DNA microarray wet lab simulation brings genomics into the high school curriculum

We have developed a wet lab DNA microarray simulation as part of a complete DNA microarray module for high school students. The wet lab simulation has been field tested with high school students in Illinois and Maryland as well as in workshops with high school teachers from across the nation. Instead of using DNA, our simulation is based on pH indicators, which offer many ideal teaching characteristics. The simulation requires no specialized equipment, is very inexpensive, is very reliable, and takes very little preparation time. Student and teacher assessment data indicate the simulation is popular with both groups, and students show significant learning gains. We include many resources with this publication, including all prelab introductory materials (e.g., a paper microarray activity), the student handouts, teachers notes, and pre- and postassessment tools. We did not test the simulation on other student populations, but based on teacher feedback, the simulation also may fit well in community college and in introductory and nonmajors' college biology curricula.     

Energy balance of locomotion with pedal-driven watercraft

In this study, we examined the mechanics and energetics of locomotion with a paddle-wheel boat and a water bike. Power output (Wtot) was measured directly on the water bike by means of an instrumented chain-ring. The simultaneous assessment of oxygen uptake (VO2) allowed the computation of the "overall" efficiency of locomotion (etao = Wtot/VO2). Mean etao was 0.27 (s = 0.02), which was unaffected by the speed, and was assumed to be the same for the two boats as both are semi-recumbent bicycles. For the paddle-wheel boat, Wtot was then obtained from etao and measures of VO2. The power to overcome (passive) drag was calculated as Wd = D x v (where D is the force measured by means of a load cell when towing the boats at given speeds). Propelling efficiency was calculated as etap = Wd/Wtot, which was lower with the paddle-wheel boat (mean 0.35, s = 0.01) than with the water bike (mean 0.57, s = 0.01). The observed differences in etap and Wd explain why at the highest speed tested (approximately 3 m s(-1), the energy required to cover a unit distance with the water bike is similar to that required to move the paddle-wheel boat at 1.3 m s-1).     

The history of the unspeakable: Shimokawa Masaharu’s The forgotten history of evacuation

ABSTRACT

Histories of wartime Japan often focus on the Japanese home islands after Japan’s surrender to Allied forces on 15 August 1945. Japanese citizens living in Korea, Manchuria, and elsewhere in the far-flung Japanese Empire are usually left out of the historiographical record. In a new book about the evacuees—hikiagesha—from the defunct Empire, Shimokawa Masaharu presents a vivid, harrowing portrait of the suffering of those who had to make their way back to Japan after the end of the Greater East Asia War. In particular, Shimokawa focuses on Izumi Sei’ichi, who established a sanatorium and abortuary in Fukuoka for women who had been raped by enemy soldiers.     

“She My Friend”: Implications of Friend Ideologies,Identities, and Relationships for Bilingual Kindergarteners

This study identifies how the contextual features of an elementary school setting shaped and often restricted bilingual kindergarten students' access to friendships within their grade-level English-dominant classroom. Data demonstrate how students utilized a teacher-designed lunch card routine to initiate, maintain, and display friendships in addition to indicating their lunch selection. Findings from the study prompted changes in my instructional practices as well as in the ESL and bilingual program design at the school in order to allow greater interaction between native English and native Spanish speakers. Implications of these findings include the significance of social relationships for language learning, for gaining status, and for motivating bilingual students to remain in school over the course of their K-12 education.     

Desalination of masonry structures: Fine tuning of pore size distribution of poultices to substrate properties

Desalination is a relatively new intervention in the field of conservation of architectural heritage. Especially the desalination of immovable objects, such as masonry structures, is still a trial-error practice. In the field, different desalination materials and methods are used, sometimes with unsatisfactory results. Better understanding of the desalination process is needed in order to support the conservator with clear guidelines for choosing a suitable desalination material and method. The research presented in this paper constitutes the first step towards the development of a modular system of poultices, which can be adapted, i.e. fine-tuned to different types of substrates. Starting point is to make use of advection, i.e. the transport of salt ions with water flow. This transport mechanism is faster than diffusion and the application on immovable objects is relatively easy. In order to optimize salt extraction, a poultice working by advection should have smaller pores than the substrate. Starting from this principle the pore sizes of different desalination materials (sand, cellulose, kaolin and bentonite) mixed in different proportions, have been measured. Interesting results were obtained, showing that the desalination materials commonly used in the field are often not the most suitable ones. On the basis of the results, recipes for poultices, adapted to a specific substrate, can be formulated.     

An investigation of the Iowa tests of basic skills for sex bias: A developmental look

Results of the Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, and Mathematics Concepts subtests for third-, sixth-, and eighth-grade students who took Form 5 of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills in the 1976 school year were analyzed for sex bias. Statistical significance was found for each subtest for all of the grade levels. Follow-up analyses considered skill classification, sex-stereotypicalness, and item location of the items contributing to the statistical significance. No trends for these factors were found within each grade level for the four subtests considered. For all subtests, fewer items are identified at the third-grade level than for sixth or eighth grade, and these items, in general, favored boys. For the older students, when items are found to function differently for boys and girls, nearly half favor each sex. On the whole, little evidence for sex bias was found for the four subtests and three grade levels examined.     

Gifted children and visual-motor development: A comparison of Bender-Gestalt and VMI test performance

A sample of 63 gifted elementary-school students was administered the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test and the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration for comparative purposes and to test Koppitz hypothesis that gifted students have advanced visual-motor development. Group results revealed no significant differences between the two tests, that they did correlate significantly, and that younger students in particular had advanced visual-motor development when tested using these two tools.     

Children’s play behaviour and social communication in integrated special day-care groups

This paper considers the role of the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), the teacher responsible for the implementation of policies relating to the teaching and learning of children with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools in England and Wales. SENCOs also have a role to play in the inclusion of children with learning difficulties/disabilities in mainstream schools. Yet research indicates that despite the revision of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice in 2001, many SENCOs are still overwhelmed by the operational nature of the role with little support, time or funding to consider more strategic aspects of inclusion and SEN. The article draws on research by the author and offers the voices of SENCOs from two unitary authorities in the north of England which suggest that where the SENCO is supported by senior management within the school, the role can be a powerful one in relation to inclusion. It concludes by arguing that the role of the SENCO needs to be re‐conceptualized, redefined and remunerated as a senior management post within mainstream schools. If this were to be enforced by national policy, every mainstream school could have at least one powerful advocate for the inclusion of children with learning difficulties/disabilities.