The Science Behind Popcorn

This poster for the Natural Sciences Poster Session at Parkland College explores the science behind popcorn, including the effects that heat and pressure put on the chemical makeup of the pericarp, endosperm and the germ of the kernel and why there are always unpopped kernels at the bottom of the bowl

Technology Integration: A Research-based Professional Development Program

This research-based thesis project explains the governmental acts and policies, investors, and other stakeholders who have worked to promote, question, and explore the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the classroom. Research suggests that best-practice ICT integration requires using ICT alongside constructivist pedagogy. However, ICT integration is a complex phenomenon involving a significant number of factors. Teachers have often taken the blame for a failure to effectively integrate ICT in their classrooms due to their integral role in effective integration. This research project attempts to ensure that teachers will be equipped, empowered, and encouraged to include ICT in their instructional repertoires through the development of a research-based professional development program. While this professional development program will only address the teacher factors involved in ICT integration, it is an essential step toward effective integration

Nuclear Chemistry Lab: Creating a Cloud Chamger to Detect Background Radiation

This write-up for a chemistry lab at Parkland College details the student\u27s experiences using a cloud chamber kit, a tool used to visualize detection of ionizing radiation. The write-up proposes a design for a larger scale cloud chamber to allow for a more accurate representation

A Student\u27s Guide to Overcoming the Pressure to Succeed in Higher Education [brochure and video]

All college students experience some sort of internal and/or external pressure to reach their definition of success. Family members, friends, professors, future employers, coaches, student organizations, and most importantly, students themselves expect certain behaviors to lead to a successful collegiate career (Newton, 2000). This video highlights the experiences and viewpoints of one student’s struggle with residual stress and offers support resources found on most campuses across the country. With the prevalence of stress and anxiety related disorders found within today’s collegiate population (Levine, 2005), this video hopes to raise awareness and assist struggling students who are seeking relief by providing possible options

Interitance Pattern of Vestigial Mutation in Drosophila melanogaster

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the inheritance pattern of the vestigial mutation in Drosophila melanogaster. The experiment was to include two crosses with wild type and vestigial mutation, but the second cross experienced environmental setbacks potentially affecting the results, the experiment could lead to future testing on environmental effects on mutation

Peer Victimization and Child Physical Health: The Moderating Role of Pessimism

Objective—Involvement in peer victimization has been associated with numerous negative consequences, including poor physical health. The purpose of this study is to improve on previous research evaluating the victimization– health relationship by examining the health (i.e., health-related quality of life [HRQoL], medical service utilization) of both victims and aggressors and examining individual variation in this relationship through the moderating effect of pessimism. Method—Sample included 125 ethnically diverse youth aged 8–11 years recruited from a low-income medical practice. Child-report of involvement in peer victimization and pessimism was assessed along with parent-report of HRQoL. 2-year medical service utilization was extracted from medical records. Results—Although not all hypotheses were supported, victims and aggressors were found to be at increased risk for certain poor health outcomes, which were exacerbated by high levels of pessimism. Conclusion—Findings expand on research into peer victimization and health and provide important implications for identification, prevention, and intervention strategies with at-risk youth

Peer Victimization and Child Physical Health: The Moderating Role of Pessimism

Objective—Involvement in peer victimization has been associated with numerous negative consequences, including poor physical health. The purpose of this study is to improve on previous research evaluating the victimization– health relationship by examining the health (i.e., health-related quality of life [HRQoL], medical service utilization) of both victims and aggressors and examining individual variation in this relationship through the moderating effect of pessimism. Method—Sample included 125 ethnically diverse youth aged 8–11 years recruited from a low-income medical practice. Child-report of involvement in peer victimization and pessimism was assessed along with parent-report of HRQoL. 2-year medical service utilization was extracted from medical records. Results—Although not all hypotheses were supported, victims and aggressors were found to be at increased risk for certain poor health outcomes, which were exacerbated by high levels of pessimism. Conclusion—Findings expand on research into peer victimization and health and provide important implications for identification, prevention, and intervention strategies with at-risk youth

Daily Bidirectional Relationships Between Sleep and Mental Health Symptoms in Youth With Emotional and Behavioral Problems

Objective The present study examined the daily, bidirectional relationships between sleep and mental health symptoms in youth presenting to mental health treatment. Methods Youth aged 6 to 11 (36% female, 44% European American) presenting to outpatient behavioral health treatment (N = 25) were recruited to participate in the study. Children and parents completed daily questionnaires regarding the child’s sleep, mood, and behavior for a 14-day period, while youth wore an actigraph watch to objectively measure sleep. Results Examining between- and within-person variance using multilevel models, results indicate that youth had poor sleep duration and quality and that sleep and mental health symptoms were highly related at the daily level. Between-person effects were found to be most important and significant bidirectional relationships exist. Conclusions Identifying and addressing sleep problems in the context of mental health treatment is important, as poor sleep is associated with increased symptomology and may contribute to worsened mental health

Study of metal recovery from printed circuit boards by physical-mechanical treatment processes

The acceleration of the global production and consumption of electronics device and the concerns related to waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) motivated this research. Printed circuit board (PCB) can be found in almost all type of electronic devices, making it an important component of WEEE. It has a heterogenous composition made of polymers, ceramic material, and metals. It contains heavy metals that can cause environmental impacts due to improper disposal. But on the other hand, there are elements with added value, such as copper, gold, silver, iron, aluminum and critical raw materials, such tantalum that can be recovered, making PCB scrap an economically attractive for recycling. The metal recovery can conserve natural resources, since it prevents new minerals from being extracted and it is a great contribution to the circular economy, removing the waste from its disposal and reinserts in the production cycle. The mechanical recycling of PCBs was studied through different operations, with the following sequence, comminution, granulometric classification, magnetic separation, gravity separation and electrostatic separation. The goal is to concentrate metals, especially copper, identifying the main elements obtained through cheaper processes to recycle e-waste. The PCB composition was initially carried out through the scanning electron microscope analysis. Then, it was shredded in a cutting mill and classified according to their grain size by sieving. Afterwards, a magnetic separation has been performed together with gravity and electrostatic separation of the non-magnetic fraction. The products obtained were observed with the macroscope to qualitatively assess the metallic content. The results obtained allowed to conclude that physical-mechanical techniques have high potential to produce a concentrate product with high added value. The application of magnetic separation proved to be efficient, as it enabled the recovery of high percentage of iron. In gravity separation, the metal recovery was satisfactory for the particle size -0.6 + 0.3 mm and for the particle size -1.18 + 0.6mm. In the recovery of metals by electrostatic separation the efficiencies obtained was really high the lower particle size (-0.3mm)