This assignment is best presented in two lab periods to represent the …
This assignment is best presented in two lab periods to represent the "before" and "after" scenarios of land use and their impact on hydrology. It requires documentation in map and/or airphoto form of land use in a specific watershed at two times: historical and modern. Historical USGS topographic maps from the 19th century were used in this case, along with digital orthophotos for the modern-day scenario. Some means of quantifying subareas within the watershed is also needed, either using software (ArcGIS) or transparent overlays and boxcounting from a translucent grid would work. For each of the sets of documentation: historical and modern, the students follow the USDA-NRCS TR55 empirical procedure to estimate event runoff depths and peak estimated discharge from the watershed. An area-weighted curve number (CN) is calculated based on tabulated categories of land use. Some judgment is involved in adapting the tabulated land use categories to the specific watershed used, and selecting an appropriate statistical average rainfall event to use. The sum of Darcy's Law calculations of discharge along streamtubes to a surface stream or estuary provides a groundwater discharge value over time for comparison. Each of these parts of the activity provides opportunities for the instructor to discuss uncertainties and sources of error. Note that although software allowing TR-55 analysis exists, it is simpler and more instructive to have students use the paper method and forms in the manual.
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This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded …
This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.
As taught in Autumn Semester 2009/10
The 'Evaluation Techniques' module is one of the core modules taught on the Masters in Public Health which is offered by the Division of Epidemiology and Public Health at The University of Nottingham. This resource includes an overview of the module, a recommended reading list that supports the module and 3 of the 7 lectures that are delivered.
Suitable for study at Masters Level.
Dr Puja R Myles, School of Community Health Sciences - Epidemiology an Public Health
Dr. Puja Myles is an Associate Professor of Health Protection and Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham. She trained as a dentist at Panjab University, India and worked as a dentist in India before completing her specialist training in Public Health in the East Midlands. She completed a doctorate in Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham. She is currently part of the Health Protection Research Group at Nottingham and her research is primarily in respiratory disease epidemiology. She is also interested in evaluation methods and is currently involved in some public health service evaluations.
This activity provides an opportunity for students to examine the evidence that …
This activity provides an opportunity for students to examine the evidence that supports climate change and engage in a classroom discussion and self-reflection on that experience and empower them to consider their own actions and how they can make changes in their life practices
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This NASA website provides a summary of a study led by NASA's …
This NASA website provides a summary of a study led by NASA's David McKay that may provide evidence for past life on Mars. McKay and his team found carbonate globule features on the ALH84001 meteorite that appear to be nanofossils. In addition, secondary mineral phases and hydrocarbons provide further evidence for past life. The website features color photographs as well as links to related web pages.
This activity introduces students to the idea that all living organisms must …
This activity introduces students to the idea that all living organisms must compete for food. Students control a rabbit in a field with edible plants, at first alone, and later joined by computer-controlled rabbits. With such competition it becomes harder and harder for the students to keep their rabbit alive. Students shift their thinking from a focus on individual organisms to a concern for the well-being of the population as a whole. (Evolution Activity 6 of 10.)
This activity places the control of the environment under the student's control. …
This activity places the control of the environment under the student's control. A field starts off with a uniform light level, and thus capable of growing plants with medium-sized leaves. Students can alter the environment by 'growing' a chain of mountains through the field. Students are challenged to grow the mountains to their maximum height (corresponding to the maximum change in light level on either side of the chain) while maintaining a viable population of plants on each side. (Evolution Activity 4 of 10.)
The goal of this activity is to introduce students to the variation …
The goal of this activity is to introduce students to the variation that exists in a population of organisms. Students plant different seeds in a field with a gradient of sunlight. Their seeds survive the winter and grow into plants the following spring to reinforce the point that the evolutionary changes the students observe take place over many generations. In a second model, a plant produces seeds, some of which grow into plants that are slightly different from those of the parent plant. (Evolution Activity 2 of 10.)
The goal of this activity is to give students the opportunity to …
The goal of this activity is to give students the opportunity to 'think like a scientist,' making hypotheses, doing experiments, making observations, and analyzing data. Students are encouraged to construct and conduct their own experiments with ecosystems comprising grass, rabbits, and up to two predator species: hawks and foxes. (Evolution Activity 10 of 10.)
The concept of interdependence in an ecosystem and its effect on the …
The concept of interdependence in an ecosystem and its effect on the evolution of populations is further explored through a model of a dam. Students build a dam in the middle of the field, dividing the ecosystem in half to illustrate the effects of geographic isolation. They watch as the grass and then the rabbit populations in that region shift to one variant in the population. When students remove the dam, they observe the ecosystem slowly return to its original state. (Evolution Activity 8 of 10.)
In this activity, students review inheritance with variation. A Virtual Field model …
In this activity, students review inheritance with variation. A Virtual Field model has light levels that vary smoothly from top to bottom. A single type of seed grows best in the center of the field, but the model includes variation in the offspring seeds. Since each plant scatters seeds randomly, it happens occasionally that some of these different seeds fall in a location where the light level is just right for it. When this happens the seed will grow into a healthy plant that will produce seeds of its own. In this way, the single type of plant eventually evolves into a full spectrum of different varieties. (Evolution Activity 3 of 10.)
This activity uses a model of the Virtual Ecosystem with three species …
This activity uses a model of the Virtual Ecosystem with three species in it: grass, rabbits, and hawks, enabling the students to explore the effect of predation on the prey population. At first students explore protective coloration as they 'become' a hawk and try to catch and eat brown and white rabbits on a snowy field. The latter blend into the background and are harder to see, so they have a selective advantage. Students then explore how the color of the rabbit population changes as the environment changes over time. (Evolution Activity 9 of 10.)
The purpose of this lesson is to research artificial selection. During this …
The purpose of this lesson is to research artificial selection. During this lesson, we will use fast growing plant crossing to model traditional agricultural practices and we will use Punnett squares to predict plant crossing outcomes. We will also use online simulations to learn about current biotechnology techniques used to make genetically modified crops. We will compare traditional agriculture to current biotechnology techniques that are being used to create pest resistant crops. We will discuss how artificial selection such as selective breeding and genetic engineering can impact organisms over time.
This transfer activity tests student understanding of variation and inheritance. It starts …
This transfer activity tests student understanding of variation and inheritance. It starts with five flower boxes, as in 'The Virtual Greenhouse,' and three types of seeds with variations in their roots. The flower boxes differ in the amount of water they receive, and students discover which seeds thrive in which environment. Students are then challenged to produce a crop of plants that can grow everywhere in a field by taking advantage of the small variation in root type from one generation to the next. (Evolution Activity 5 of 10.)
The goal of this activity is to introduce students to how variation …
The goal of this activity is to introduce students to how variation in organisms can enable them to live in different environments. For example, plants with different sizes of leaves are adapted to grow under different amounts of light. Students plant three different types of seeds in five different flower boxes and are challenged to determine the light level under which each type of seed grows best. (Evolution Activity 1 of 10.)
Students discover that variation in plants allows some varieties to survive in …
Students discover that variation in plants allows some varieties to survive in near-drought conditions. Next, students learn that different types of rabbits prefer to eat different varieties of plants. Students make the connection between rainfall amount and the rabbit population's ability to survive by thinking first about rainfall and plants, then about plants and rabbits. Students discover that when certain plants cannot grow and reproduce, the rabbits that eat those plants will not have enough food to survive. (Evolution Activity 7 of 10.)
In the first video segment, we analyze the population dynamics for a …
In the first video segment, we analyze the population dynamics for a test-tube of cells that affect each others' likelihoods of replication when they collide. The particular example we use is a prisoner's dilemma, which has the almost paradoxical property that survival of the relatively most fit leads overall fitness to decrease. In the second video segment, we suggest that the population dynamics from the first segment can be related to an analysis that uses payoff matrices found in traditional game theory.
In the first week of the course, students are introduced to the …
In the first week of the course, students are introduced to the major groups of animals and single-celled eukaryotes that comprise most of the fossil record. At that time, each student selects one group (kingdom, phylum or class) of organism to be their special "pet" group for the rest of the semester. Several assignments are then tied to these groups, including this activity, which is a writing assignment directly following the class lectures on evolution and natural selection. Students are asked to use the scholarly article database GeoRef to locate a peer-reviewed journal article that describes research on the evolution of their "pet" group (or some specific member of it). After reading the article, students must write a 2-3 page summary and critique of it, applying concepts they have learned in the course to evaluate the scientific merits of the paper. If time permits, students are also invited to spend a few minutes presenting their summary and critique during class so that the students can learn about each other's "pets".
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Students are introduced to the concepts of digital organisms and digital evolution. …
Students are introduced to the concepts of digital organisms and digital evolution. They learn about the research that digital evolution software makes possible, and compare and contrast it with biological evolution.
This activity is designed for large freshman courses (>200 students) and is …
This activity is designed for large freshman courses (>200 students) and is used in-class. The activity requires a short (15 minute) overview of Earth history before students have the opportunity to work through various questions and problems. Tasks include simple math problems, critical thinking questions, and include place-based examples of geological situations for Arizona and California.
Students completing the activity will have knowledge of Earth history, knowledge of some geological disasters, and will have learned several different perspectives of timescales that affect various events on Earth.
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