Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

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

Honors Projects

This Honors Project is an exploration of the intersections between glass science, geology, glass art, and my own personal experience with glass.

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

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.

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

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

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 17^th and 18^th 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

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

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

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 …

Sediment Impacts Of Removal Of A Low-Head Dam On A Sand Bedload River, Ottawa River, Ohio, James E. Evans

James E. Evans

No abstract provided.

Shallow-Water Origin Of A Devonian Black Shale, Cleveland Shale Member (Ohio Shale) Northeastern Ohio, James E. Evans

James E. Evans

No abstract provided.

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

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 …

Dynamic Diatom Response To Changing Climate 0-1.2 Ma At Lake El'gygytgyn, Far East Russian Arctic, Jeffrey Allan Snyder, M. V. Cheraponova, A. Bryan

School of Earth, Environment and Society Faculty Publications

The Lake El' gygytgyn sediment record contains an abundant diatom flora through most intervals of the lake's history, providing a means to create and test hypotheses concerning the lake's response to changing climates. The 0 1.2 Ma core interval is characterized by shifts in the dominant planktonic genera and events of exceptional concentration and diversity. Warm interglacial intervals have enhanced concentration and diversity of the plankton. This response is most extreme during exceptional events corresponding to marine isotope stages (MIS) 11 and 31. Diatom concentration and diversity also increase during some cold intervals (e.g., MIS 2), suggesting conditions of lake …

The Shortcomings Of "Passive" Urban River Restoration After Low-Head Dam Removal, Ottawa River (Northwestern Ohio, U.S.A.): What The Sedimentary Record Can Teach Us, James E. Evans

James E. Evans

No abstract provided.

Subsurface Facies Analysis Of The Late Cambrian Mt. Simon Sandstone In Western Ohio (Midcontinent, U.S.A.), James E. Evans

James E. Evans

No abstract provided.

Oxygen And Hydrogen Diffusion In Minerals, John Richard Farver

School of Earth, Environment and Society Faculty Publications

This chapter provides a summary and review of experimentally determined oxygen and hydrogen volume diffusion in minerals. A very extensive and detailed review of stable isotope exchange processes including oxygen and hydrogen volume diffusion can be found in Cole and Chakraborty (2001) and a detailed review of hydrogen diffusion in minerals, especially nominally anhydrous minerals, can be found in Ingrin and Blanchard (2006). In addition, a detailed review of oxygen and hydrogen diffusion in silicate melts is provided by Zhang and Ni (2010), and oxygen and hydrogen diffusion rates can also be found in the chapters, in this volume, on …

Re-Interpreting Great Lakes Shorelines As Components Of Wave-Influenced Deltas: An Example From The Portage River, Lake Erie, Ohio, James E. Evans

James E. Evans

No abstract provided.

Understanding Relationships Between The 1998 Yangtze River Flood And Northeast Eurasian Blocking, Arthur N. Samel, Xin-Zhong Liang

School of Earth, Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Severe summer monsoon flooding occurred along the Yangtze River Valley (YRV) in 1998. The heaviest precipitation fell during June 8-23 and July 20-29 and coincided with midtropospheric blocking over northeast Eurasia. An index based on the difference between Okhotsk High and west Pacific Low intensity is developed in this study to quantify blocking; analysis shows that blocking and equatorward displacement of the upper-tropospheric east Asian jet preceded (accompanied) the June (July) period. This suggests that heavy rainfall during each interval was caused by different atmospheric processes. An examination of joint variations in the index and YRV precipitation during 1958-1998 revealed …

Depositional History Of The Eocene Chumstick Formation: Implications Of Tectonic Partitioning For The History Of The Leavenworth And Entiat-Eagle Creek Fault Systems, Washington - Reply, James E. Evans

School of Earth, Environment and Society Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Depositional History Of The Eocene Chumstick Formation - Implications Of Tectonic Partitioning For The History Of The Leavenworth And Entiat-Eagle Creek Fault Systems, Washington, James E. Evans

School of Earth, Environment and Society Faculty Publications

The Chumstick basin opened as an extensional half-graben prior to 51 Ma, and was subsequently modified by two episodes of tectonic partitioning of drainage prior to basin deformation. Initially, westward flowing fluvial systems formed a unified depositional system with the Swauk basin. Tectonic partitioning of drainage at 51-49 Ma and at 44-42 Ma was controlled by localized uplift on the Leavenworth (LFZ), Eagle Creek (ECFZ), and Entiat (EFZ) fault zones and led in each instance to the truncation of regional depositional systems, modification and reversal of paleoflow, and internal drainage. Relief on the LFZ at 51-49 Ma may be the …