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Articles 1 - 17 of 17
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Testing Pedagogical Approaches To Online Lecture: Effects Of Background Music And Interactive Video Series On Student Retention Of Prior Conception-Correcting Information On Climate Change, Roya Franseth
Honors Projects
Climate change is a pervasive element in our modern lives, yet many harbor ideas about climate change and associated climate mechanisms that are misinformed or incorrect. Ideas like these – prior conceptions (ideas that people carry with them into learning experiences about a subject) – are studied in varying degrees across fields. The geosciences do not have a particularly robust collection of research on the subject of geoscience-specific prior conceptions. At the same time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, alternatives to in-person lecture such as online lecture have become normalized. The original aim of this paper was to determine if …
Glass: The Material That Defines Us, Madisyn Rex
Glass: The Material That Defines Us, Madisyn Rex
Honors Projects
This Honors Project is an exploration of the intersections between glass science, geology, glass art, and my own personal experience with glass.
An Analysis Of Tidal Mixing Front Dynamics And Frontal Biophysical Interaction In The Harpswell Sound Shelf Sea, Lemona Yingzhuo Niu
An Analysis Of Tidal Mixing Front Dynamics And Frontal Biophysical Interaction In The Harpswell Sound Shelf Sea, Lemona Yingzhuo Niu
Honors Projects
Tidal Mixing Fronts (TMFs) are prominent hydrographic features of tidally energetic shallow shelf seas, representing the transition from mixed to stratified waters. These frontal boundaries often host enhanced phytoplankton primary productivity, as complete vertical mixing exhumes nutrients from depth to the light-lit surface. Existing observational programs for locating TMFs include infra-red satellite imagery of sea surface temperature (SST) and vertical profiling of temperature and density. However, challenges in observationally distinguishing mixed from mixing using only conservatively mixed hydrographic properties persist. A novel approach based on phytoplankton in-situ oxygen production response to light is proposed in this paper to distinguish stable …
Diatom Blooms In Harpswell Sound: Seasonality, Succession, And Origin, Charlie Francis O'Brien
Diatom Blooms In Harpswell Sound: Seasonality, Succession, And Origin, Charlie Francis O'Brien
Honors Projects
Harpswell Sound (HS) is an inlet in northeastern Casco Bay that exerts control on Gulf of Maine ecosystem health, yet its complex phytoplankton community dynamics have not been characterized with sufficiently detailed analyses. In this research, high-resolution automated microscopy and current velocity observations were used to test the seasonality, ecological succession, bloom origin location, and potential toxicity of populations in HS between 2020 and 2022. Winter months could exhibit slow accumulation of diatom biovolume. Cold, salty surface water has net outflow in winter as nutrients from depth are replenished during net upwelling conditions, and populations could be exported from the …
Behaviors For Which Deinonychosaurs Used Their Feet, Alexander King
Behaviors For Which Deinonychosaurs Used Their Feet, Alexander King
Honors Projects
This paper seeks to show for what purpose deinonychosaurs used their feet. Fowler et al., (2011) showed that D. antirrhopus’s feet were closest in function to accipitrids, as they found it was more built for grasping prey than running.
I answered this question by using 2D images of the feet of three modern birds (Buteo jamaicensis, Phasianus colchicus, and Gallus gallus domesticus), one eudromaeosaur (Deinonychus antirrhopus), and one troodontid (Borogovia gracilicrus). I used ImageJ to apply 73 landmarks to each foot, capturing the variation between species in the metatarsals and pedal phalanges. These data were then uploaded to the software …
Impact Of Traditional Versus Alternative Assessment On Student Achievement, Beth Lustgarten
Impact Of Traditional Versus Alternative Assessment On Student Achievement, Beth Lustgarten
Honors Projects
The focus of this study looks at the effect of alternative assessment on student achievement in a high school science classroom. Within this action research, students have choices and are able to demonstrate creativity in their alternative assessments. By comparing student results from traditional and alternative assessments, the impact of assessment showed students had an overwhelming preference for completing alternative assessments, and a majority of students did better on the alternative assessment when compared to the traditional assessment.
Living Upstream: Kennebec River Influence On Nutrient Regimes And Phytoplankton Communities In Harpswell Sound, Siena Brook Ballance
Living Upstream: Kennebec River Influence On Nutrient Regimes And Phytoplankton Communities In Harpswell Sound, Siena Brook Ballance
Honors Projects
Phytoplankton underpin marine trophic systems and biogeochemical cycles. Estuarine and coastal phytoplankton account for 40-50% of global ocean primary productivity and carbon flux making it critical to identify sources of variability. This project focuses on the Kennebec River and Harpswell Sound, a downstream, but hydrologically connected coastal estuary, as a case study of temperate river influence on estuarine nutrient regimes and phytoplankton communities. Phytoplankton pigments and nutrients were analyzed from water samples collected monthly at 8 main-stem rivers stations (2011-2013) and weekly in Harpswell Sound (2008-2017) during ice-free months. Spatial bedrock and land use impacts on river nutrients were investigated …
Spatially Variable Syn- And Post-Orogenic Exhumation Of The Appalachian Mountains From Apatite And Zircon (U-Th)/He Thermochronology, Luke Coughtry Basler
Spatially Variable Syn- And Post-Orogenic Exhumation Of The Appalachian Mountains From Apatite And Zircon (U-Th)/He Thermochronology, Luke Coughtry Basler
Honors Projects
We present zircon and apatite (U-Th)/He (ZHe, closure temperature = 150-200ºC; AHe, closure temperature = 45-80ºC) results from two study regions in the Appalachians Mountains to investigate the timing, rates, and spatial trends of exhumation during Alleghanian orogenesis, Atlantic rifting, and post-rift passive margin conditions. Within West Virginia and Virginia, 10 ZHe dates along an across-orogen transect display an eastward younging trend, from ~425 million years (Ma) in the western Appalachian Plateau province, to ~250-300 Ma in the central Valley-Ridge fold-thrust belt, and 163 ± 29 Ma in the eastern Piedmont. Inverse thermal modeling of ZHe data using external geologic …
Converting Chemical Signatures In Vaterite Otoliths To Aragonite Otoliths In Steelhead Trout: Developing A Partition Coefficient, Jamie Justice
Converting Chemical Signatures In Vaterite Otoliths To Aragonite Otoliths In Steelhead Trout: Developing A Partition Coefficient, Jamie Justice
Honors Projects
Otoliths are small bones near the brain of teleost fish that aid in hearing and balance. Otoliths are typically composed of a polymorph of calcium carbonate called aragonite; however, when stressed, fish may transition to producing a less dense polymorph called vaterite. Otoliths are typically used in studies of fish natal origin or migration patterns because 1) otoliths grow concentrically around an origin (birth point), 2) the material in the otolith is not replaced over time, and 3) microelements (Sr and Ba) can be incorporated into the otoliths in proportion to elemental ratios in the water (i.e., when fish move …
Impacts On The Stakeholders Of The Nexus Pipeline, Jessica A. Speweike
Impacts On The Stakeholders Of The Nexus Pipeline, Jessica A. Speweike
Honors Projects
This journalistic feature covers the different impacts on those individuals who are involved with or affected by the Nexus Gas Transmission pipeline. Testimony from Ohio landowners, activists, scientists and public officials cover a variety of opinions and concerns raised by the pipeline. Private property rights, environmental impact, and possible economic implications are detailed by those who have been involved with the Nexus pipeline since its early stages of implementation.
Paleoimagery: The Artistic Restoration Of Dinosaurs And Prehistoric Life, Colin Mcnulty
Paleoimagery: The Artistic Restoration Of Dinosaurs And Prehistoric Life, Colin Mcnulty
Honors Projects
My purpose in creating this paper is to research a holistic view of paleontological illustration (also called paleoimagery or paleoart). A thorough history of paleoimagery is outlined from its roots in biblical illustration in the 17th and 18th centuries approaching the modern day. A two-fold examination of the utility of art to communicate science and its use within the science of paleontology is also given. This includes discussions of the specific components of art pieces that help them to successfully communicate scientific ideas and examples of how paleoimagery contributes to paleontology. The author then outlines the conception and …
Anatomical Markers For Elevated Cognition In Dinosaurs, Thomas Gaetano
Anatomical Markers For Elevated Cognition In Dinosaurs, Thomas Gaetano
Honors Projects
Much research has been conducted on brain evolution within Dinosauria. Dinosaurs were originally believed to be incapable of any advanced cognitive abilities beyond the level observed in modern reptiles. This is likely true for many dinosaurs, but recent discoveries suggest that the non-avian maniraptor dinosaurs shared many physical characteristics with their bird descendants, including body feathers and neural adaptations for flight. By studying cranial endocasts (the braincase of fossilized skulls) using computed tomography (CT), paleontologists are beginning to understand the neural changes that took place across the dinosaur-bird transition. Most of these studies are focused on the development of flight, …
Geological Bodies, Savannah Fulmer
Geological Bodies, Savannah Fulmer
Honors Projects
‘Geological Bodies’ is a series of character designs that were developed to personify the traits of nine different rocks. The artwork is accompanied with written documentation of the research and execution.
The Effect Of Substrate On Quartz Precipitation Rates, Victoria Igoe
The Effect Of Substrate On Quartz Precipitation Rates, Victoria Igoe
Honors Projects
The role of substrate on the precipitation of quartz from solution is a confused subject based on past research. The two types of surfaces examined in this project, weathered surfaces and freshly fractured surfaces, may or may not influence the rate of precipitation of quartz from aqueous solution. Precipitation rates on these surfaces are compared via 'sandwich' type experiments, where both naturally weathered quartz grains and freshly fractured synthetic quartz grains are placed in weld-sealed gold tubes, separated by a cement source of amorphous silica. The experiments were run at 450 degrees Celsius and about 150 MPa for varying amounts …
Geochemical And Stratigraphic Analysis Of The Linnévatnet Sediment Record: A Study Of Late Holocene Cirque Glacier Activity In Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Graham Harper Edwards
Geochemical And Stratigraphic Analysis Of The Linnévatnet Sediment Record: A Study Of Late Holocene Cirque Glacier Activity In Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Graham Harper Edwards
Honors Projects
Morainal and lacustrine sediments in Linnédalen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, record the fluctuations of a glacier in a currently unglaciated mountain cirque during the Little Ice Age (LIA). This study attempts to reconstruct Late Holocene glacial activity within this cirque from geochemical, physical, and visual stratigraphic variation of the Linnévatnet lacustrine sediment record. A 57 cm lacustrine sediment core (D10.5) from Linnévatnet was analyzed at a high-resolution for variations in X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF)-measured elemental composition, spectral reflectance, and magnetic susceptibility. The visual stratigraphy was observed at a microscopic scale. An age-depth model for D10.5 is developed by extrapolating sedimentation rates from dated …
Analysis Of A Sponge Bioherm From The Hermosa Group, Molas Lake Area, Colorado, Joanna Hamilton
Analysis Of A Sponge Bioherm From The Hermosa Group, Molas Lake Area, Colorado, Joanna Hamilton
Honors Projects
The Hermosa Group is a Pennsylvanian (~310 Ma) rock package found in the southwestern San Juan Mountains and the Paradox Basin. The Paradox Basin was an evaporite basin in which alternating carbonate, sandstone and siltstone layers were deposited at the margins. Within the carbonate layers, ancient phylloid algal mounds and sponge bioherms can be found. In this project I document fossil sponges and algae from a Hermosa Group locality in southwestern Colorado. I look at the environments in which the sponges lived, those being relatively deep water, above wave-base; as well as inter-sponge growth habits, where one is dominant and …
The Effects That Liquid And Solid Cattle Manure Have On The Water Quality Of Drainage Ditches In Putnam County, Ohio, Janelle Horstman
The Effects That Liquid And Solid Cattle Manure Have On The Water Quality Of Drainage Ditches In Putnam County, Ohio, Janelle Horstman
Honors Projects
Lake Erie has experienced harmful algal blooms with increased frequency since the mid-1990s due to excess nutrients from Rivers, such as the Maumee River, and largely agricultural watersheds. Nonpoint source pollution from agriculture contributes to eutrophication, algal blooms, and the degradation of water quality. This creates stress on aquatic fauna, reduced aesthetic quality, odor, and limits of the water for usage of drinking, recreation, and industry. This research paper asks what the contributions of having access to manure application records, soil records, and information about antibiotics have on what is known about manure management and antibiotic resistance, which has been …