooks/1143/thumbnail.jp

The epidemiology of pharmacologically treated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, adolescents and adults in UK primary care

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by the symptoms of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. ADHD was once perceived as a condition of childhood only; however increasing evidence has highlighted the existence of ADHD in older adolescents and adults. Estimates for the prevalence of ADHD in adults range from 2.5–4%. Few data exist on the prescribing trends of the stimulants methylphenidate and dexamfetamine, and the non-stimulant atomoxetine in the UK. The aim of this study was to investigate the annual prevalence and incidence of pharmacologically treated ADHD in children, adolescents and adults in UK primary care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database was used to identify all patients aged over 6 years with a diagnosis of ADHD/hyperkinetic disorder and a prescription for methylphenidate, dexamfetamine or atomoxetine from 2003–2008. Annual prevalence and incidence of pharmacologically treated ADHD were calculated by age category and sex.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The source population comprised 3,529,615 patients (48.9% male). A total of 118,929 prescriptions were recorded for the 4,530 patients in the pharmacologically treated ADHD cohort during the 6-year study. Prevalence (per 1000 persons in the mid-year THIN population) increased within each age category from 2003 to 2008 [6–12 years: from 4.8 (95% CI: 4.5–5.1) to 9.2 (95% CI: 8.8–9.6); 13–17 years: from 3.6 (95% CI: 3.3–3.9) to 7.4 (95% CI: 7.0–7.8); 18–24 years: from 0.3 (95% CI: 0.2–0.3) to 1.1 (95% CI: 1.0–1.3); 25–45 years: from 0.02 (95% CI: 0.01–0.03) to 0.08 (95% CI: 0.06–0.10); >45 years: from 0.01 (95% CI: 0.00–0.01) to 0.02 (95% CI: 0.01–0.03). Whilst male patients aged 6-12 years had the highest prevalence; the relative increase in prescribing was higher amongst female patients of the same age - the increase in prevalence in females aged 6–12 years was 2.1 fold compared to an increase of 1.9 fold for their male counterparts. Prevalence of treated ADHD decreased with increasing age. Incidence (per 1000 persons at risk in the mid-year THIN population) was highest for children aged 6–12 years.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A trend of increasing prescribing prevalence of ADHD drug treatment was observed over the period 2003–2008. Prevalence of prescribing to adult patients increased; however the numbers treated are much lower than published estimates of the prevalence of ADHD. This study has added to the limited knowledge on ADHD prescribing in primary care, particularly in the area of drug treatment in adulthood.</p