Using Music to Improve Learning in Mathematics

Today’s economic constraints mean tighter budgets and lowered staffing which in turn causes school districts to make difficult choices pertaining to arts programs. Utilizing music in an academic core curriculum has been argued as not only an opportunity that allows arts integration in the classroom but has revealed a direct correlation to increased student interest and academic success. The purpose of this study explores whether music can be used in a first-grade classroom to help students understand, enjoy, remember and apply certain mathematical concepts. The literature review section of this project examines research studies conducted in classrooms that highlight the importance of the arts when used in collaboration with other subjects. The discussion also looks at research and evaluation of brain function and the role that music plays on the brain. Lastly, it reviews and lists ways that music is used to enhance learning in elementary classrooms. The thesis project specifically examines and compares traditional methods of teaching math versus integrating content and methods involving math and music. The study focuses on the conceptual content use of patterns since they can be easily found in both music and math. The project goal was not only mathematic comprehension but student engagement to increase course interest and aptitude. This study was conducted at an elementary performing arts magnet school within an urban school district in Western New York State. Pre-test results reveal that the eight first-grade study participants selected were all struggling with the pattern lesson. Pre and post-testing was used as well as student journals. The study integrated the school district’s math curriculum with parts of the music curriculum to create New York State Standards based lesson plans that teach math concepts. The study suggests that the integration of the subjects, math and music, would assist student understanding of mathematical concepts and consequently improve their math test scores. Research conclusions support the argument that the incorporation of music in mathematics instruction increases student success and engagement. (Lesson plans and student worksheets are included in the Appendices sections of this project.

Benthic Foraminiferal Oxygen Isotope Offsets Over The Last Glacial-Interglacial Cycle

The oxygen isotope (?18O) offset between contemporaneous benthic foraminiferal species is often assumed constant with time and geographic location. We present an inventory of benthic foraminiferal species ?18O offsets from the major ocean basins covering the last glacial-interglacial cycle, showing that of the twenty down-core records investigated, twelve show significant temporal changes in ?18O offsets that do not resemble stochastic variability. Some of the temporal changes may be related to kinetic fractionation effects causing deglacial/interglacial enrichment or glacial depletion in mainly infaunal species, but additional research is needed to confirm this. In addition to stratigraphic implications the finding of temporally varying offsets between co-existing benthic foraminiferal species could have implications for sea-level, deep water temperature, and regional deep water ?18O estimates

On the sensitivity of an ocean general circulation model to glacial boundary conditions

Several studies in the last two decades measuring stable isotope ratios 613C from foraminifera shells pointed out that during the last glacial maximum (LGM) the Atlantic thermohaline circulation was significantly different from the present day circulation, indicating a shallower and reduced North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), while the compensating Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) penetrated further northward. Here, we show a 3 D OGCM response to glacial wind stress and air temperature derived from an atmospheric GCM and salinity reconstructions adapted from 6180 measurements in foraminifera shells. The OGCM includes a simplified biogeochemical cycle and reproduces the main features of the past 6130 distribution with a reduction of the Atlantic ’conveyor belt’ by about the half at 30 08. Sensitivity experiments with respect to possible errors in the reconstructed salinity boundary fields show circulation patterns in the Atlantic ranging from an even stronger than the present day one to a nearly shut down of the ’conveyor belt’ circulation. Additionally, a sensitivity experiment with respect to uncertainties of the wind field in order of the glacial—interglacial amplitude shows that Atlantic overturning circulation is not severely affected

Abyssal Atlantic circulation during the Last Glacial Maximum: Constraining the ratio between transport and vertical mixing

The ocean’s role in regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide on glacial‐interglacial timescales remains an unresolved issue in paleoclimatology. Reduced mixing between deep water masses may have aided oceanic storage of atmospheric CO_2 during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), but data supporting this idea have remained elusive. The δ^(13)C of benthic foraminifera indicate the Atlantic Ocean was more chemically stratified during the LGM, but the nonconservative nature of δ^(13)C complicates interpretation of the LGM signal. Here we use benthic foraminiferal δ^(18)O as a conservative tracer to constrain the ratio of meridional transport to vertical diffusivity in the deep Atlantic. Our calculations suggest that the ratio was at least twice as large at the LGM. We speculate that the primary cause was reduced mixing between northern and southern component waters, associated with movement of this water mass boundary away from the zone of intense mixing near the seafloor. The shallower water mass boundary yields an order of magnitude increase in the volume of southern component water, suggesting its residence time may have increased substantially. Our analysis supports the idea that an expanded volume of Antarctic Bottom Water and limited vertical mixing enhanced the abyssal ocean’s ability to trap carbon during glacial times

The Atlantic Ocean at the last glacial maximum: 1. Objective mapping of the GLAMAP sea-surface conditions

Recent efforts of the German paleoceanographic community have resulted in a unique data set of reconstructed sea-surface temperature for the Atlantic Ocean during the Last Glacial Maximum, plus estimates for the extents of glacial sea ice. Unlike prior attempts, the contributing research groups based their data on a common definition of the Last Glacial Maximum chronozone and used the same modern reference data for calibrating the different transfer techniques. Furthermore, the number of processed sediment cores was vastly increased. Thus the new data is a significant advance not only with respect to quality, but also to quantity. We integrate these new data and provide monthly data sets of global sea-surface temperature and ice cover, objectively interpolated onto a regular 1°x1° grid, suitable for forcing or validating numerical ocean and atmosphere models. This set is compared to an existing subjective interpolation of the same base data, in part by employing an ocean circulation model. For the latter purpose, we reconstruct sea surface salinity from the new temperature data and the available oxygen isotope measurements