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Improving Hypothesis Testing Skills: Evaluating A General Purpose Classroom Exercise With Biology Students In Grade 9., Michael Gregg Wilder

Dissertations and Theses

There is an increased emphasis on inquiry in national and Oregon state high school science standards. As hypothesis testing is a key component of these new standards, instructors need effective strategies to improve students' hypothesis testing skills. Recent research suggests that classroom exercises may prove useful. A general purpose classroom activity called the thought experiment is proposed. The effectiveness of 7 hours of instruction using this exercise was measured in an introductory biology course, using a quasi-experimental contrast group design. An instrument for measuring hypothesis testing skill is also proposed. Treatment (n=18) and control (n=10) sections drawn from preexisting high …

Using Archaeological Fish Remains To Determine The Native Status Of Anadromous Salmonids In The Upper Klamath Basin (Oregon, Usa) Through Mtdna And Geochemical Analysis, Alexander E. Stevenson

Dissertations and Theses

Within the Upper Klamath Basin, Oregon, the native status of anadromous salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) has been a long standing question. Ongoing efforts to establish if these fish were native to the region prior to the construction of the Copco I Dam on the Klamath River (c.1917) have relied on sparse, contradictory and sometimes unreliable historic documentation and informant testimony. Current restoration projects with very high financial and social costs necessitate accurate and reliable data on salmonid species which once called the region home. Often, archaeolofaunal remains present a novel way to determine species present in an area prior to …

Recreational Boats As Potential Vectors Of Marine Organisms At An Invasion Hotspot, Ian C. Davidson, Chela J. Zabin, Andrew L. Chang, Christopher W. Brown, Mark Sytsma, Gregory M. Ruiz

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

With more than 200 aquatic nonindigenous species (NIS), San Francisco Bay (California, USA) is among the world’s most invaded harbors. Hard-substratum benthic (biofouling) organisms, which dominate NIS richness, have arrived primarily as a result of shipping and aquaculture activity over past centuries. To date there has been no assessment of the leisure craft vector in the Bay. We aimed to characterize (1) biofouling on boats’ submerged surfaces and (2) boater behavior likely to affect the risk of NIS transfers. We used an underwater pole-cam, specimen collections, and a boater questionnaire to quantify the extent and composition of biofouling on recreational …

Local And Traditional Knowledge And The Historical Ecology Of Pacific Herring In Alaska, Thomas F. Thornton, Madonna L. Moss, Virginia L. Butler, Jamie Hebert, Fritz Funk

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The article focuses on the historical ecology of the Pacific herring, a marine food web resource, in the Gulf of Alaska. It states the hearing conducted by the Alaska Legislature's House special committee on fisheries on the status and management of herring in Southeast Alaska during which Tlingit fisherman Clarence Jackson of Kake notes the disappearance of herring in his lifetime. Information on herring ecology based from Native and non-Native individuals from Southeast communities and archaeological site reports reveal that non-Natives in Southeast Alaska have exploited herring with the development of a herring reduction plant. It underscores the need for …

Plasmonic Enhancement Of Forster Energy Transfer Between Two Molecules In The Vicinity Of A Metallic Nanoparticle: Nonlocal Optical Effects, P.T. Leung, H. Y. Xie, H. Y. Chung, D. P. Tsai

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The problem of Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between two molecules in the vicinity of a metallic nanoparticle such as a nanoshell is studied within a phenomenological model which takes into account the nonlocal optical response of the metal. This model allows for arbitrary locations and orientations of the two molecular dipoles with respect to the metal particle which can be of ultrasmall sizes (nm) and for which nonlocal effects are of high significance. In particular, for the nanoshell case, the molecules can be located both outside, both inside, or one inside and one outside the shell. Also, the case …

Microbial Colonization Of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Chimneys, Antoine Pagé

Dissertations and Theses

Deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimneys harbor some of the most extreme environments supporting life on Earth. In the absence of sunlight, the microbial communities that colonize these deposits are based on energy harvested by chemolithoautotrophs exploiting the chemical disequilibria created as hydrothermal fluids mix with seawater. Although controversial, several models consider deep-sea vent chimneys as likely habitats for primitive ecosystems that developed during the Archean.

The goal of this study was to describe spatial and temporal patterns of microbial colonization in deep-sea vent chimneys emitting high temperature (>300°C) fluids. Microbial community composition and structure were evaluated through analyses of 16S …

Information Literacy At Augustana: A Programmatic Approach, Nancy E. Goebel, Paul J. Neff

Communications in Information Literacy

Information literacy programs, and the factors that influence their development and structure, can vary significantly from institution to institution. Credit-bearing discipline-specific information literacy courses are a rare and valuable component of an undergraduate educational experience and form the basis of Augustana's information literacy program. This article provides an overview of the development, implementation, successes, and drawbacks of the credit-bearing discipline-specific information literacy courses at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta (Camrose, Alberta, Canada). Additional program components including Augustana's annual information literacy workshop, information literacy awards, information literacy DVD, and marketing/branding, are discussed.

Cultivation Of Methanogens From Shallow Marine Sediments At Hydrate Ridge, Orego, Melissa Kendall, David R. Boone

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Little is known about the methanogenic degradation of acetate, the fate of molecular hydrogen and formate or the ability of methanogens to grow and produce methane in cold, anoxic marine sediments. The microbes that produce methane were examined in permanently cold, anoxic marine sediments at Hydrate Ridge (44°35' N, 125°10' W, depth 800 m). Sediment samples (15 to 35 cm deep) were collected from areas of active methane ebullition or areas where methane hydrates occurred. The samples were diluted into enrichment medium with formate, acetate or trimethylamine as catabolic substrate. After 2 years of incubation at 4 °C to 15 …

Danger! Danger! Danger!, Or When Animals Might Attack: The Adventure Activist Genre, Mark L. Berrettini

School of Film Faculty Publications and Presentations

An analysis of the current state of the adventure activist genre in film, centering on The Crocodile Hunter and Project Grizzly.

Video Self-Monitoring As An Alternative To Traditional Methods Of Pronunciation Instruction, P. C. Noble

Dissertations and Theses

Japanese students of English have difficulty pronouncing /f/, Ir/, /1/, /v/ and "th", sounds that are either not present in their language, or as in the case of /r/, articulated in Japanese more like an English /di. Their difficulty with these sounds seems to affect their comprehensibility in English to native-speakers of English.

The purpose of this partial replication of a 1994 study by MacDonald, Yule and Powers was to test three different methods of pronunciation instruction ( and a control) to determine which promoted the greatest improvement in the pronunciation of the five target sounds among Japanese speakers. The …

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published 2-3 times a year. In this issue: A PSU professor sails the central coast of British Columbia studying and photographing pristine rain forests; one of PSU’s first graduates looks back at the challenge of growing up Japanese-American; mass transit, business growth, and a bigger PSU are part of a new plan for south downtown; a PSU grad oversees a unique cultural collection at the New York Public Library; and more.

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published quarterly. In this issue: Judith Ramaley discusses her new presidency and her expectations for PSU; banking experts question the government’s role in the savings and loan crisis; new knowledge of muscle disease may come from a PSU professor’s calcium research; and more

The Dynamics Of The Columbia River Estuarine Ecosystem: Volume I And Volume Ii, Creddp, Charles A. Simenstad, David A. Jay, C. David Mcintire, Willa Nehlsen, Christopher R. Sherwood, Lawrence F. Small

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Integrates results from the CREDDP studies into a comprehensive synthesis. Includes physical setting and processes; relationships between physical and biological processes and among functional groups of organisms; species, biomass and productivity per habitat type per region. Approximately 360 pages per volume.

Distribution And Ecology Of Great Blue Heron Colonies On The Willamette River, Oregon, Scott M. English

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the United States there is breeding ecology information available on the Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), but large-scale distributional and productivity information is lacking. In the lake regions of the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, regional surveys of Great Blue Heron nesting sites have been done by Vermeer and Reynolds (1970) and Vermeer (1969). Breeding biology studies were done in California (Pratt 1970, Page 1971), Canada (Vermeer 1969, McAloney 1973), and Oregon (Henny and Bethers 1971). In 1974 a survey of Great Blue Heron heronries on the Oregon Coast was completed through a National Science …

Some Aspects Of The Ecology Of The Virginia Opossum (Didelphis Virginiana Virginiana Kerr 1792) In An Urban Environment, David Hopkins

Dissertations and Theses

Eighty-three Didelphis virginiana from the Portland metropolitan area were collected and studied from December 1974 through May 1976. Males averaged 3394 g, females 2318 g. An annual sex ratio of 68.7:31.3 was recorded. Data indicate the possibility of a year-round breeding season and suggest the occurrence of three peaks of reproductive activity: January-February, April-May and October-November. The six primary foods consumed annually are: leaf litter, mammals, gastropods, earthworms, grasses and pet food. Seasonal composition and diversity in the diet is marked. Five new parasite-host records were established. These include mites: Androlaelaps fahrenholsi, Haemogamasus nidi, Eulaelape stabularis tick, Ixodes angustus, and …

The Androgenic Glands Of The Pacific Crayfish, Pacifastacus Leniusculus Trowbridgii Stimpson, 1859, Larry L. Sanders

Dissertations and Theses

The androgenic glands of the Pacific crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus trowbridgii Stimpson, 1859, were studied experimentally and by light and electron microscopy. The androgenic glands proliferate in the spring of the year concurrently with an increase in mitotic activity in the testes. Degeneration of a major portion of the glands occurs in the fall, when spermatogenic activity in the testes is near completion. Cellular development appears to progress from small undifferentiated cells through stages of vacuolization and hypertrophy and terminates with degeneration or lysis. The fine structure of the vacuolated gland cells is indicative of increased metabolic activity and probable hormone …

Possible Avian Influences In The Distribution Of Dwarf Mistletoe, Paul James Zilka

Dissertations and Theses

The goal of this investigation was to determine the potential of birds as vectors for the movement of dwarf mistletoe seeds and the means by which such movement could occur. Birds would greatly speed the rate at which these parasites move horizontally or vertically through the forest. Five areas in Oregon, heavily infected by six species of Arceuthobium were studied. Observations of avian behavior point to 13 species whose general behavior make them potential vectors in the distribution of these parasites. More specifically, the roosting and subsequent bathing behavior of most forest birds proves a very important means of potential …

Polychlorinated Biphenyls: Uptake By Daphnia And Residues In Crayfish From The Willamette River, John J. Salmon

Dissertations and Theses

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB's) are organochlorine molecules which find various industrial and product applications. PCB's are of concern to biologists because they are toxic substances which have become global contaminants. They are also of concern to biologists and analytical chemists because they interfere with the determination of some organochlorine pesticide residues. PCB's were discovered to be environmental contaminants after they showed up as unidentified peaks in pesticide analysis using gas-liquid chromatography with an electron capture detector (GLC-EC).

In the present experiment standard GLC-EC techniques were used to assay PCB's in Daphnia experimentally contaminated in the laboratory and in crayfish from the …