Using a self-reflective journal to enhance science communication

In new times the ability to self-evaluate and reflect on one's own actions in communicating with others will be a crucial workplace skill. An innovative peer tutoring course for academic credit, by university science students in high schools, will be presented, with a review on its ability to develop a link between school tutoring and workplace communication. Course content relates to broad issues of science literacy, science communication and group situations and peer interactions. Students complete on-campus lecture and workshop component, and do 20-30 hours of in-school tutoring; assessment includes an examination, assignments in the form of journals, and a personal learning log of experiences. Findings from the first two years of the course, based on data sources of students' journal entries and responses to the end of unit evaluations (1996, n = 21; 1997, n = 21) are presented. Analysis focuses on the development of reflective skills and students' awareness of their personal power in detecting and solving problems and developing strategies to promote two way communication. The use of self-evaluation through reflective journals was found to enhance the effectiveness of tutoring. Implications for developing the 'human side' of science will be discussed, and the appropriateness of the course to develop these often under-represented aspects of science

Patterns of megafloral change across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains

The spatial and temporal distribution of vegetation in the terminal Cretaceous of Western Interior North America was a complex mosaic resulting from the interaction of factors including a shifting coastline, tectonic activity, a mild, possibly deteriorating climate, dinosaur herbivory, local facies effects, and a hypothesized bolide impact. In order to achieve sufficient resolution to analyze this vegetational pattern, over 100 megafloral collecting sites were established, yielding approximately 15,000 specimens, in Upper Cretaceous and lower Paleocene strata in the Williston, Powder River, and Bighorn basins in North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. These localities were integrated into a lithostratigraphic framework that is based on detailed local reference sections and constrained by vertebrate and palynomorph biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, and sedimentary facies analysis. A regional biostratigraphy based on well located and identified plant megafossils that can be used to address patterns of floral evolution, ecology, and extinction is the goal of this research. Results of the analyses are discussed

User's guide for the Nimbus 7 ERB Solar Analysis Tape (ESAT)

Five years of Nimbus 7 ERB solar data is available in compact form on a single ERB solar analysis tape (ESAT). The period covered is November 16, 1978 through October 31, 1983. The Nimbus 7 satellite performs just under 14 orbits a day and the ERB solar telescope observe the Sun once per orbit as the satellite passes + or - near the south pole. The data were carefully calibrated and screened. Mean orbital and daily values are given for the total solar irradiance plus selected spectral intervals. In addition, selected solar activity indicators are on the tape. The ERB experiment, the solar data calibration and screening procedures, the solar activity indicators, and the tape format are described briefly

Studies of effects on optical components and sensors: LDEF experiments AO-147 (ERB components) and S-0014 (APEX)

Some additional results of testing of optical filters and window materials and thermopile sensors of the two experiments are included. The Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment (APEX) interference filters exhibited much greater degradation in space than the ERB filters. The adhesion of the Indium washers to the APEX interference filters is reported

The historic record of cold spells in Ireland

This paper assesses the long historical climatological record of cold spells in Ireland stretching back to the 1st millennium BC. Over this time period cold spells in Ireland can be linked to solar output variations and volcanic activity both in Iceland and elsewhere. This provides a context for an exploration of the two most recent cold spells which affected Ireland in 2009_2010 and in late 2010 and were the two worst weather disasters in recent Irish history. These latter events are examined in this context and the role of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and declining Arctic sea-ice levels are also considered. These recent events with detailed instrumental temperature records also enable a re-evaluation of the historic records of cold spells in Ireland