Growth and Development in Lady Beetles

Living in a group can potentially put stress on an animal. This is particularly true for species like Hippodamia convergens, the convergent lady beetle, the larvae of which will cannibalize each other when food sources are limited. This can raise the question of whether or not living in a group affects the growth and development of an individual, and how the growth rate might differ for an individual who is raised alone. This experiment attempts to answer that question by comparing 12 colonies of lady beetles, some of which were reared in groups, some reared alone, and recording the pupation lengths. The hypothesis was that the individuals raised alone would grow and pupate faster than the groups, because they would not have to compete for space or resources. It was ultimately found that while pupation and hatch dates for individual lady beetles were far more variable, there were no large differences in the average length of pupation between groups and individuals

Teaching Mathematics: Heuristics Can and Ought to Lead the Way

In contrast to problem-solving procedures that are the “bricks and mortar” of demonstrations in mathematics textbooks, heuristics, defined by Polya as “the study of means and methods of problem solving”, are those mental actions that enable the practitioner to make progress when it is not clear how to solve problems directly. Yet, as essential as heuristic tools are, they tend not to be included in presentations in mathematics textbooks. The overarching problem can be understood in terms of students’ not developing productive means for engaging problems. A few mathematics problems are included to argue for the validity, if not the priority, of the need for the incorporation of heuristics along with problem-solving procedures as standard content in mathematics textbooks

The Formal Presentation Language of Mathematics and Communication Ethics

Mathematics employs a formal language where symbols, verbs, and nouns serve to express terms, concepts, and rules that concatenate to definitions, problem-solving procedures, and proofs. Taken together these constitute the expository language of mathematics found in journals, textbooks, and demonstrations. As a communication given to informing, there are epistemological and ethical considerations that deserve examination. For in keeping with the commitment to an aesthetic of concision promulgated by tradition, the formal presentation language and style of mathematics, while valuable in furthering the body of knowledge, provides only the conclusion of an inquiry, completely excluding the language of investigation that informed the many steps of decision making involved in the process, so that little if any insight into the creative process is made available. Here we explore this problem of communication in the context of mathematics presented to students early in their education as well as at university level. The argument is made that the language of investigation -- the heuristic actions instrumental for their formulation -- ought to accompany the language of formal demonstration so as to provide a communication that is in the best interests of all students and members of the mathematics profession

Mathematics Students as Artists: Broadening the Mathematics Curriculum

Mathematics has often been referred to as an art. For some it is “the purest of the arts”, where the mathematicians’ art is “asking simple and elegant questions about our imaginary creations, and crafting satisfying and beautiful explanations”. Yet with classroom time given primarily to “covering the curriculum”, testing, and practicing problem-solving procedures, students’ opportunities to appreciate the aesthetic dimension of mathematics are often limited. To promote a responsive environment in an effort to enable students to become artists of their own mathematics experience, I consider in this paper two facets of the mathematics classroom. Content-wise I make the argument that students need to see problem-clarifying strategies in conjunction with problem-solving techniques, as the former are essential for making progress when engaging a mathematics problem where an explicit solution is not apparent. The other facet aiming to promote student agency is providing them opportunities to work with their own practical/professional concerns as students so as to become more creative and productive artists of their mathematics experience

The Relationship between Arm Length and Leg Length with Sit-and-Reach Performance

No abstract was provided

Effects of Group Living on Pupation in a Lady Beetle

To further understand the lives and development habits of insects, we must know how they influence each other through pupation periods. This will ultimately help us understand how interactive insects are throughout their life. To answer this question, we tested the pupation rates of Hippodamia convergens in groups and alone. This will help us delineate the advantages or disadvantages of the organism in groups versus singular pupation. We hypothesized that the Lady Beetles reared alone will develop faster and have a higher growth rate than those reared in groups. During the experiment, the subjects engaged in cannibalism which could have affected our results. Cannibalism occurs when food in the environment is scarce, and although the Lady Beetles were fed, the amounts that were given may not have been proper for their size nor consistent with each group member. At the end of this experiment we saw that the specimens reared in groups pupated more consistently than those reared alone. We assume that the reason Lady Beetles in groups pupated more consistently is because of the stressors in their environment, while the ones alone did not have any stressors. These conclusions may be important because it will help us determine the factors that influence pupation before and during the process in relation to other species of insects

Lack of Metabolic Acclimation to Different Thermal Histories by Tadpoles of Limnodynastes Peroni (Anura: Leptodactylidae) 1

Tadpoles of Limnodynastes peroni show no evidence of any ability to undergo thermal metabolic acclimation when kept at 15 degrees C and 25 degrees C for periods up to 75 days. When kept for 90-120 days, small differences were seen between rate-temperature curves of 15 degrees C and 25 degrees C history tadpoles. The reality of these differences as evidence for thermal metabolic acclimation is difficult to assess. An overall equation to describe the effect of temperature (T, C) and weight (W, grams) on oxygen consumption (QO2, ml g-1 h-1) is log10 QO2 = -2.13 + 0.05T - 0.48 log10 W, for which r2 = 0.86 (no. = 360). Q10 is 3.16 and in the relationship M +/- Wb (where M = oxygen consumption, ml h-1), the exponent b = 0.52. The results suggest that in tadpoles of L. peroni any adaptations to fluctuating temperatures may be behavioral rather than physiological or biochemical

Biological and Chemical Evaluation of the Aquatic Environment of Selected Undeveloped Kentucky Lake Embayments

This report describes research involving biological and chemical analysis of two undeveloped embayments on Kentucky Lake, namely Anderson and Vickers Bays. Field and laboratory studies were made to assess current biotic standing crops, limnological conditions, levels of inorganic and organic pollutants in the embayments