Introducing Middle School Students to the Spatial Sciences through a Community Atlas Project

Abstract

A community atlas is an effective method of promoting student‐centered, learning oriented instruction. It provides an integrated framework for teaching thematic interdisciplinary material and promotes collaborative work by students, whose efforts can be shared amongst themselves and with the community. This paper describes community atlas projects from three West Virginia middle schools, in which 320 students and five teachers participated. Younger and less structured students responded with more enthusiasm to the open‐ended nature of the assignment. Self‐disciplined students produced effective web pages combining images, maps, and non‐spatial information such as demographic tables and local perceptions. Although this project was a collaboration between a university and local middle schools, sufficient resources are available for teachers to implement community atlases without specialized assistance.     

Geographies of the Orchestra

Chamber and symphony orchestras are considered from four scales of generalization. The macro scale outlines the origins and dispersals of the institution, from ancient times to the present. The meso scale identifies locations for performance, principally halls and their space needs, but also outdoor locations. The mini scale identifies contrasting orchestral spatial organizations, interactions among the musicians, between players and conductor, and issues of gender and race. The micro scale explores the individual musician’s use of space, which becomes a personal place. The interplay between these scales is complex.     

Rainfall thresholds for rainfall-induced landslides in Slovenia

In Slovenia, rainfall-induced landslides lead to considerable damages, even causing human losses. In order to reduce the impact of this kind of landslide, several researchers analyzed rainfall-induced landslides in this country, but to date, no rainfall thresholds have been developed for a landslide warning system at national scale. In this paper, the definition of rainfall thresholds for rainfall-induced landslides in Slovenia is presented. The thresholds have been calculated by collecting approximately 900 landslide data and the relative rainfall amounts, which have been collected from 41 rain gauges. To define the thresholds, an existing procedure characterized by a high degree of objectiveness has been used. This approach is based on a software that was developed for a test site with very different characteristics (Tuscany, central Italy). At first, a single national threshold has been defined; subsequently, the country was divided into four zones, on the basis of the major river basins. The effectiveness of the thresholds has been verified by the use of several statistical parameters and it resulted in quite good performances, even if with some uncertainties, probably due to the quality of the available data. Besides the setting of a threshold system, usable for civil protection purposes at national scale, an additional outcome of this work was the possibility of applying, with good results, a methodology defined for another region, therefore testing its degree of exportability in different settings.     

The invertebrate ecology of the Chalk aquifer in England (UK)

The Chalk is an important water supply aquifer, yet ecosystems within it remain poorly understood. Boreholes (198) in seven areas of England (UK) were sampled to determine the importance of the Chalk aquifer as a habitat, and to improve understanding of how species are distributed. Stygobitic macro-invertebrates were remarkably common, and were recorded in 67 % of boreholes in unconcealed Chalk, although they were not recorded in Chalk that is concealed by low-permeability strata and thus likely to be confined. Most species were found in shallow boreholes (<21 m) and boreholes with deep (>50 m) water tables, indicating that the habitat is vertically extensive. Stygobites were present in more boreholes in southern England than northern England (77 % compared to 38 %). Only two species were found in northern England compared to six in southern England, but overall seven of the eight stygobitic macro-invertebrate species found in England were detected in the Chalk. Two species are common in southern England, but absent from northern England despite the presence of a continuous habitat prior to the Devensian glaciation. This suggests that either they did not survive glaciations in the north where glaciers were more extensive, or dispersal rates are slow and they have never colonised northern England. Subsurface ecosystems comprising aquatic macro-invertebrates and meiofauna, as well as the microbial organisms they interact with, are likely to be widespread in the Chalk aquifer. They represent an important contribution to biodiversity, and may influence biogeochemical cycles and provide other ecosystem services.     

Identification and significance of ice-flow-transverse subglacial ridges (Rogen moraines) in northern central Ireland

In the Omagh Basin, north central Ireland, subglacial diamict ridges lie transverse to southwestward Late Devensian (ca. 23–13 ka) ice flow. These ridges (0.5–2.5 km long, 100–450 m wide, 15–35 m high), are similar morphologically to Rogen moraines, which have not been described previously from the British Isles. The crests of some transverse ridges are streamlined, cross-cut or overprinted by drumlins, whereas other ridges are unmodified and were not affected by later drumlinisation. At Kilskeery, west–east trending eskers overlying unmodified transverse ridges post-date drumlinisation (17–14 ¹⁴C ka). Esker formation shows that the subglacial thermal regime changed from cold-based, favouring bedform preservation, to warm-based with meltwater flowing through enclosed subglacial channels. Patterns of flow-transverse-ridges and spatial variations in the degree of bedform modification record dynamic changes in regional subglacial environments during the last deglacial cycle. This ice-mass variability cannot be reconciled with current Irish glacial models, which are based on immobile ice centres and ordered stages of ice retreat. In a wider context, these changes in bedform patterns and basal ice regimes have a similar signature to millennial-scale ice-mass oscillations recorded by dated proxy evidence elsewhere in the amphi-North Atlantic. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Calibration studies concerning a one-dimensional numerical tidal model with particular reference to resistance coefficients

Since the hydrodynamics of flow in most shallow estuaries is dominated by the boundary resistance, the selection of appropriate values for the roughness coefficients in any numerical tidal model is important. The paper describes studies involving the intra-tidal variation of resistance coefficients in twelve reaches of the Conwy estuary in North Wales. Resistance coefficients are evaluated for six water level data sets covering the neap to spring tidal variation by cubature based and parameter estimation techniques. Results from these two inverse methods are shown to agree well despite somewhat different schematizations for the estuary. A direct check on the intra-tidal variation of resistance coefficients at one particular reach is made possible by specifically gathered field data described in an earlier paper by Knight. In general the resistance coefficients exhibit three basic trends—a strong stage dependence, a flow directional dependence due to flood or ebb dominated bed forms, and a high variability with location along the estuary, especially where sand banks are oxposed at low water. The optimized resistance coefficients are then used in a one-dimensional numerical tidal model in order to ascertain the effect of particular modes of calibration. Estuary mean errors in water levels are of the order of 2,5 and 16 cm for the three calibrations tested.     

Volcanism in the western part of the rift valley in Southern Kenya

The stratigraphy, tectonic history, petrography and major oxide petrochemistry of the volcanic sequences in the western part of the rift valley in southern Kenya is summarised. Volcanism and rift faulting began 15 and 7 m.y. ago respectively. A recurrent feature of Miocene and Pliocene volcanism was the tendency for salic magmas to be preferentially erupted in the northern part of the area: the accumulation of a northward-thickening Pliocene trachyte pile is particularly notable. Transitional-mildly alkalic basalts and trachytes were erupted only after the onset of rift faulting, from sites within the rift structure, and so can be considered «rift dependent». Nephelinites, melanephelinites, limburgites and phonolites were erupted before and after onset of rift faulting, from sites within and outside the rift structure, and so can be considered «rift independent».     

Residues of toxaphene in finfish and shellfish from Terry and Dupree Creeks, Georgia, U.S.A.

To better characterize human health risks associated with potentially contaminated seafood, 56 composite samples of edible tissue of several finfish and shellfish species were analyzed for residues of toxaphene using gas chromatography with electron capture and negative ion mass spectrometric detection (GC-ECD and GC-ECNI-MS). Toxaphene in these samples, collected in 1997 near a former toxaphene plant in Brunswick, Georgia, were previously reported as non-detectable using non-selective techniques. Estimated total toxaphene concentrations (ΣTOX) ranged from less than 0.01 to 26 μ g⁻¹ on a wet tissue basis. Smaller, bottom dwelling finfish such as croaker, mullet, and spot exhibited the highest ΣTOX (0.76–26 μg g⁻¹), larger predatory fish including seatrout contained intermediate levels (0.08–4.4 μg g⁻¹), and shellfish (blue crab and shrimp) contained the lowest levels (<0.01 to 0.27 μg g⁻¹). For a given species, samples from the site furthest from the toxaphene plant had lower ΣTOX than samples from the other 3 sites. On a congener specific basis, levels ranged from <0.0025 to 3.5 μg g⁻¹. Congener distributions were, in general, dominated by 2-exo, 3-endo, 6-exo,8,9,10-hexachlorobornane (Hx-Sed) and 2-endo,3-exo,5-endo,6-exo,8,9,10-heptachlorobornane (Hp-Sed), breakdown products of Cl₈−Cl₁₀ toxaphene homologs. Other prominent congeners confirmed by GC-ECNI-MS included Parlar numbers 26, 40/41, 42, 44, 50, 62, and 63, as well as several unidentified Cl₆−Cl₉ homologs. Minor differences in congener distribution among species and sampling locations suggested that exposure regimes and/or intrinsic biotransformation capabilities were not uniform. These results indicate that toxaphene residues were detectable in all species surveyed and at concentrations higher than estimated previously.     

Morphological and Morphometric Analyses of Drumlin Bedforms in the Omagh Basin, North Central Ireland

Morphological and morphometric analyses of diamict-dominated and rock-cored drumlins in the Omagh Basin, north central Ireland, identify five drumlin types (classical, shield, barchanoid, fused and superimposed) on the basis of outline morphology and topographic setting. Diamict drumlins are mainly of classical or fused type and are found in lowland and basinal locations. Rock-cored drumlins are more morphologically diverse and occur on high-level plateaus and upland flanks. Morphometric analysis reveals both spatial and statistically significant absolute differences between the elongation ratios and orientations of diamict and rock-cored drumlins. Equifinality of the drumlin form despite variable thicknesses of diamict (from a few metres to>30 m) suggests that substrate streamlining took place in several phases, including eroding bedrock into rock-cored drumlins prior to diamict deposition. This means drumlinization cannot be attributed to a single set of subglacial processes or a single time-interval.