Civics Education in the United States.

Master of ScienceCurriculum and Instruction ProgramsThomas VontzHigh quality civics education is a vital, yet often overlooked, feature of a healthy democratic society. Due to decades of neglect at the hands of an indifferent public and government, civics education in the United States is significantly behind other topics (such as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, commonly referred to as STEM), and as such, civic knowledge in the United States is low. In this report, several articles regarding the state of civics education in the US are reviewed, and then three programs to improve civics education are explored. Articles reviewed include one “report card” on various civics education programs and statistical evidence to support the assertions of low civic knowledge and low spending on civics education. Programs explored include the James Madison Memorial Fellowship, We the People, and Educating for American Democracy

Seasonal gametogenesis and egg laying in the prosobranch gastropods Nucella lamellosa, Nucella emarginata, Searlesia dira and Amphissa columbiana on the Oregon coast

A 15-month field study was made on the reproductive cycles of the prosobranch gastropods Nucella lamellosa, Nucella emarginata, Searlesia dira and Amphissa columbiana on the Oregon coast. Amphissa columbiaria and Searlesia dira were collected from Boiler Bay, Nucella emarginata from Seal Rock and Nucella lamellosa from inside Yaquina Bay. All of these species are carnivores and produce relatively few large eggs which are deposited in capsules. Each species produces a non-pelagic crawling larva whose developmental time is highly temperature dependent. The seasonal gametogenic process in females was studied by measuring oocytes in histological sections. Since these oocytes are elliptical in cross section due to packing in the ovary, the long and short axis of each oocyte was measured and converted to the diameter of a circle of equivalent area. The time required to produce an egg is approximately 20 months in Nucella lamellosa, 16 months in Searlesia dira and Amphissa columbiana and 14 months in Nucella emarginata. Daily relative growth rates for oocytes are initially low in all four species, approximately 1.6% per day, increasing two or three months prior to spawning to 5.6% in Nucella emarginata, 4.9% in Searlesia dira and 5.4% in Amphissa columbiana, but only 2.0% in Nucella lamellosa. Pre-vitellogenic oocytes begin to appear when middle-sized oocytes begin to grow rapidly to larger sizes. This rapid increase in oocyte growth rates begins in July for Amphissa columbiana and Searlesia dira and in September for Nucella emarginata and Nucella lamellosa. In males of all four species spermatogenesis continues throughout the year except for a brief period immediately after spawning. Spermatogenesis is not well correlated with environmental temperature or salinity changes, but the percentage of sperm in tubules of the testis does decrease during the spawning season. Amphissa columbiana, Searlesia dira and Nucella emarginata begin spawning in October and November at the time coastal upwelling ceases. Nucella lamellosa, found inside Yaquina Bay, does not begin spawning until June, well past the period of extremely low salinities of December and January. The oogenic cycles of Nucella lamellosa, Searlesia dira and Amphissa columbiana are adapted to maximize fecundity through the use of a restricted breeding season and a fixed-sized juvenile emerging at the time of the year when food availability for juveniles is at a maximum. Fecundity is maximized by Nucella emarginata in response to an increased food supply by repeated spawnings over a long period of time. Juvenile size at hatching varies in this species due to a constant number of food eggs and a variable number of embryos placed in each capsule

Establishing the Breeding Provenance of a Temperate-Wintering North American Passerine, the Golden-Crowned Sparrow, Using Light-Level Geolocation

The migratory biology and connectivity of passerines remains poorly known, even for those that move primarily within the temperate zone. We used light-level geolocators to describe the migratory geography of a North American temperate migrant passerine. From February to March of 2010, we attached geolocator tags to 33 Golden-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia atricapilla) wintering on the central coast of California, USA, and recovered four tags the following winter (October to December 2010). We used a Bayesian state-space model to estimate the most likely breeding locations. All four birds spent the breeding season on the coast of the Gulf of Alaska. These locations spanned approximately 1200 kilometers, and none of the individuals bred in the same location. Speed of migration was nearly twice as fast during spring than fall. The return rate of birds tagged the previous season (33%) was similar to that of control birds (39%), but comparing return rates was complicated because 7 of 11 returning birds had lost their tags. For birds that we recaptured before spring migration, we found no significant difference in mass change between tagged and control birds. Our results provide insight into the previously-unknown breeding provenance of a wintering population of Golden-crowned Sparrows and provide more evidence of the contributions that light-level geolocation can make to our understanding of the migratory geography of small passerines

A hidden Markov model for reconstructing animal paths from solar geolocation loggers using templates for light intensity

Background Solar archival tags (henceforth called geolocators) are tracking devices deployed on animals to reconstruct their long-distance movements on the basis of locations inferred post hoc with reference to the geographical and seasonal variations in the timing and speeds of sunrise and sunset. The increased use of geolocators has created a need for analytical tools to produce accurate and objective estimates of migration routes that are explicit in their uncertainty about the position estimates. Results We developed a hidden Markov chain model for the analysis of geolocator data. This model estimates tracks for animals with complex migratory behaviour by combining: (1) a shading-insensitive, template-fit physical model, (2) an uncorrelated random walk movement model that includes migratory and sedentary behavioural states, and (3) spatially explicit behavioural masks. The model is implemented in a specially developed open source R package FLightR. We used the particle filter (PF) algorithm to provide relatively fast model posterior computation. We illustrate our modelling approach with analysis of simulated data for stationary tags and of real tracks of both a tree swallow Tachycineta bicolor migrating along the east and a golden-crowned sparrow Zonotrichia atricapilla migrating along the west coast of North America. Conclusions We provide a model that increases accuracy in analyses of noisy data and movements of animals with complicated migration behaviour. It provides posterior distributions for the positions of animals, their behavioural states (e.g., migrating or sedentary), and distance and direction of movement. Our approach allows biologists to estimate locations of animals with complex migratory behaviour based on raw light data. This model advances the current methods for estimating migration tracks from solar geolocation, and will benefit a fast-growing number of tracking studies with this technology

A Bird’s- Eye View of the USA National Phenology Network: an off-the-shelf monitoring program

Phenology is central to the biology and ecology of organisms and highly sensitive to climate. Differential responses to climate change are impacting phenological synchrony of inter- acting species, which has been implicated in the decline of migratory birds that rely on seasonal resources. However, few studies explicitly measure phenology of seasonal habitat resources on the breeding and wintering grounds and at stopover sites. While avian monitoring methods are widely standardized, methods of monitoring resource phenology can be highly variable and difficult to integrate. The USA National Phenology Network (USA- NPN) has developed standardized plant and animal phenology protocols and a robust information management system to support a range of stakeholders in collecting, storing, and sharing phenology data, at the appropriate scale, to shed light on phenological synchrony. The USA-NPN’s Nature’s Notebook can be integrated into established research programs, ensuring that data will be comparable over time and across projects, taxa, regions, and research objectives. We use two case studies to illustrate the application of USA-NPN methods and protocols to established long- term landbird research programs. By integrating phenology into these programs, avian ecologists are increasing their ability to understand the magnitude and consequences of phenological responses to climate change

Migration pattern of Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow along the Pacific Flyway

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) populations of western North America exhibit dramatic differences in life history strategies including migration behavior. However, individual migration strategies and population-level migratory patterns remain largely unknown for this species. Here, we focused on the long-distance migratory subspecies, Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii). We used ringing, tracking and stable hydrogen isotope (δ2H) analysis of individuals migrating along the Pacific Flyway to assess individual phenology and routes as well as the pattern of connectivity between breeding and non-breeding sites. Results from all three methods, consisting of 79 ring recoveries, four light level geolocator tracks and 388 feather δ2H values, indicate low degrees of migratory connectivity. The isotope data provide evidence for leapfrog migration with the more southerly populations traveling greater distances to the breeding grounds than more centrally wintering individuals. Location estimates of four annual journeys revealed individually consistent migration strategies with relatively short flight bouts separated by two to three and two to six stopover sites during spring and autumn migration, respectively. However, combined results from all methods indicate high variability in migration distance among individuals. These findings confirm the phenotypic flexibility observed within this species and highlight the potential of White-crowned Sparrows for further investigations of evolutionary adaptations to ongoing changes in the environment