Getting to Know Me [9th grade]

This unit is written for a fourth grade English Language Arts class at a bilingual school in Honduras. It is designed to be taught at the beginning of the school year, within the first 3-4 weeks. Since the unit focuses on classroom-community building and basic grammar, it could be adapted for a primary grade class of native English speakers or for a level 1 class of foreign language learners. Suggestions and resources for differentiation are mentioned for several lessons

Revolutionary Perspectives: Using Primary Sources and Art to Teach the Causes of the American Revolution [4th grade]

In this unit, students will learn about the events leading up to the American Revolution through primary and secondary print sources and artwork. Students will recognize that British and American points of view differed greatly through the pre-Revolutionary time period. These differing points of view are present in primary and secondary print sources and artwork. Students will distinguish between these points of view and explain how different perspectives and ideas played an important role in the causes and events leading to the American Revolution. They will then apply critical thinking skills to create a written account and piece of artwork that interpret an event of the American Revolution from a specific point of view

The experience of performance funding on higher education at the campus level in the past 20 years

Tennessee was the first state in the nation to adopt a performance funding policy which links a portion of state appropriations to colleges and universities to their performance on several educational performance indicators. The purpose of this study was to examine the experience of a single community college with the policy over the 20 year period since the policy was first implemented. A case study method was employed and involved extensive interviews with executive administrators, administrative faculty and faculty. The case study also made use of pertinent document analysis, and observations. Although few of the participants felt that the policy should be discontinued, several improvements were suggested, and a variety of themes emerged concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the policy

Post Installation Inspection for All Storm Drain Pipes

This session teaches common practices to protect the owner’s best interest by ensuring all storm drain and culvert pipes in their system have been properly installed and that the pipeline system is uncompromised. Post installation inspection (PII) provides the owner with the information needed to determine if proper installation occurred prior to project close-out or final acceptance

Think Inside the Box: Using Tables to Understand Number Patterns [4th grade]

This two-week unit introduces students to more sophisticated number patterns and teaches students how to describe the relationship between two sets of data in a table. In the unit, students will identify patterns in everyday situations, record those patterns in the form of a table, and begin to use arithmetic expressions as well as other strategies to describe relationships between sets of data in a table. The performance task will ask students to create tables comparing age relationships. Students will describe the relationship between sets of data in each table using both written and verbal communication

Geology: Just Touching the Surface [4th grade]

In this unit, students will explore patterns of change in the earth s layers through hands-on experiments and activities, as well as case studies of geologic phenomena. Students will learn about volcano types, volcanic activity, and plate movement and its effects. Students will be exposed to the plate tectonic theory and its implications on geologic history. They will observe the effects of geologic activity on human life based through case studies such as Mt. St. Helens, the 1989 earthquake in Loma Prieta, California, and the tsunami of 2004. Students will also gain new perspective on the decisions humans make in their choice of location. Why do people live near potentially harmful landmarks? What are the benefits associated with living near a volcano or fault line? Students will demonstrate their understanding of these questions through diary entries and class discussions. Students will also learn about how mountains are formed and will classify mountain types based on their appearance. Throughout the unit, students will examine models of the earth as well as models of geologic phenomena. They will observe how the models represent real-world situations, and will also identify limitations of each model. Throughout each portion of the unit, students will connect patterns of change to geologic phenomena, in order to hypothesize what the earth was like in the past, as well as to predict what geologic phenomena might occur in the future. By practicing such skills, students will see the importance of scientific study to the well-being of life on earth. The unit will conclude with a performance task that, upon giving students scientific data (seismic readings, temperature readings, relief maps, and pictures of the landmark), asks them to identify the geologic landmark of a hypothetical area. Students must then identify potential benefits and dangers of living near the landmark, possible events that have occurred in the area\u27s recent history, and possible events that may occur in the future. Students will gather their findings and prepare a pamphlet to present to a small audience. By using their knowledge in a practical way, students will enjoy a memorable and intellectually rewarding activity

Selected Hydrologic Data for Sand Cove Wash, Washington County, Utah

Southwestern Utah is one of the most arid and fastest growing regions of Utah. Development of new and existing water resources will be required to meet the water needs of the region. Sand Cove Wash, a tributary of the Santa Clara River that flows into Gunlock Reservoir, was investigated as a potential site for diverting peak runoff from the Santa Clara River in order to delay its arrival at the reservoir or to artificially recharge alluvial sediment or the underlying Navajo aquifer. Hydrologic data collected in this study are described and listed in this report. Six boreholes were drilled in Sand Cove Wash to determine the vertical and spatial distribution of the alluvial deposits and their hydrologic properties. Nine to 13 feet of fine alluvial sand is underlain by 50 to 70 feet of fine silt and clay. Core samples were analyzed for specific conductance of leachates, particle-size distribution, and saturated vertical hydraulic conductivity. Specific-conductance values of leachates ranged from 23 to 2,940 microsiemens per centimeter. Vertical hydraulic-conductivity values from selected samples ranged from 1.92 x 10-4 to 2.5 feet per day

Helium in Stream Water as a Volcanic Monitoring Tool

We show that synoptic sampling of streams can be used to characterize volcanic volatiles in groundwater over large spatial scales. Synoptic sampling of dissolved noble gases, 222Rn, major ions, and stream discharge was carried out along a 30 km reach of the Gibbon River, near Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, USA. Groundwater discharge location, volume, and composition were estimated by constrained calibration of a stream flow and solute transport model. Estimated groundwater composition from stream modeling was compared to shallow groundwater concentrations measured in nearby springs. 3He, 222Rn, and Cl− aq signatures in the Gibbon River are indicative of groundwater discharge with a volcanic signature along the study reach. Stream water noble gas isotopic composition has similar isotopic mixing patterns to springs. The model-estimated composition of groundwater discharging to the Gibbon agrees well with observed groundwater composition from nearby springs for all modeled analytes. We present the first observations of elevated mantle helium in stream water and show that stream water can be used as a convenient collection point to estimate spatially distributed groundwater composition and to monitor changes in volatile flux over large spatial areas. These results offer the possibility that stream surveys in volcanic terrain could be a new method for distributed volcanic monitoring at the catchment scale and beyond

Geometry, kinematics and rates of deformation in a normal fault segment boundary, central Greece

The geometry, kinematics and rates of deformation within a fault segment boundary between the ends of two major active normal fault segments have been investigated through examination of a faulted 126 ka marine terrace. Slip‐vector azimuths defined by striations on the faults indicate N‐S extension on c. E‐W faults, sub‐parallel to those from earthquake focal mechanisms, together with significant and contemporaneous E‐W extension on c. N‐S faults. Summed rates of E‐W extension along a c. 550 m transect (0.17 mm/yr) are comparable with those for N‐S extension (0.20 mm/yr) along a c. 350 m transect. Our observations show that distributed non‐plane strain extension occurs in fault segment boundaries and this should be noted when studying fault‐tip fracture toughness and regional deformation rates