Co-registered photoacoustic, thermoacoustic, and ultrasound mouse imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Reinecke, Daniel R.; Kruger, Robert A.; Lam, Richard B.; DelRio, Stephen P.

2010-02-01

We have constructed and tested a prototype test bed that allows us to form 3D photoacoustic CT images using near-infrared (NIR) irradiation (700 - 900 nm), 3D thermoacoustic CT images using microwave irradiation (434 MHz), and 3D ultrasound images from a commercial ultrasound scanner. The device utilizes a vertically oriented, curved array to capture the photoacoustic and thermoacoustic data. In addition, an 8-MHz linear array fixed in a horizontal position provides the ultrasound data. The photoacoustic and thermoacoustic data sets are co-registered exactly because they use the same detector. The ultrasound data set requires only simple corrections to co-register its images. The photoacoustic, thermoacoustic, and ultrasound images of mouse anatomy reveal complementary anatomic information as they exploit different contrast mechanisms. The thermoacoustic images differentiate between muscle, fat and bone. The photoacoustic images reveal the hemoglobin distribution, which is localized predominantly in the vascular space. The ultrasound images provide detailed information about the bony structures. Superposition of all three images onto a co-registered hybrid image shows the potential of a trimodal photoacoustic-thermoacoustic-ultrasound small-animal imaging system.

Heat Transfer in a Thermoacoustic Process

Science.gov (United States)

Beke, Tamas

2012-01-01

Thermoacoustic instability is defined as the excitation of acoustic modes in chambers with heat sources due to the coupling between acoustic perturbations and unsteady heat addition. The major objective of this paper is to achieve accurate theoretical results in a thermoacoustic heat transfer process. We carry out a detailed heat transfer analysis…

Thermoacoustic power systems for space applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Backhaus, S.N.; Tward, E.; Pedach, M.

2001-01-01

Future NASA deep-space missions will require radioisotope-powered electric generators that are just as reliable as current RTGs, but more efficient and of higher specific power (W/kg). Thermoacoustic engines can convert high-temperature heat into acoustic, or PV, power without moving parts at 30% efficiency. Consisting of only tubes and a few heat exchangers, these engines are low mass and promise to be highly reliable. Coupling a thermoacoustic engine to a low-mass, highly reliable and efficient linear alternator will create a heat-driven electric generator suitable for deep-space applications. Data will be presented on the first tests of a demonstration thermoacoustic engine designed for the 100-Watt power range.

Experimental investigation of a thermoacoustic-Stirling refrigerator driven by a thermoacoustic-Stirling heat engine.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, E C; Dai, W; Zhang, Y; Ling, H

2006-12-22

In this paper, a thermally-driven thermoacoustic refrigerator system without any moving part is reported. This refrigeration system consists of a thermoacoustic-Stirling heat engine and a thermoacoustic-Stirling refrigerator; that is, the former is the driving source for the latter. Both the subsystems are designed to operate on traveling-wave mode. In the experiment, it was found that the DC-flows had significant negative effect on the heat engine and the refrigerator. To suppress these DC-flows, two flexible membranes were inserted into the two subsystems and worked very well. Then extensive experiments were made to test the influence of different parameters on refrigeration performance of the whole system. The system has so far achieved a no-load temperature of -65 degrees C, a cooling capacity of about 270 W at -20 degrees C and 405 W at 0 degrees C; in fact, the result showed a good prospect of the refrigeration system in room-temperature cooling such as food refrigeration and air-conditioning.

Passive control of thermoacoustic oscillations with adjoint methods

Science.gov (United States)

Aguilar, Jose; Juniper, Matthew

2017-11-01

Strict pollutant regulations are driving gas turbine manufacturers to develop devices that operate under lean premixed conditions, which produce less NOx but encourage thermoacoustic oscillations. These are a form of unstable combustion that arise due to the coupling between the acoustic field and the fluctuating heat release in a combustion chamber. In such devices, in which safety is paramount, thermoacoustic oscillations must be eliminated passively, rather than through feedback control. The ideal way to eliminate thermoacoustic oscillations is by subtly changing the shape of the device. To achieve this, one must calculate the sensitivity of each unstable thermoacoustic mode to every geometric parameter. This is prohibitively expensive with standard methods, but is relatively cheap with adjoint methods. In this study we first present low-order network models as a tool to model and study the thermoacoustic behaviour of combustion chambers. Then we compute the continuous adjoint equations and the sensitivities to relevant parameters. With this, we run an optimization routine that modifies the parameters in order to stabilize all the resonant modes of a laboratory combustor rig.

Theory and modeling of cylindrical thermo-acoustic transduction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tong, Lihong, E-mail: lhtong@ecjtu.edu.cn [School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, Jiangxi (China); Lim, C.W. [Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR (China); Zhao, Xiushao; Geng, Daxing [School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, Jiangxi (China)

2016-06-03

Models both for solid and thinfilm-solid cylindrical thermo-acoustic transductions are proposed and the corresponding acoustic pressure solutions are obtained. The acoustic pressure for an individual carbon nanotube (CNT) as a function of input power is investigated analytically and it is verified by comparing with the published experimental data. Further numerical analysis on the acoustic pressure response and characteristics for varying input frequency and distance are also examined both for solid and thinfilm-solid cylindrical thermo-acoustic transductions. Through detailed theoretical and numerical studies on the acoustic pressure solution for thinfilm-solid cylindrical transduction, it is concluded that a solid with smaller thermal conductivity favors to improve the acoustic performance. In general, the proposed models are applicable to a variety of cylindrical thermo-acoustic devices performing in different gaseous media. - Highlights: • Theory and modeling both for solid and thinfilm-solid cylindrical thermo-acoustic transductions are proposed. • The modeling is verified by comparing with the published experimental data. • Acoustic response characteristics of cylindrical thermo-acoustic transductions are predicted by the proposed model.

Design of a low-cost thermoacoustic electricity generator and its experimental verification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Backhaus, Scott N [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Yu, Z [UNIV OF MANCHESTER; Jaworski, A J [UNIV OF MANCHESTER

2010-01-01

This paper describes the design and testing of a low cost thermoacoustic generator. A travelling-wave thermoacoustic engine with a configuration of a looped-tube resonator is designed and constructed to convert heat to acoustic power. A commercially available, low-cost loudspeaker is adopted as the alternator to convert the engine's acoustic power to electricity. The whole system is designed using linear thermoacoustic theory. The optimization of different parts of the thermoacoustic generator, as well as the matching between the thermoacoustic engine and the alternator are discussed in detail. A detailed comparison between the preliminary test results and linear thermoacoustic predictions is provided.

Modelling of Thermoacoustic Phenomena in an Electrically Heated Rijke Tube

Science.gov (United States)

Beke, Tamas

2010-01-01

Thermoacoustic instability plays an important role in various technical applications, for instance in jet or rocket motors, thermoacoustic engines, pulse combustors and industrial burners. The main objective of this paper is to present the theory of thermoacoustic oscillations, and for this purpose a Rijke-type thermal device was built. The Rijke…

Coincident effect characteristic in a thermoacoustic regenerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yicai; Xin Tianlong; Huang Qian; Shi Xiangnan; Chen Siming; Chen Lixin

2011-01-01

Many previous studies on characteristics of thermoacoustic regenerator are based on fluid micro-groups and their compression-expansion cycle. In this paper, coincident frequency is introduced to evaluate its acoustic characteristics by combining structural acoustic with structural vibration theories. The relationship among structure wave radiation and regenerator position, slab thickness, and properties of material are analyzed by numerical calculation. The results show that in the low-frequency thermoacoustic system, the coincident effect generated by higher frequency wave weakens the fundamental sound wave. While in the high-frequency thermoacoustic system, where the oscillating fundamental frequency is higher than the coincident frequency, the sound field strength is enhanced by stronger structure wave radiation because of the coincident effect.

A numerical simulation method and analysis of a complete thermoacoustic-Stirling engine.

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Hong; Luo, Ercang; Dai, Wei

2006-12-22

Thermoacoustic prime movers can generate pressure oscillation without any moving parts on self-excited thermoacoustic effect. The details of the numerical simulation methodology for thermoacoustic engines are presented in the paper. First, a four-port network method is used to build the transcendental equation of complex frequency as a criterion to judge if temperature distribution of the whole thermoacoustic system is correct for the case with given heating power. Then, the numerical simulation of a thermoacoustic-Stirling heat engine is carried out. It is proved that the numerical simulation code can run robustly and output what one is interested in. Finally, the calculated results are compared with the experiments of the thermoacoustic-Stirling heat engine (TASHE). It shows that the numerical simulation can agrees with the experimental results with acceptable accuracy.

A linearly-acting variable-reluctance generator for thermoacoustic engines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hail, Claudio U.; Knodel, Philip C.; Lang, Jeffrey H.; Brisson, John G.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A new design for a linear alternator for thermoacoustic power converters is presented. • A theoretical and semi-empirical model of the generator is developed and validated. • The variable-reluctance generator’s performance is experimentally characterized. • Scaling to higher frequency suggests efficient operation with thermoacoustic engines. - Abstract: A crucial element in a thermoacoustic power converter for reliable small-scale power generation applications is an efficient acoustic-to-electric energy converter. In this work, an acoustic-to-electric transducer for application with a back-to-back standing wave thermoacoustic engine, based on a linearly-acting variable-reluctance generator is proposed, built and experimentally tested. Static and dynamic experiments are performed on one side of the generator on a shaker table at 60 Hz with 5 mm peak-to-peak displacement for performance characterization. A theoretical and empirical model of the variable-reluctance generator are presented and validated with experimental data. A frequency scaling based on the empirical model indicates that a maximum power output of 84 W at 78% generator efficiency is feasible at the thermoacoustic engine’s operating frequency of 250 Hz, not considering power electronic losses. This suggests that the linearly-acting variable-reluctance generator can efficiently convert high frequency small amplitude acoustic oscillations to useful electricity and thus enables its integration into a thermoacoustic power converter

The role of thermoacoustics in the world of commercial cooling

Science.gov (United States)

Corey, John A.

2005-09-01

The science of thermoacoustics has been with us for nearly 30 years, but as yet few applications have made their way to the marketplace. Acoustic Stirling cryocoolers (also called pulse-tube Stirling or high-frequency pulse-tube coolers) have been the most successful commercial thermoacoustic devices, because they address a region of the cooling market in terms of temperature and cooling power that is not well served by existing technology. This talk will explore how thermoacoustics might fare in attempting to compete with existing technologies in refrigeration and air conditioning, what niche markets make the most sense as entry points, and how thermoacoustics compares to conventional (kinematic or free-piston) Stirling machines. In particular, why there are relatively few commercial Stirling devices in the marketplace (although Stirling cycle machines have been around for over 150 years) will be discussed, and what lessons learned with Stirlings are applicable to thermoacoustics.

Thermoacoustic emission induced by deeply-penetrating radiation and its application to biomedical imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liew, Soo Chin.

1989-01-01

Thermoacoustic emissions induced by 2450 MHz microwave pulses in water, tissue-simulating phantoms and dog kidneys have been detected. The analytic signal magnitude has been employed in generating A-mode images with excellent depth resolution. Thermoacoustic emissions have also been detected from the dose-gradient at the beam edges of a 4 MeV x-ray beam in water. These results establish the feasibility of employing thermoacoustic signals in generating diagnostic images, and in locating x-ray beam edges during radiation therapy. A theoretical model for thermoacoustic imaging using a directional transducer has been developed, which may be used in the design of future thermoacoustic imaging system, and in facilitating comparisons with other types of imaging systems. A method of characterizing biological tissues has been proposed, which relates the power spectrum of the detected thermoacoustic signals to the autocorrelation function of the thermoacoustic source distribution in the tissues. The temperature dependence of acoustic signals induced by microwave pulses in water has been investigated. A microwave-induced thermoacoustic source capable of launching large aperture, unipolar ultrasonic plane wave pulses in water has been constructed

Thermoacoustics of solids: A pathway to solid state engines and refrigerators

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Haitian; Scalo, Carlo; Sen, Mihir; Semperlotti, Fabio

2018-01-01

Thermoacoustic oscillations have been one of the most exciting discoveries of the physics of fluids in the 19th century. Since its inception, scientists have formulated a comprehensive theoretical explanation of the basic phenomenon which has later found several practical applications to engineering devices. To date, all studies have concentrated on the thermoacoustics of fluid media where this fascinating mechanism was exclusively believed to exist. Our study shows theoretical and numerical evidence of the existence of thermoacoustic instabilities in solid media. Although the underlying physical mechanism exhibits some interesting similarities with its counterpart in fluids, the theoretical framework highlights relevant differences that have important implications on the ability to trigger and sustain the thermoacoustic response. This mechanism could pave the way to the development of highly robust and reliable solid-state thermoacoustic engines and refrigerators.

Traveling-Wave Thermoacoustic Engines With Internal Combustion

Science.gov (United States)

Weiland, Nathan Thomas; Zinn, Ben T.; Swift, Gregory William

2004-05-11

Thermoacoustic devices are disclosed wherein, for some embodiments, a combustion zone provides heat to a regenerator using a mean flow of compressible fluid. In other embodiments, burning of a combustible mixture within the combustion zone is pulsed in phase with the acoustic pressure oscillations to increase acoustic power output. In an example embodiment, the combustion zone and the regenerator are thermally insulated from other components within the thermoacoustic device.

Generation of thermo-acoustic waves from pulsed solar/IR radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Aowabin

Acoustic waves could potentially be used in a wide range of engineering applications; however, the high energy consumption in generating acoustic waves from electrical energy and the cost associated with the process limit the use of acoustic waves in industrial processes. Acoustic waves converted from solar radiation provide a feasible way of obtaining acoustic energy, without relying on conventional nonrenewable energy sources. One of the goals of this thesis project was to experimentally study the conversion of thermal to acoustic energy using pulsed radiation. The experiments were categorized into "indoor" and "outdoor" experiments, each with a separate experimental setup. The indoor experiments used an IR heater to power the thermo-acoustic lasers and were primarily aimed at studying the effect of various experimental parameters on the amplitude of sound waves in the low frequency range (below 130 Hz). The IR radiation was modulated externally using a chopper wheel and then impinged on a porous solid, which was housed inside a thermo-acoustic (TA) converter. A microphone located at a certain distance from the porous solid inside the TA converter detected the acoustic signals. The "outdoor" experiments, which were targeted at TA conversion at comparatively higher frequencies (in 200 Hz-3 kHz range) used solar energy to power the thermo-acoustic laser. The amplitudes (in RMS) of thermo-acoustic signals obtained in experiments using IR heater as radiation source were in the 80-100 dB range. The frequency of acoustic waves corresponded to the frequency of interceptions of the radiation beam by the chopper. The amplitudes of acoustic waves were influenced by several factors, including the chopping frequency, magnitude of radiation flux, type of porous material, length of porous material, external heating of the TA converter housing, location of microphone within the air column, and design of the TA converter. The time-dependent profile of the thermo-acoustic signals

Evaluation of thermal efficiency and energy conversion of thermoacoustic Stirling engines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong Junhu; Zheng Yuli; Qing Li; Qiang Li

2010-01-01

Thermodynamic cycle transferring heat and work was executed in thermoacoustic engines, when the acoustic resonators substituted the moving mechanical components of the traditional heat engines. Based on the traveling-wave phasing and reversible heat transfer, thermoacoustic Stirling engines could achieve 70% of the Carnot efficiency theoretically, if the inevitable viscous dissipation in resonators was also counted as exported power. It should be pointed out an error on this efficiency evaluation in the previous literatures. More than 70% of the acoustic power production was often consumed by the side-branch resonator that was the essential configuration to build up a thermoacoustic Stirling engine. According to the simulation results and some experimental data, the actual available acoustic power consumed by the acoustic loads was restricted by the operating peak-to-mean pressure ratio, i.e. |p 1 /p m |. When the peak-to-mean pressure ratio operated on 4-6.5%, the thermal efficiency and power density of the available acoustic power reached higher levels. But the available acoustic power would approach zero when |p 1 /p m | attained 10%. It was approved that the turbulence oscillation occurred on the higher |p 1 /p m | (usually >4%) was the main reason of the excess dissipation in the side-branch resonator. This character of the available power limited the wide application of thermoacoustic Stirling engines. The evaluation of thermal efficiency and energy conversion also indicated the improving direction of thermoacoustic Stirling engines. Generators driven by the thermoacoustic Stirling engines were an effective way, due to the elimination of the side-branch resonator. To achieve a high power density and a high pressure ratio on the higher available power efficiency level, the standing-wave thermoacoustic engines might outvie the traveling-wave thermoacoustic engines. To enjoy the best features of standing-wave engines and traveling-wave engines simultaneously

Review on the conversion of thermoacoustic power into electricity.

Science.gov (United States)

Timmer, Michael A G; de Blok, Kees; van der Meer, Theo H

2018-02-01

Thermoacoustic engines convert heat energy into high amplitude acoustic waves and subsequently into electric power. This article provides a review of the four main methods to convert the (thermo)acoustic power into electricity. First, loudspeakers and linear alternators are discussed in a section on electromagnetic devices. This is followed by sections on piezoelectric transducers, magnetohydrodynamic generators, and bidirectional turbines. Each segment provides a literature review of the given technology for the field of thermoacoustics, focusing on possible configurations, operating characteristics, output performance, and analytical and numerical methods to study the devices. This information is used as an input to discuss the performance and feasibility of each method, and to identify challenges that should be overcome for a more successful implementation in thermoacoustic engines. The work is concluded by a comparison of the four technologies, concentrating on the possible areas of application, the conversion efficiency, maximum electrical power output and more generally the suggested focus for future work in the field.

Holographic-interferometric and thermoanemometric study of a thermoacoustic prime mover

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Trávníček, Zdeněk; Wang, A. B.; Lédl, Vít; Vít, Tomáš; Chen, Y. Ch.; Maršík, František

2013-01-01

Roč. 29, č. 1 (2013), s. 59-66 ISSN 1727-7191 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GCP101/11/J019 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20760514 Institutional support: RVO:61388998 ; RVO:61389021 Keywords : thermoacoustics * holographic interferometry * hot-wire anemometry Subject RIV: BJ - Thermodynamics; BJ - Thermodynamics (UFP-V) Impact factor: 0.314, year: 2013 http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8832965

Optimizing the Thermoacoustic Pulse Tube Refrigerator Performances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. V. Blagin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article deals with research and optimization of the thermoacoustic pulse tube refrigerator to reach a cryogenic temperature level. The refrigerator is considered as a thermoacoustic converter based on the modified Stirling cycle with helium working fluid. A sound pressure generator runs as a compressor. Plant model comprises an inner heat exchanger, a regenerative heat exchanger, a pulse tube, hot and cold heat exchangers at its ends, an inertial tube with the throttle, and a reservoir. A model to calculate the pulse tube thermoacoustic refrigerator using the DeltaEC software package has been developed to be a basis for calculation techniques of the pulse tube refrigerator. Momentum, continuity, and energy equations for helium refrigerant are solved according to calculation algorithm taking into account the porosity of regenerator and heat exchangers. Optimization of the main geometric parameters resulted in decreasing temperature of cold heat exchanger by 41,7 K. After optimization this value became equal to 115,01 K. The following parameters have been optimized: diameters of the feeding and pulse tube and heat exchangers, regenerator, lengths of the regenerator and pulse and inertial tubes, as well as initial pressure. Besides, global minimum of temperatures has been searched at a point of local minima corresponding to the optimal values of abovementioned parameters. A global-local minima difference is 0,1%. Optimized geometric and working parameters of the thermoacoustic pulse tube refrigerator are presented.

Design of numerical model for thermoacoustic devices using OpenFOAM

Science.gov (United States)

Tisovsky, Tomas; Vit, Tomas

2017-09-01

Thermoacoustic devices are increasingly popular especially because of their construction simplicity and the ability to easily convert waste heat into the form of usable energy. Aim of this paper is to introduce some of the effective procedures for creating a complex mathematical model of thermoacoustic devices in OpenFOAM.

Thermoacoustic engines and refrigerators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Swift, G.

1996-12-31

This report is a transcript of a practice lecture given in preparation for a review lecture on the operation of thermoacoustic engines and refrigerators. The author begins by a brief review of the thermodynamic principles underlying the operation of thermoacoustic engines and refrigerators. Remember from thermodynamics class that there are two kinds of heat engines, the heat engine or the prime mover which produces work from heat, and the refrigerator or heat pump that uses work to pump heat. The device operates between two thermal reservoirs at temperatures T{sub hot} and T{sub cold}. In the heat engine, heat flows into the device from the reservoir at T{sub hot}, produces work, and delivers waste heat into the reservoir at T{sub cold}. In the refrigerator, work flows into the device, lifting heat Q{sub cold} from reservoir at T{sub cold} and rejecting waste heat into the reservoir at T{sub hot}.

Forced synchronization and asynchronous quenching in a thermo-acoustic system

Science.gov (United States)

Mondal, Sirshendu; Pawar, Samadhan A.; Sujith, Raman

2017-11-01

Forced synchronization, which has been extensively studied in theory and experiments, occurs through two different mechanisms known as phase locking and asynchronous quenching. The latter indicates the suppression of oscillation amplitude. In most practical combustion systems such as gas turbine engines, the main concern is high amplitude pressure oscillations, known as thermo-acoustic instability. Thermo-acoustic instability is undesirable and needs to be suppressed because of its damaging consequences to an engine. In the present study, a systematic experimental investigation of forced synchronization is performed in a prototypical thermo-acoustic system, a Rijke tube, in its limit cycle operation. Further, we show a qualitatively similar behavior using a reduced order model. In the phase locking region, the simultaneous occurrence of synchronization and resonant amplification leads to high amplitude pressure oscillations. However, a reduction in the amplitude of natural oscillations by about 78% of the unforced amplitude is observed when the forcing frequency is far lower than the natural frequency. This shows the possibility of suppression of the oscillation amplitude through asynchronous quenching in thermo-acoustic systems.

Acoustic field characteristics and performance analysis of a looped travelling-wave thermoacoustic refrigerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin, T.; Yang, R.; Wang, Y.; Feng, Y.; Tang, K.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Key issues for a highly efficient thermoacoustic conversion are analyzed. • A looped thermoacoustic refrigerator with one engine stage and one refrigerator stage is proposed. • Effective refrigeration powered by heat sources below 250 °C is demonstrated in the simulation. • Impact of cooling/heating temperatures on system performance is analyzed in view of acoustic field. - Abstract: This paper focuses on a looped travelling-wave thermoacoustic refrigerator powered by thermal energy. Based on a simplified model for the regenerator, key issues for a highly efficient thermoacoustic conversion, including both thermal-to-acoustic and heat-pumping processes, are summarized. A looped travelling-wave thermoacoustic refrigerator with one engine stage and one refrigerator stage is proposed, with emphasis on high normalized acoustic impedance, sufficient volumetric velocity and appropriate phase relation close to travelling wave in the regenerators of both engine and refrigerator. Simulation results indicate that for the ambient temperature of 30 °C, the looped travelling-wave thermoacoustic refrigerator can be powered by the heat at 210–250 °C to achieve the refrigeration at −3 °C with the overall coefficient of performance above 0.4 and the relative Carnot coefficient of performance over 13%. The characteristics of the acoustic field inside the loop configuration are analyzed in detail to reveal the operation mechanism of the looped travelling-wave thermoacoustic refrigerator. Additional analyses are conducted on the impact of the cooling and the heating temperatures, which are of great concern to the refrigeration applications and the utilization of low-grade thermal energy.

A multi-stage traveling-wave thermoacoustically-driven refrigeration system operating at liquefied natural gas temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, K.; Sun, D. M.; Zhang, J.; Shen, Q.; Zhang, N.

2017-12-01

This study proposes a multi-stage travelling-wave thermoacoustically refrigeration system (TAD-RS) operating at liquefied natural gas temperature, which consists of two thermoacoustic engines (TAE) and one thermoacoustic refrigerator (TAR) in a closed-loop configuration. Three thermoacoustic units connect each other through a resonance tube of small cross-sectional area, achieving “self-matching” for efficient thermoacoustic conversion. Based on the linear thermoacoustic theory, a model of the proposed system has been built by using DeltaEC program to show the acoustic field characteristics and performance. It is shown that with pressurized 5 MPa helium as working gas, the TAEs are able to build a stable and strong acoustic field with a frequency of about 85 Hz. When hot end temperature reaches 923 K, this system can provide about 1410 W cooling power at 110 K with an overall exergy efficiency of 15.5%. This study indicates a great application prospect of TAD-RS in the field of natural gas liquefaction with a large cooling capacity and simple structure.

Performance measurement of a mini thermoacoustic refrigerator and associated drivers

OpenAIRE

Petrina, Denys E.

2002-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited A miniature Thermoacoustic refrigerator is being developed to cool integrated circuits - which must sometimes operate at high temperatures nearing the upper threshold of their tolerance - to temperature spans more within the circuits' tolerable limits, without the need of the chemicals of a traditional refrigerating system. The development of an electrically powered acoustic driver that powers the thermoacoustic refrigerator is describ...

Method of determination of thermo-acoustic coolant instability boundaries in reactor core at NPPs with WWER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skalozubov, Volodymyr; Kolykhanov, Viktor; Kovryzhkin, Yuriy

2007-01-01

The regulatory body of Ukraine, the National Atomic Energy Company and the Scientific and Production Centre have led team-works concerned with previously unstudied factors or phenomena affecting reactor safety. As a result it is determined that the thermo-acoustic coolant instability conditions can appear in the core at definite operating WWER regimes. Considerable cyclic dynamic loads affect fuel claddings over thermo-acoustic pressure oscillations. These loads can result in inadmissible cassette design damage and containment damage. Taking into account calculation and experimental research authors submit a method of on-line assessment of WWER core state concerning thermo-acoustic coolant instability. According to this method, the thermo-acoustic coolant instability appearance conditions can be estimated using normal registered parameters (pressure, temperature, heat demand etc.). At operative modes, a WWER-1000 core is stable to tracheotomies oscillations, but reduction of coolant discharge through the core for some times can result in thermo-acoustic coolant instability. Thermo-acoustic instability appears at separate transitional modes concerned with reactor scram and unloading/loading at all power units. When thermo-acoustic instability begins in transitional modes, core elements are under influence of high-frequency coolant pressure pulsations for a long time (tens of hours)

A Thermoacoustic Model for High Aspect Ratio Nanostructures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masoud S. Loeian

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we have developed a new thermoacoustic model for predicting the resonance frequency and quality factors of one-dimensional (1D nanoresonators. Considering a nanoresonator as a fix-free Bernoulli-Euler cantilever, an analytical model has been developed to show the influence of material and geometrical properties of 1D nanoresonators on their mechanical response without any damping. Diameter and elastic modulus have a direct relationship and length has an inverse relationship on the strain energy and stress at the clamp end of the nanoresonator. A thermoacoustic multiphysics COMSOL model has been elaborated to simulate the frequency response of vibrating 1D nanoresonators in air. The results are an excellent match with experimental data from independently published literature reports, and the results of this model are consistent with the analytical model. Considering the air and thermal damping in the thermoacoustic model, the quality factor of a nanowire has been estimated and the results show that zinc oxide (ZnO and silver-gallium (Ag2Ga nanoresonators are potential candidates as nanoresonators, nanoactuators, and for scanning probe microscopy applications.

Exergetic optimization of a thermoacoustic engine using the particle swarm optimization method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaitou, Hussein; Nika, Philippe

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Optimization of a thermoacoustic engine using the particle swarm optimization method. ► Exergetic efficiency, acoustic power and their product are the optimized functions. ► PSO method is used successfully for the first time in the TA research. ► The powerful PSO tool is advised to be more involved in the TA research and design. ► EE times AP optimized function is highly recommended to design any new TA devices. - Abstract: Thermoacoustic engines convert heat energy into acoustic energy. Then, the acoustic energy can be used to pump heat or to generate electricity. It is well-known that the acoustic energy and therefore the exergetic efficiency depend on parameters such as the stack’s hydraulic radius, the stack’s position in the resonator and the traveling–standing-wave ratio. In this paper, these three parameters are investigated in order to study and analyze the best value of the produced acoustic energy, the exergetic efficiency and the product of the acoustic energy by the exergetic efficiency of a thermoacoustic engine with a parallel-plate stack. The dimensionless expressions of the thermoacoustic equations are derived and calculated. Then, the Particle Swarm Optimization method (PSO) is introduced and used for the first time in the thermoacoustic research. The use of the PSO method and the optimization of the acoustic energy multiplied by the exergetic efficiency are novel contributions to this domain of research. This paper discusses some significant conclusions which are useful for the design of new thermoacoustic engines.

Control of thermoacoustic instability with a drum-like silencer

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guangyu; Wang, Xiaoyu; Li, Lei; Jing, Xiaodong; Sun, Xiaofeng

2017-10-01

Theoretical investigation is carried out by a novel method of controlling thermoacoustic instability with a drum-like silencer. It is shown that by decreasing the frequency of thermoacoustic system, the instability can be suppressed with the help of drum-like silencer. The purely reactive silencer, which is composed of a flexible membrane and a backing cavity, is usually known as a noise control device that works effectively in low frequency bandwidth without any aerodynamic loss. In present research, the silencer is exploited in a Rijke tube, as a means of decreasing the natural frequency of the system, and consequently changing the resonance period of the system. The "transfer element method" (TEM) is used to consider the interactions between the acoustic waves and the flexible membranes of the silencer. The effects of all possible properties of the silencer on the growth rate and resonance frequency of the thermoacoustic system are explored. According to the calculation results, it is found that for some properties of the silencer, the resonance frequencies are greatly decreased and then the phase difference between the unsteady heat release and the pressure fluctuation is increased. Consequently, the instability is suppressed with some dissipation that can not be able to control its onset in the original system. Therefore, when the damping is low, but not zero, it is effective to control thermoacoustic instability with this technique.

A one-dimensional heat transfer model for parallel-plate thermoacoustic heat exchangers.

Science.gov (United States)

de Jong, J A; Wijnant, Y H; de Boer, A

2014-03-01

A one-dimensional (1D) laminar oscillating flow heat transfer model is derived and applied to parallel-plate thermoacoustic heat exchangers. The model can be used to estimate the heat transfer from the solid wall to the acoustic medium, which is required for the heat input/output of thermoacoustic systems. The model is implementable in existing (quasi-)1D thermoacoustic codes, such as DeltaEC. Examples of generated results show good agreement with literature results. The model allows for arbitrary wave phasing; however, it is shown that the wave phasing does not significantly influence the heat transfer.

Development of a 3 kW double-acting thermoacoustic Stirling electric generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Zhanghua; Yu, Guoyao; Zhang, Limin; Dai, Wei; Luo, Ercang

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A 3 kW double-acting thermoacoustic Stirling electric generator is introduced. • 1.57 kW electric power with 16.8% thermal-to-electric efficiency was achieved. • High mechanical damping coefficient greatly decreases the system performance. • Performance difference is significant, which also decreased system performance. - Abstract: In this paper, a double-acting thermoacoustic Stirling electric generator is proposed as a new device capable of converting external heat into electric power. In the system, at least three thermoacoustic Stirling heat engines and three linear alternators are used to build a multiple-cylinder electricity generator. In comparison with the conventional thermoacoustic electricity generation system, the double-acting thermoacoustic Stirling electric generator has advantages on efficiency, power density and power capacity. In order to verify the idea, a prototype of 3 kW three-cylinder double-acting thermoacoustic Stirling electric generator is designed, built and tested. Based on the classic thermoacoustic theory, numerical simulation is performed to obtain the thermodynamic parameters of the engine. And distributions of key parameters are presented for a better understanding of the energy conversion process in the engine. In the experiments, a maximum electric power of about 1.57 kW and a maximum thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency of 16.8% were achieved with 5 MPa pressurized helium and 86 Hz working frequency. However, we find that the mechanical damping coefficient of the piston is dramatically increased due to the deformation of the cylinder wall caused by high thermal stress during the experiments. Thereby, the system performance was greatly reduced. Additionally, the performance differences between three engines and three alternators are significant, such as the heating temperature difference between three heater blocks of the engines, the piston displacement and the output electric power differences between

A hot air driven thermoacoustic-Stirling engine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tijani, M.E.H.; Spoelstra, S. [ECN Biomass and Energy Efficiency, Petten (Netherlands)

2012-09-15

Significant energy savings can be obtained by implementing a thermally driven heat pump into industrial or domestic applications. Such a thermally driven heat pump uses heat from a high-temperature source to drive the system which upgrades an abundantly available heat source (industrial waste heat, air, water, geothermal). A way to do this is by coupling a thermoacoustic engine with a thermoacoustic heat pump. The engine is driven by a burner and produces acoustic power and heat at the required temperature. The acoustic power is used to pump heat in the heat pump to the required temperature. This system is attractive since it uses a noble gas as working medium and has no moving mechanical parts. This paper deals with the first part of this system: the engine. In this study, hot air is used to simulate the flue gases originating from a gas burner. This is in contrast with a lot of other studies of thermoacoustic engines that use an electrical heater as heat source. Using hot air resembles to a larger extent the real world application. The engine produces about 300W of acoustic power with a performance of 41% of the Carnot efficiency at a hot air temperature of 620C.

A one-dimensional heat transfer model for parallel-plate thermoacoustic heat exchangers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, Anne; Wijnant, Ysbrand H.; de Boer, Andries

2014-01-01

A one-dimensional (1D) laminar oscillating flow heat transfer model is derived and applied to parallel-plate thermoacoustic heat exchangers. The model can be used to estimate the heat transfer from the solid wall to the acoustic medium, which is required for the heat input/output of thermoacoustic

Thermoacoustic Emission Induced by Deeply-Penetrating Radiation and its Application to Biomedical Imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Liew, Soo Chin

Thermoacoustic emissions induced by 2450 MHz microwave pulses in water, tissue-simulating phantoms and dog kidneys have been detected. The analytic signal magnitude has been employed in generating 'A-mode' images with excellent depth resolution. Thermoacoustic emissions have also been detected from the dose-gradient at the beam edges of a 4 MeV x-ray beam in water. These results establish the feasibility of employing thermoacoustic signals in generating diagnostic images, and in locating x-ray beam edges during radiation therapy. A theoretical model for thermoacoustic imaging using a directional transducer has been developed, which may be used in the design of future thermoacoustic imaging system, and in facilitating comparisons with other types of imaging systems. A method of characterizing biological tissues has been proposed, which relates the power spectrum of the detected thermoacoustic signals to the autocorrelation function of the thermoacoustic source distribution in the tissues. The temperature dependence of acoustic signals induced by microwave pulses in water has been investigated. The signal amplitudes vary with temperature as the thermal expansion of water, except near 4^circ C. The signal waveforms show a gradual phase change as the temperature changes from below 4^ circ to above 4^circ C. This anomaly is due to the presence of a nonthermal component detected near 4^circC, whose waveform is similar to the derivative of the room temperature signal. The results are compared to a model based on a nonequilibrium relaxation mechanism proposed by Pierce and Hsieh. The relaxation time was found to be (0.20 +/- 0.02) ns and (0.13 +/- 0.02) ns for 200 ns and 400 ns microwave pulse widths, respectively. A microwave-induced thermoacoustic source capable of launching large aperture, unipolar ultrasonic plane wave pulses in water has been constructed. This source consists of a thin water layer trapped between two dielectric media. Due to the large mismatch in the

The feasibility of using microwave-induced thermoacoustic tomography for detection and evaluation of renal calculi

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao Caijun; Nie Liming; Lou Cunguang; Xing Da

2010-01-01

Imaging of renal calculi is important for patients who suffered a urinary calculus prior to treatment. The available imaging techniques include plain x-ray, ultrasound scan, intravenous urogram, computed tomography, etc. However, the visualization of a uric acid calculus (radiolucent calculi) is difficult and often impossible by the above imaging methods. In this paper, a new detection method based on microwave-induced thermoacoustic tomography was developed to detect the renal calculi. Thermoacoustic images of calcium oxalate and uric acid calculus were compared with their x-ray images. The microwave absorption differences among the calcium oxalate calculus, uric acid calculus and normal kidney tissue could be evaluated by the amplitude of the thermoacoustic signals. The calculi hidden in the swine kidney were clearly imaged with excellent contrast and resolution in the three orthogonal thermoacoustic images. The results indicate that thermoacoustic imaging may be developed as a complementary method for detecting renal calculi, and its low cost and effective feature shows high potential for clinical applications.

Experimental Investigation of Bifurcations in a Thermoacoustic Engine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vishnu R. Unni

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In this study, variation in the characteristics of the pressure oscillations in a thermoacoustic engine is explored as the input heat flux is varied. A bifurcation diagram is plotted to study the variation in the qualitative behavior of the acoustic oscillations as the input heat flux changes. At a critical input heat flux (60 Watt, the engine begins to produce acoustic oscillations in its fundamental longitudinal mode. As the input heat flux is increased, incommensurate frequencies appear in the power spectrum. The simultaneous presence of incommensurate frequencies results in quasiperiodic oscillations. On further increase of heat flux, the fundamental mode disappears and second mode oscillations are observed. These bifurcations in the characteristics of the pressure oscillations are the result of nonlinear interaction between multiple modes present in the thermoacoustic engine. Hysteresis in the bifurcation diagram suggests that the bifurcation is subcritical. Further, the qualitative analysis of different dynamic regimes is performed using nonlinear time series analysis. The physical reason for the observed nonlinear behavior is discussed. Suggestions to avert the variations in qualitative behavior of the pressure oscillations in thermoacoustic engines are also provided.

Modeling of micro-scale thermoacoustics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Offner, Avshalom [The Nancy and Stephen Grand Technion Energy Program, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000 (Israel); Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000 (Israel); Ramon, Guy Z., E-mail: ramong@technion.ac.il [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000 (Israel)

2016-05-02

Thermoacoustic phenomena, that is, onset of self-sustained oscillations or time-averaged fluxes in a sound wave, may be harnessed as efficient and robust heat transfer devices. Specifically, miniaturization of such devices holds great promise for cooling of electronics. At the required small dimensions, it is expected that non-negligible slip effects exist at the solid surface of the “stack”-a porous matrix, which is used for maintaining the correct temporal phasing of the heat transfer between the solid and oscillating gas. Here, we develop theoretical models for thermoacoustic engines and heat pumps that account for slip, within the standing-wave approximation. Stability curves for engines with both no-slip and slip boundary conditions were calculated; the slip boundary condition curve exhibits a lower temperature difference compared with the no slip curve for resonance frequencies that characterize micro-scale devices. Maximum achievable temperature differences across the stack of a heat pump were also calculated. For this case, slip conditions are detrimental and such a heat pump would maintain a lower temperature difference compared to larger devices, where slip effects are negligible.

Modeling of micro-scale thermoacoustics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Offner, Avshalom; Ramon, Guy Z.

2016-01-01

Thermoacoustic phenomena, that is, onset of self-sustained oscillations or time-averaged fluxes in a sound wave, may be harnessed as efficient and robust heat transfer devices. Specifically, miniaturization of such devices holds great promise for cooling of electronics. At the required small dimensions, it is expected that non-negligible slip effects exist at the solid surface of the “stack”-a porous matrix, which is used for maintaining the correct temporal phasing of the heat transfer between the solid and oscillating gas. Here, we develop theoretical models for thermoacoustic engines and heat pumps that account for slip, within the standing-wave approximation. Stability curves for engines with both no-slip and slip boundary conditions were calculated; the slip boundary condition curve exhibits a lower temperature difference compared with the no slip curve for resonance frequencies that characterize micro-scale devices. Maximum achievable temperature differences across the stack of a heat pump were also calculated. For this case, slip conditions are detrimental and such a heat pump would maintain a lower temperature difference compared to larger devices, where slip effects are negligible.

Thermoacoustic refrigerators : experiments and scaling analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Li, Y.

2011-01-01

Thermoacoustics, as the word spelling indicates, is an interdisciplinary field in physics. Both acoustics and thermodynamics are involved in the description of this interesting phenomenon. When a solid wall is present in direction of the wave vector of an acoustic field, the interaction between the

Mean temperature profile at the entrance of a thermoacoustic stacked screen heat exchanger

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bühler, Simon; wilcox, D; Oosterhuis, Joris; van der Meer, Theodorus H.

2015-01-01

In thermoacoustic devises, the thermoacoustic e ect occurs in the regenerator placed between two heat exchangers. The entrance e ects of such heat exchanger are investigated with two computational uid dynamics (CFD) test cases. The rst CFD test case models an ideal heat exchanger adjacent to an open

Thermo-Acoustic Convertor for Space Power, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Sunpower will introduce thermoacoustic Stirling heat engine (TASHE) technology into its existing Stirling convertor technology to eliminate the moving mechanical...

Phase-exchange thermoacoustic engine

Science.gov (United States)

Offner, Avshalom; Meir, Avishai; Ramon, Guy Z.; WET Lab Team

2017-11-01

Phase-exchange thermoacoustic engines are reliable machines holding great promise in converting heat from low grade heat sources to mechanical or electrical power. In these engines the working fluid is a gas mixture containing one condensable component, decreasing the temperature difference required for ignition and steady state operation. Our experimental setup consists of a vertical acoustic resonator containing a mixture of air-water vapor. Water evaporates near the heat source, condenses at the heat sink and is drawn back down by gravity and capillary forces where it re-evaporates, sustaining a steady state closed thermodynamic cycle. We investigated the stability limit, namely the critical point at which temperature difference in the engine enables onset of self-excited oscillations, and the steady state of the engine. A simple theoretical model was derived, describing mechanisms of irreversible entropy generation and production of acoustic power in such engines. This model captures the essence in the differences between regular and phase-exchange thermoacoustic engines, and shows good agreement with experimental results of stability limit. Steady state results reveal not only a dramatic decrease in temperature difference, but also an increase in engine performances. The authors acknowledge the support from the Nancy and Stephen Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP).

Numerical analysis on a four-stage looped thermoacoustic Stirling power generator for low temperature waste heat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Kai; Qiu, Limin

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Four-stage looped thermoacoustic power generator for waste heat is studied. • Coupling position is found to have remarkable effects on performance. • Better efficiency is available when coupled near the cold ends of the cores. • The influence of the regenerator position on the efficiency is weak. • Matching between the acoustic impedances of engine and alternator is important. - Abstract: Recent developments in thermoacoustic technologies have demonstrated that multi-stage looped thermoacoustic Stirling engine would be a promising option for harvesting waste heat. Previous studies on multi-stage looped thermoacoustic systems were mainly focused on heat-driven refrigeration or heat pumping, while much fewer work were done on power generations, especially those for recovering low temperature heat. In this work, a four-stage looped thermoacoustic Stirling power generator for generating electricity from low temperature waste heat at 300 °C is systematically studied. A numerical model is built and then validated on an experimental four-stage looped thermoacoustic Stirling engine. On the basis of the validated model, the effects of the coupling position for the linear alternators and the regenerator position on the acoustic characteristics and performances of the power generation system are numerically investigated. The distributions of the acoustic fields along the loop, including the pressure amplitude, volume flow rate, phase angle, specific acoustic impedance and acoustic power, are presented and analysed for three representative coupling modes. Superior efficiency is achieved when the linear alternators are coupled near the cold ends of the thermoacoustic cores on the resonators, while more electric power is generated at the hot ends. The worst performance is expected when the linear alternators are connected at the middle of the resonators. The underling mechanisms are further explained detailedly by analysing the characteristics of the

Nonorthogonality analysis of a thermoacoustic system with a premixed V-shaped flame

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ji, Chenzhen; Zhao, Dan; Li, Xinyan; Li, Shihuai; Li, Junwei

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Nonorthogonality analysis of a choked thermoacoustic system is conducted. • A thermoacoustic model of a premixed V-shaped flame is developed. • Nonorthogonality is identified to arise from the boundary condition and the flame. • The contribution from the flame is shown to play a dominant role. • Eigenmodes nonorthogonality leads to transient growth of acoustic disturbances. - Abstract: Thermoacoustic instability occurs in many combustion systems, such as aero-engine afterburners, rocket motors, ramjets and gas turbines. It most often arises due to the coupling between unsteady heat release and acoustic waves. In this work, nonorthogonality analysis of a choked combustor with a gutter confined is conducted. Such configuration is used as a simplified model of the afterburner of an aero-engine. A thermoacoustic model is developed first to study the nonnormal interaction between acoustic disturbances and a premixed V-shaped flame anchored to the tip of the gutter. Eigenmode nonorthogonality analysis is then conducted. The thermoacoustic system is shown to be nonnormal and characterized by nonorthogonal eigenmodes. The nonorthogonality is identified to arise from both the complex boundary condition and the monopole-like flame. However, the contribution from the Robin-type boundary is approximately 1.5% of that from the flame. Thus the flame is identified to play a dominant role. One practical conclusions is that acoustic disturbances undergo transient growth in a combustion system with nonorthogonal eigenmodes. Such finite-time growth, which cannot be predicted by using classical linear theory might trigger high-amplitude self-sustained oscillations

Determination of the stability limit of a thermoacoustic engine by means of finite elements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, Anne; Wijnant, Ysbrand H.; de Boer, Andries

2013-01-01

A finite element model is presented to obtain the stability limit of, as an example, 2D standing wave thermoacoustic engine. The stability limit is the required heating to obtain self-sustained (thermo)acoustic oscillations. The method used to obtain the stability limit is not restricted to the

Development of thermoacoustic engine operating by waste heat from cooking stove

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, B. M.; Abakr, Y. A.; Riley, P. H.; Hann, D. B.

2012-06-01

There are about 1.5 billion people worldwide use biomass as their primary form of energy in household cooking[1]. They do not have access to electricity, and are too remote to benefit from grid electrical supply. In many rural communities, stoves are made without technical advancements, mostly using open fires cooking stoves which have been proven to be extremely low efficiency, and about 93% of the energy generated is lost during cooking. The cooking is done inside a dwelling and creates significant health hazard to the family members and pollution to environment. SCORE (www.score.uk.com) is an international collaboration research project to design and build a low-cost, high efficiency woodstove that uses about half amount of the wood of an open wood fire, and uses the waste heat of the stove to power a thermoacoustic engine (TAE) to produce electricity for applications such as LED lighting, charging mobile phones or charging a 12V battery. This paper reviews on the development of two types of the thermoacoustic engine powered by waste heat from cooking stove which is either using Propane gas or burning of wood as a cooking energy to produce an acceptable amount of electricity for the use of rural communities.

Transmission characteristics of acoustic amplifier in thermoacoustic engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Daming; Qiu Limin; Wang Bo; Xiao Yong

2008-01-01

Thermoacoustic engines are promising in practical applications for the merits of simple configuration, reliable operation and environmentally friendly working gas. An acoustic amplifier can increase the output pressure amplitude of a thermoacoustic engine (TE) and improve the matching between the engine and its load. In order to make full use of an acoustic amplifier, the transmission characteristics are studied based on linear thermoacoustic theory. Computational and experimental results show that the amplifying ability of an acoustic amplifier is mainly determined by its geometry parameters and output resistance impedance. The amplifying ability of an acoustic amplifier with appropriate length and diameter reaches its maximum when the output resistance impedance is infinite. It is also shown that the acoustic amplifier consumes an amount of acoustic power when amplifying pressure amplitude and the acoustic power consumption increases with amplifying ratio. Furthermore, a novel cascade acoustic amplifier is proposed, which has a much stronger amplifying ability with reduced acoustic power consumption. In experiments, a two-stage cascade acoustic amplifier amplifies the pressure ratio from 1.177 to 1.62 and produces a pressure amplitude of 0.547 MPa with nitrogen of 2.20 MPa as working gas. Good agreements are obtained between the theoretical analysis and experimental results. This research is instructive for comprehensively understanding the mechanism and making full use of the acoustic amplifier

Thermo-Acoustic Convertor for Space Power, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — In Phase Sunpower looked at Thermoacoustic Stirling Heat Engines (TASHEs). These ranged from a TASHE which was sized for the heat from a single General Purpose Heat...

Numerical results on noise-induced dynamics in the subthreshold regime for thermoacoustic systems

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Vikrant; Saurabh, Aditya; Paschereit, Christian Oliver; Kabiraj, Lipika

2017-03-01

Thermoacoustic instability is a serious issue in practical combustion systems. Such systems are inherently noisy, and hence the influence of noise on the dynamics of thermoacoustic instability is an aspect of practical importance. The present work is motivated by a recent report on the experimental observation of coherence resonance, or noise-induced coherence with a resonance-like dependence on the noise intensity as the system approaches the stability margin, for a prototypical premixed laminar flame combustor (Kabiraj et al., Phys. Rev. E, 4 (2015)). We numerically investigate representative thermoacoustic models for such noise-induced dynamics. Similar to the experiments, we study variation in system dynamics in response to variations in the noise intensity and in a critical control parameter as the systems approach their stability margins. The qualitative match identified between experimental results and observations in the representative models investigated here confirms that coherence resonance is a feature of thermoacoustic systems. We also extend the experimental results, which were limited to the case of subcritical Hopf bifurcation, to the case of supercritical Hopf bifurcation. We identify that the phenomenon has qualitative differences for the systems undergoing transition via subcritical and supercritical Hopf bifurcations. Two important practical implications are associated with the findings. Firstly, the increase in noise-induced coherence as the system approaches the onset of thermoacoustic instability can be considered as a precursor to the instability. Secondly, the dependence of noise-induced dynamics on the bifurcation type can be utilised to distinguish between subcritical and supercritical bifurcation prior to the onset of the instability.

Experimental study of microwave-induced thermoacoustic imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, Ryan T.

Microwave-Induced Thermoacoustic Imaging (TAI) is a noninvasive hybrid modality which improves contrast by using thermoelastic wave generation induced by microwave absorption. Ultrasonography is widely used in medical practice as a low-cost alternative and supplement to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although ultrasonography has relatively high image resolution (depending on the ultrasonic wavelength at diagnostic frequencies), it suffers from low image contrast of soft tissues. In this work samples are irradiated with sub-microsecond electromagnetic pulses inducing acoustic waves in the sample that are then detected with an unfocused transducer. The advantage of this hybrid modality is the ability to take advantage of the microwave absorption coefficients which provide high contrast in tissue samples. This in combination with the superior spatial resolution of ultrasound waves is important to providing a low-cost alternative to MRI and early breast cancer detection methods. This work describes the implementation of a thermoacoustic experiment using a 5 kW peak power microwave source.

Numerical Simulation of Pressure Fluctuations in the Thermo-acoustic Transducer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. A. Uglanov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article describes the features of numerical simulation of acoustic oscillation excitation in the resonators with a foam insert (regenerator to study the excitation of thermo-acoustic oscillations in the circuit of small-sized engine model on the pulse tube.The aim of this work is the numerical simulation of the emerging oscillations in thermoacoustic engine resonator at the standing wave. As a basis, the work takes a thermo-acoustic resonator model with the open end (without piston developed in DeltaEC software. The precalculated operation frequency of the given resonator model, as a quarter of the wave resonator, is ν = 560 Hz.The paper offers a simplified finite element resonator model and defines the harmonic law of the temperature distribution on regenerator. The time dependences of the speed and pressure amplitude for the open end of the resonator are given; the calculated value of the process operating frequency is approximately equal to the value of the frequency for a given length of the resonator. Key findings, as a result of study, are as follows:1. The paper shows a potential for using this ESI-CFD Advanced software to simulate the processes of thermal excitation of acoustic oscillations.2. Visualization of turbulent flow fluctuations in the regenerator zone extends the analysis capability of gas-dynamic processes.3. Difference between operating frequency of the process simulated by ESI-CFD Advanced and frequency value obtained by analytical methods is about 4%, which is evidence of the model applicability to study the acoustic parameters of thermo-acoustic transducers. Experimental results have proved these data.

A family of inversion formulas in thermoacoustic tomography

KAUST Repository

Nguyen, Linh

2009-01-01

We present a family of closed form inversion formulas in thermoacoustic tomography in the case of a constant sound speed. The formulas are presented in both time-domain and frequency-domain versions. As special cases, they imply most

Investigation on thermo-acoustic instability dynamic characteristics of hydrocarbon fuel flowing in scramjet cooling channel based on wavelet entropy method

Science.gov (United States)

Zan, Hao; Li, Haowei; Jiang, Yuguang; Wu, Meng; Zhou, Weixing; Bao, Wen

2018-06-01

As part of our efforts to find ways and means to further improve the regenerative cooling technology in scramjet, the experiments of thermo-acoustic instability dynamic characteristics of hydrocarbon fuel flowing have been conducted in horizontal circular tubes at different conditions. The experimental results indicate that there is a developing process from thermo-acoustic stability to instability. In order to have a deep understanding on the developing process of thermo-acoustic instability, the method of Multi-scale Shannon Wavelet Entropy (MSWE) based on Wavelet Transform Correlation Filter (WTCF) and Multi-Scale Shannon Entropy (MSE) is adopted in this paper. The results demonstrate that the developing process of thermo-acoustic instability from noise and weak signals is well detected by MSWE method and the differences among the stability, the developing process and the instability can be identified. These properties render the method particularly powerful for warning thermo-acoustic instability of hydrocarbon fuel flowing in scramjet cooling channels. The mass flow rate and the inlet pressure will make an influence on the developing process of the thermo-acoustic instability. The investigation on thermo-acoustic instability dynamic characteristics at supercritical pressure based on wavelet entropy method offers guidance on the control of scramjet fuel supply, which can secure stable fuel flowing in regenerative cooling system.

The Influence of the Density of Coconut Fiber as Stack in Thermo-Acoustics Refrigeration System

Science.gov (United States)

Hartulistiyoso, E.; Yulianto, M.; Sucahyo, L.

2018-05-01

An experimental study of using coconut fiber as stack with varying density in thermo-acoustics refrigeration system has been done. Stack is a device which is described as the “heart” in thermo-acoustics refrigeration system. The length of stack is a fix parameter in this experiment. The performance of the coconut fiber was evaluated from the density of stack (varied from 30%, 50% and 70%), position of stack (varied from 0 to 34 cm from the sound generator), and frequency of sound generator (varied from 150 Hz, 200Hz, 250Hz and 300Hz). The inside, outside, and environment temperatures were collected every second using Data Acquisition (DAQ). The result showed that the increase of stack density will increase the performance of thermo-acoustics refrigeration system. The higher density produced temperature differences in cold side and hot side of 5.4°C. In addition, the position of stack and frequency of sound generator have an important role in the performance of thermo-acoustics refrigeration system for all variations of the density.

Thermoacoustic design using stem of goose down stack

Science.gov (United States)

Farikhah, Irna; Ristanto, Sigit; Idrus, Hadiyati; Kaltsum, Ummi; Faisal, Affandi; Setiawan, Ihsan; Setio Utomo, Agung Bambang

2012-09-01

Many refrigerators using CFC as a refrigerant are seen as the cause of the depletion of ozone. Hence, thermoacoustic was chosen as an alternative refrigerator that safe for environment. There are many variable that influenced the optimization of thermoacoustic design. One of them is thermal conductivity of material of stack. The Stack material must have a low thermal conductivity. In this research we used organic stack made of stem of goose down. It has superior thermal insulating. It means that they have the lowest thermal conductivity. The system uses no refrigerant or compressor, and the only mechanical moving part is the loudspeaker connected to a signal generator that produces the acoustic. The working fluid is air and the material of resonator is stainless steel. A series test on the laboratory found that there is a decrease of 5°C in temperature for about 2 minutes.

Design and dynamic behaviour of a cold storage system combined with a solar powered thermoacoustic refrigerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perier-Muzet, Maxime; Bedecarrats, Jean-Pierre; Stouffs, Pascal; Castaing-Lasvignottes, Jean

2014-01-01

A heat powered thermoacoustic refrigerator consists in a thermoacoustic engine that produces acoustic work utilizing heat, coupled to a thermoacoustic cooler that converts this acoustic energy into cooling effect. These machines have already proved their capability in laboratory or in space refrigeration. Previous studies have also demonstrated the possibility of using concentrated solar energy as thermal energy sources for low power heat driven thermoacoustic refrigerators. As other solar refrigeration systems, even if the cooling demand generally increases with the intensity of the solar radiation, one of the major difficulties is to insure a frigorific power supply when there is no, or low, solar radiation. The aim of this work is to study a kW scale solar thermoacoustic refrigerator capable to reach temperatures of the industrial refrigeration domain. This refrigerator is combined with a latent cold storage in order to guarantee a sufficient cooling capacity to face to refrigeration loads in spite of the production fluctuations. A description of the studied prototype is done and the model developed to describe the transient behaviour of the main components of this machine is introduced. The results obtained with a simulation of one week with real solar radiations are presented and the behaviour and the energetic performances of the entire system are analysed. Finally the impact of the sizing of the cold storage system is discussed. With the best storage design, the system is capable to supply a cooling power of 400 W at a temperature equal or lower than −20 °C with an average Coefficient Of Performance of the solar thermoacoustic refrigerator equal to 21%

Computational Investigation on the performance of thermo-acoustically driven pulse tube refrigerator

Science.gov (United States)

Skaria, Mathew; Rasheed, K. K. Abdul; Shafi, K. A.; Kasthurirengan, S.; Behera, Upendra

2017-02-01

A Thermoacoustic Pulse Tube Refrigeration (TAPTR) system employs a thermo acoustic engine as the pressure wave generator instead of mechanical compressor. Such refrigeration systems are highly reliable due to the absence of moving components, structural simplicity and the use of environmental friendly working fluids. In the present work, a traveling wave thermoacoustic primmover (TWTAPM) has been developed and it is coupled to a pulse tube cryocooler. The performance of TAPTR depends on the operating and working fluid parameters. Simulation studies of the system has been performed using ANSYS Fluent and compared with experimental results.

Towards numerical simulation of components of thermoacoustic devices with commercial CFD software: implementation of impedance boundary conditions and application to four different studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bühler, Simon

2015-01-01

Thermoacoustic engines promise to be a cost effective and reliable alternative to traditional Stirling engines, as the function of the piston is fulfilled by an acoustic wave. For the design and development of thermoacoustic devices, the one-dimensional thermoacoustic equations are commonly used.

Nontrivial influence of acoustic streaming on the efficiency of annular thermoacoustic prime movers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Penelet, G.; Gusev, V.; Lotton, P.; Bruneau, M.

2006-01-01

The nonlinear processes controlling the time-dependent evolution of sound in annular thermoacoustic prime movers are studied. It is demonstrated that, under some heating conditions, the evolution of the temperature field induced by the excitation of acoustic streaming provides an additional amplification of sound which results in a complicated periodic onset and damping of thermoacoustic instability. The study of this particular example provides the opportunity to demonstrate that the excitation of acoustic streaming does not necessarily imply a decrease in the engine's efficiency

Physical modeling and characterization of thermo-acoustic loudspeakers made of silver nano-wire films

Science.gov (United States)

La Torraca, P.; Larcher, L.; Bobinger, M.; Pavan, P.; Seeber, B.; Lugli, P.

2017-06-01

Recent developments of ultra-low heat capacity nanostructured materials revived the interest in the thermo-acoustic (TA) loudspeaker technology, which shows important advantages compared to the classical dynamic loudspeakers as they feature a lower cost and weight, flexibility, conformability to the surface of various shapes, and transparency. The development of the TA loudspeaker technology requires accurate physical models connecting the material properties to the thermal and acoustic speaker's performance. We present here a combined theoretical and experimental analysis of TA loudspeakers, where the electro-thermal and the thermo-acoustic transductions are handled separately, thus allowing an in-depth description of both the pressure and temperature dynamics. The electro-thermal transduction is analyzed by accounting for all the heat flow processes taking place between the TA loudspeaker and the surrounding environment, with focus on their frequency dependence. The thermo-acoustic conversion is studied by solving the coupled thermo-acoustic equations, derived from the Navier-Stokes equations, and by exploiting the Huygens-Fresnel principle to decompose the TA loudspeaker surface into a dense set of TA point sources. A general formulation of the 3D pressure field is derived summing up the TA point source contributions via a Rayleigh integral. The model is validated against temperature and sound pressure level measured on the TA loudspeaker sample made of a Silver Nanowire random network deposited on a polyimide substrate. A good agreement is found between measurements and simulations, demonstrating that the model is capable of connecting material properties to the thermo-acoustic performance of the device, thus providing a valuable tool for the design and optimization of TA loudspeakers.

Heat driven thermoacoustic cooler based on traveling-standing wave

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang Huifang; Zhou Gang; Li Qing

2010-01-01

This paper presents a heat driven thermoacoustic cooler system without any moving part. It consists of a thermoacoustic engine and a thermoacoustic cooler, and the former is the driving source of the latter. Both the engine and the cooler are located in one loop tube coupled with a resonator tube, and the acoustic power produced by the engine is used to drive the cooler directly. Both regenerators of the engine and the cooler are located in the near region of the pressure antinode, and operate in traveling-standing wave phase region. In the engine's regenerator, both components of the standing wave and the traveling wave realize the conversion from heat to acoustic energy. This improves the efficiency of the engine. In the cooler's regenerator, both components of the traveling wave and the standing wave pump heat from the cold end. This improves the efficiency of the cooler. At the operating point with a mean pressure of 22 bar, helium as working gas, a frequency of 234 Hz, and a heating power of 300 W, the experimental cooler provides a no-load temperature of -30 deg. C and a cooling power of 40 W at the cooling temperature of 0 deg. C. The total length of this cooler system is less than 1 m, which shows a good prospect for the domestic cooler system in room-temperature cooling such as food refrigeration and air-conditioning.

Thermoacoustic sensor for nuclear fuel temperaturemonitoring and heat transfer enhancement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

James A. Smith; Dale K. Kotter; Randall A. Alli; Steven L. Garrett

2013-05-01

A new acoustical sensing system for the nuclear power industry has been developed at The Pennsylvania State University in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratories. This sensor uses the high temperatures of nuclear fuel to convert a nuclear fuel rod into a standing-wave thermoacoustic engine. When a standing wave is generated, the sound wave within the fuel rod will be propagated, by acoustic radiation, through the cooling fluid within the reactor or spent fuel pool and can be monitored a remote location external to the reactor. The frequency of the sound can be correlated to an effective temperature of either the fuel or the surrounding coolant. We will present results for a thermoacoustic resonator built into a Nitonic-60 (stainless steel) fuel rod that requires only one passive component and no heat exchangers.

Design, construction, and measurement of a large solar powered thermoacoustic cooler

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Reh-Lin

2001-07-01

A device based on harnessing concentrated solar power in combination with using thermoacoustic principles has been built, instrumented, and tested. Its acoustic power is generated by solar radiation and is subsequently used to pump heat from external loads. The direct conversion between thermal and mechanical energy without going through any electronic stage makes the mechanism simple. Construction of the solar collector is also rather unsophisticated. It was converted from a 10-ft satellite dish with aluminized Mylar glued on the surface. The thermoacoustic device was mounted on the dish with its engine's hot side positioned near the focus of the parabolic dish, about 1 meter above the center of the dish. A 2-dimensional solar tracking system was built, using two servo motors to position the dish at pre-calculated coordinates. The solar powered thermoacoustic cooler is intended to be used where solar power is abundant and electricity may not be available or reliable. The cooler provides cooling during solar availability. Cooling can be maintained by the latent heat of ice when solar power is unattainable. The device has achieved cooling although compromised by gas leakage and thermal losses and was not able to provide temperatures low enough to freeze water. Improvements of the device are expected through modifications suggested herein.

A thermoacoustic-Stirling heat engine: detailed study

Science.gov (United States)

Backhaus; Swift

2000-06-01

A new type of thermoacoustic engine based on traveling waves and ideally reversible heat transfer is described. Measurements and analysis of its performance are presented. This new engine outperforms previous thermoacoustic engines, which are based on standing waves and intrinsically irreversible heat transfer, by more than 50%. At its most efficient operating point, it delivers 710 W of acoustic power to its resonator with a thermal efficiency of 0.30, corresponding to 41% of the Carnot efficiency. At its most powerful operating point, it delivers 890 W to its resonator with a thermal efficiency of 0.22. The efficiency of this engine can be degraded by two types of acoustic streaming. These are suppressed by appropriate tapering of crucial surfaces in the engine and by using additional nonlinearity to induce an opposing time-averaged pressure difference. Data are presented which show the nearly complete elimination of the streaming convective heat loads. Analysis of these and other irreversibilities show which components of the engine require further research to achieve higher efficiency. Additionally, these data show that the dynamics and acoustic power flows are well understood, but the details of the streaming suppression and associated heat convection are only qualitatively understood.

A family of inversion formulas in thermoacoustic tomography

KAUST Repository

Nguyen, Linh

2009-10-01

We present a family of closed form inversion formulas in thermoacoustic tomography in the case of a constant sound speed. The formulas are presented in both time-domain and frequency-domain versions. As special cases, they imply most of the previously known filtered backprojection type formulas. © 2009 AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES.

Friction Factor Correlation for Regenerator Working in a Travelling-Wave Thermoacoustic System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatimah A. Z. Mohd Saat

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Regenerator is a porous solid structure which is important in the travelling-wave thermoacoustic system. It provides the necessary contact surface and thermal capacity for the working gas to undergo a thermodynamic cycle under acoustic oscillatory flow conditions. However, it also creates a pressure drop that could degrade the overall system performance. Ideally, in a travelling-wave system, the phase angle between oscillating pressure and velocity in the regenerator should be zero, or as close to zero as possible. In this study, the hydrodynamic condition of a regenerator has been investigated both experimentally (in a purpose-built rig providing a travelling-wave phasing and numerically. A two-dimensional ANSYS FLUENT CFD model, capturing the important features of the experimental conditions, has been developed. The findings suggest that a steady-state correlation, commonly used in designing thermoacoustic systems, is applicable provided that the travelling-wave phase angle is maintained. However, for coarse mesh regenerators, the results show interesting “phase shifting” phenomena, which may limit the correlation validity. Current experimental and CFD studies are important for predicting the viscous losses in future models of thermoacoustic systems.

Mathematics of Photoacoustic and Thermoacoustic Tomography

KAUST Repository

Kuchment, Peter; Kunyansky, Leonid

2011-01-01

The chapter surveys the mathematical models, problems, and algorithms of the thermoacoustic tomography (TAT) and photoacoustic tomography (PAT). TAT and PAT represent probably the most developed of the several novel “hybrid” methods of medical imaging. These new modalities combine different physical types of waves (electromagnetic and acoustic in case of TAT and PAT) in such a way that the resolution and contrast of the resulting method are much higher than those achievable using only acoustic or electromagnetic measurements.

Thermodynamic measurement and analysis of dual-temperature thermoacoustic oscillations for energy harvesting application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Dan; Ji, Chenzhen; Li, Shihuai; Li, Junwei

2014-01-01

The present work considers energy harvesting by implementing both thermo- and piezo-electric power generation modules on a bifurcating tube, which produces dual-temperature thermoacoustic oscillations. The present system distinguished from the conventional standing-wave one does not involve heat exchangers and uses two different energy conversion processes to produce electricity. To measure and analyze the sound waves generated, an infrared thermal imaging camera, hot wire anemometry, and two arrays of K-type thermocouples and microphones are employed. It is found that the total electric power is approximately 5.71 mW, of which the piezo module produces about 0.21 mW. It is about 61% more than that generated by a similar conduction-driven thermo-acoustic-piezo harvester. In order to gain insight on the heat-driven acoustic oscillations and to simulate the experiment, thermodynamic laws are used to develop a nonlinear thermoacoustic model. Comparison is then made between the numerical and experimental results. Good agreement is obtained in terms of frequency and sound pressure level. Finally, Rayleigh index is examined to characterize the conversion between thermal and sound energy. In addition, energy redistribution between different thermoacoustic modes is estimated. It is found that lower frequency thermoacoustic oscillations are easier to trigger. - Highlights: • Energy harvesting from thermo- and piezo-electric diaphragms is obtained. • Total electrical power is approximately 5.71 mW. • Thermodynamic analysis of heat-driven oscillations is performed. • Rayleigh index characterizing heat-to-sound conversion is estimated. • Energy redistribution between various eigenmodes is calculated

Output characteristics of Stirling thermoacoustic engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Daming; Qiu Limin; Wang Bo; Xiao Yong; Zhao Liang

2008-01-01

A thermoacoustic engine (TE), which converts thermal energy into acoustic power by the thermoacoustic effect, shows several advantages due to the absence of moving parts, such as high reliability and long lifetime associated with reduced manufacturing costs. Power output and efficiency are important criteria of the performance of a TE. In order to increase the acoustic power output and thermal efficiency of a Stirling TE, the acoustic power distribution in the engine is studied with the variable load method. It is found that the thermal efficiency is independent of the output locations along the engine under the same acoustic power output. Furthermore, when the pressure ratio is kept constant at one location along the TE, it is beneficial to increasing the thermal efficiency by exporting more acoustic power. With nitrogen of 2.5 MPa as working gas and the pressure ratio at the compliance of 1.20 in the experiments, the acoustic power is measured at the compliance and the resonator simultaneously. The maximum power output, thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency reach 390.0 W, 11.2% and 16.0%, which are increased by 51.4%, 24.4% and 19.4%, respectively, compared to those with a single R-C load with 750 ml reservoir at the compliance. This research will be instructive for increasing the efficiency and making full use of the acoustic energy of a TE

One-dimensional acoustic modeling of thermoacoustic instabilities (on cd)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kampen, J.F.; Huls, R.A.; Kok, Jacobus B.W.; van der Meer, Theodorus H.; Nilsson, A.; Boden, H.

2003-01-01

In this paper the acoustic stability of a premixed turbulent natural gas flame confined in a combustor is investigated. Specifically when the flame is operated in a lean premixed mode, the thermoacoustic system is known to exhibit instabilities. These arise from a feedback mechanism between the

Thermoacoustics a unifying perspective for some engines and refrigerators

CERN Document Server

Swift, Gregory W

2017-01-01

This updated new edition provides an introduction to the field of thermoacoustics. All of the key aspects of the topic are introduced, with the goal of helping the reader to acquire both an intuitive understanding and the ability to design hardware, build it, and assess its performance. Weaving together intuition, mathematics, and experimental results, this text equips readers with the tools to bridge the fields of thermodynamics and acoustics. At the same time, it remains firmly grounded in experimental results, basing its discussions on the distillation of a body of experiments spanning several decades and countries. The book begins with detailed treatment of the fundamental physical laws that underlie thermoacoustics. It then goes on to discuss key concepts, including simple oscillations, waves, power, and efficiency. The remaining portions of the book delve into more advanced topics and address practical concerns in applications  chapters on hardware and m easurements. With its careful progression and e...

Characterization and detection of thermoacoustic combustion oscillations based on statistical complexity and complex-network theory

Science.gov (United States)

Murayama, Shogo; Kinugawa, Hikaru; Tokuda, Isao T.; Gotoda, Hiroshi

2018-02-01

We present an experimental study on the characterization of dynamic behavior of flow velocity field during thermoacoustic combustion oscillations in a turbulent confined combustor from the viewpoints of statistical complexity and complex-network theory, involving detection of a precursor of thermoacoustic combustion oscillations. The multiscale complexity-entropy causality plane clearly shows the possible presence of two dynamics, noisy periodic oscillations and noisy chaos, in the shear layer regions (1) between the outer recirculation region in the dump plate and a recirculation flow in the wake of the centerbody and (2) between the outer recirculation region in the dump plate and a vortex breakdown bubble away from the centerbody. The vertex strength in the turbulence network and the community structure of the vorticity field can identify the vortical interactions during thermoacoustic combustion oscillations. Sequential horizontal visibility graph motifs are useful for capturing a precursor of themoacoustic combustion oscillations.

Open cycle thermoacoustics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reid, Robert Stowers [Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)

2000-01-01

A new type of thermodynamic device combining a thermodynamic cycle with the externally applied steady flow of an open thermodynamic process is discussed and experimentally demonstrated. The gas flowing through this device can be heated or cooled in a series of semi-open cyclic steps. The combination of open and cyclic flows makes possible the elimination of some or all of the heat exchangers (with their associated irreversibility). Heat is directly exchanged with the process fluid as it flows through the device when operating as a refrigerator, producing a staging effect that tends to increase First Law thermodynamic efficiency. An open-flow thermoacoustic refrigerator was built to demonstrate this concept. Several approaches are presented that describe the physical characteristics of this device. Tests have been conducted on this refrigerator with good agreement with a proposed theory.

Numerical investigation of a looped-tube travelling-wave thermoacoustic engine with a bypass pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Kayiem, Ali; Yu, Zhibin

2016-01-01

A new configuration (“a looped-tube with a bypass pipe”) was recently proposed for low temperature travelling wave thermoacoustic engines and a prototype using atmospheric air as the working gas achieved an onset temperature difference as low as 65 °C. However, no further research has been reported about this new configuration to reveal its advantages and disadvantages. This paper aims to analyse this type of engine through a comprehensive numerical research. An engine of this type having dimensions similar to the reported prototype was firstly modelled. The calculated results were then qualitatively compared with the reported experimental data, showing a good agreement. The working principle of the engine was demonstrated and analysed. The research results show that an engine with such a bypass configuration essentially operates on the same thermodynamic principle as other travelling wave thermoacoustic engines, differing only in the design of the acoustic resonator. Both extremely short regenerators and a near-travelling wave resonator minimise the engine's acoustic losses, and thus significantly reduce its onset temperature difference. However, such short regenerators likely cause severe heat conduction losses, especially if the engine is applied to heat sources with higher temperatures. Furthermore, the acoustic power flowing back to the engine core is relatively low, while a large stream of acoustic power has to propagate within its resonator to maintain an acoustic resonance, potentially leading to low power density. The model was then applied to design an engine with a much longer regenerator and higher mean pressure to increase its power density. A thermoacoustic cooler was also added to the engine to utilise its acoustic power, allowing the evaluation of thermal efficiency. The pros and cons of the engine configuration are then discussed. - Highlights: • Analysed the working principle of a bypass type thermoacoustic engine. • Analysed the pros and

A thermoacoustic-Stirling heat engine: Detailed study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Backhaus, S.; Swift, G. W.

2000-01-01

A new type of thermoacoustic engine based on traveling waves and ideally reversible heat transfer is described. Measurements and analysis of its performance are presented. This new engine outperforms previous thermoacoustic engines, which are based on standing waves and intrinsically irreversible heat transfer, by more than 50%. At its most efficient operating point, it delivers 710 W of acoustic power to its resonator with a thermal efficiency of 0.30, corresponding to 41% of the Carnot efficiency. At its most powerful operating point, it delivers 890 W to its resonator with a thermal efficiency of 0.22. The efficiency of this engine can be degraded by two types of acoustic streaming. These are suppressed by appropriate tapering of crucial surfaces in the engine and by using additional nonlinearity to induce an opposing time-averaged pressure difference. Data are presented which show the nearly complete elimination of the streaming convective heat loads. Analysis of these and other irreversibilities show which components of the engine require further research to achieve higher efficiency. Additionally, these data show that the dynamics and acoustic power flows are well understood, but the details of the streaming suppression and associated heat convection are only qualitatively understood. (c) 2000 Acoustical Society of America

Fission-powered in-core thermoacoustic sensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garrett, Steven L. [Graduate Program in Acoustics, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802 (United States); Smith, James A. [Fundamental Fuel Properties, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415 (United States); Smith, Robert W. M. [Applied Research Laboratory, Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania 16804 (United States); Heidrich, Brenden J. [Nuclear Science User Facilities, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415 (United States); Heibel, Michael D. [Global Technology Development, Westinghouse Electric Company, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania 16066 (United States)

2016-04-04

A thermoacoustic engine is operated within the core of a nuclear reactor to acoustically telemeter coolant temperature (frequency-encoded) and reactor power level (amplitude-encoded) outside the reactor, thus providing the values of these important parameters without external electrical power or wiring. We present data from two hydrophones in the coolant (far from the core) and an accelerometer attached to a structure outside the reactor. These signals have been detected even in the presence of substantial background noise generated by the reactor's fluid pumps.

Thermo-acoustic coupling in can-annular combustors : A numerical investigation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Farisco, Federica; Panek, Lukasz; Kok, Jim B.W.; Pent, Jared; Rajaram, Rajesh

2015-01-01

Thermo-acoustic instabilities in modern, high power density gas turbines need to be predicted and understood in order to avoid unexpected damage and engine failure. While the annular combustor design is expected to suffer from the occurrence of transverse waves and burner-to-burner acoustic

Orthogonal experimental study on high frequency cascade thermoacoustic engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Zhongjun; Li Qing; Li Zhengyu; Li Qiang

2008-01-01

Orthogonal experiment design and variance analysis were adopted to investigate a miniature cascade thermoacoustic engine, which consisted of one standing wave stage and one traveling wave stage in series, operating at about 470 Hz, using helium as the working gas. Optimum matching of the heater powers between stages was very important for the performance of a cascade thermoacoustic engine, which was obtained from the orthogonal experiments. The orthogonal experiment design considered three experimental factors, i.e. the charging pressure and the heater powers in the two stages, which varied on five different levels, respectively. According to the range analysis and variance analysis from the orthogonal experiments, the charging pressure was the most sensitive factor influencing the dynamic pressure amplitude and onset temperature. The total efficiency and the dynamic pressure amplitude increased when the traveling wave stage heater power increased. The optimum ratio of the heater powers between the traveling wave stage and the standing wave stage was about 1.25, compromising the total efficiency with the dynamic pressure amplitude

TH-AB-209-09: Quantitative Imaging of Electrical Conductivity by VHF-Induced Thermoacoustics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Patch, S; Hull, D [Avero Diagnostics, Irving, TX (United States); See, W [Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI (United States); Hanson, G [UW-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To demonstrate that very high frequency (VHF) induced thermoacoustics has the potential to provide quantitative images of electrical conductivity in Siemens/meter, much as shear wave elastography provides tissue stiffness in kPa. Quantitatively imaging a large organ requires exciting thermoacoustic pulses throughout the volume and broadband detection of those pulses because tomographic image reconstruction preserves frequency content. Applying the half-wavelength limit to a 200-micron inclusion inside a 7.5 cm diameter organ requires measurement sensitivity to frequencies ranging from 4 MHz down to 10 kHz, respectively. VHF irradiation provides superior depth penetration over near infrared used in photoacoustics. Additionally, VHF signal production is proportional to electrical conductivity, and prostate cancer is known to suppress electrical conductivity of prostatic fluid. Methods: A dual-transducer system utilizing a P4-1 array connected to a Verasonics V1 system augmented by a lower frequency focused single element transducer was developed. Simultaneous acquisition of VHF-induced thermoacoustic pulses by both transducers enabled comparison of transducer performance. Data from the clinical array generated a stack of 96-images with separation of 0.3 mm, whereas the single element transducer imaged only in a single plane. In-plane resolution and quantitative accuracy were measured at isocenter. Results: The array provided volumetric imaging capability with superior resolution whereas the single element transducer provided superior quantitative accuracy. Combining axial images from both transducers preserved resolution of the P4-1 array and improved image contrast. Neither transducer was sensitive to frequencies below 50 kHz, resulting in a DC offset and low-frequency shading over fields of view exceeding 15 mm. Fresh human prostates were imaged ex vivo and volumetric reconstructions reveal structures rarely seen in diagnostic images. Conclusion

Experimental study on a co-axial pulse tube cryocooler driven by a small thermoacoustic stirling engine

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, M.; Ju, L. Y.; Hao, H. X.

2014-01-01

Small scale thermoacoustic heat engines have advantages in fields like space exploration and domestic applications considering small space occupation and ease of transport. In the present paper, the influence of resonator diameter on the general performance of a small thermoacoustic Stirling engine was experimentally investigated using helium as the working gas. Reducing the diameter of the resonator appropriately is beneficial for lower onset heating temperature, lower frequency and higher pressure amplitude. Based on the pressure distribution in the small thermoacoustic engine, an outlet for the acoustic work transmission was made to combine the engine and a miniature co-axial pulse tube cooler. The cooling performance of the whole refrigeration system without any moving part was tested. Experimental results showed that further efforts are required to optimize the engine performance and its match with the co-axial pulse tube cooler in order to obtain better cooling performance, compared with its original operating condition, driven by a traditional electrical linear compressor.

Radiation-induced thermoacoustic imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowen, T.

1984-01-01

This invention provides a new technique for obtaining information non-invasively on the composition and structures of a material or body by detecting radiation-induced thermoacoustic image features. This is accomplished by utilizing the acoustic wave generated by sudden thermal stress. The sudden thermal stress is induced by a pulse of radiation which deposits energy causing a rapid, but very small, rise of temperature (typically, ΔT approximately 10sup(-6) - 10sup(-5) deg C). The radiation may be ionizing radiation, such as high energy electrons, photons (x-rays), neutrons, or other charged particles or it may be non-ionizing radiation, such as R.F. and microwave electromagnetic radiation and ultrasonic radiation. The choice of radiation depends on the nature of the body to be imaged and the type of information desired

Thermoacoustic and thermoreflectance imaging of biased integrated circuits: Voltage and temperature maps

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hernández-Rosales, E.; Cedeño, E. [Gleb Wataghin Physics Institute, University of Campinas - Unicamp, 13083-859 Campinas, SP (Brazil); Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Legaria 694, Colonia Irrigación, CP 11500, México, DF (Mexico); Hernandez-Wong, J. [Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Legaria 694, Colonia Irrigación, CP 11500, México, DF (Mexico); CONACYT, México, DF, México (Mexico); Rojas-Trigos, J. B.; Marin, E. [Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Legaria 694, Colonia Irrigación, CP 11500, México, DF (Mexico); Gandra, F. C. G.; Mansanares, A. M., E-mail: manoel@ifi.unicamp.br [Gleb Wataghin Physics Institute, University of Campinas - Unicamp, 13083-859 Campinas, SP (Brazil)

2016-07-25

In this work a combined thermoacoustic and thermoreflectance set-up was designed for imaging biased microelectronic circuits. In particular, it was used with polycrystalline silicon resistive tracks grown on a monocrystalline Si substrate mounted on a test chip. Thermoreflectance images, obtained by scanning a probe laser beam on the sample surface, clearly show the regions periodically heated by Joule effect, which are associated to the electric current distribution in the circuit. The thermoacoustic signal, detected by a pyroelectric/piezoelectric sensor beneath the chip, also discloses the Joule contribution of the whole sample. However, additional information emerges when a non-modulated laser beam is focused on the sample surface in a raster scan mode allowing imaging of the sample. The distribution of this supplementary signal is related to the voltage distribution along the circuit.

Oscillatory flows in jet pumps: towards design guidelines for thermoacoustic applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oosterhuis, Joris

2016-01-01

Thermoacoustic engines are an interesting alternative to conventional heat engines (such as Stirling engines) due to the absence of moving parts in the hot region and the small temperature difference required to operate. These engines can provide a durable solution in, for example, waste heat

Thermo-acoustic cross-talk between cans in a can-annular combustor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Farisco, Federica; Panek, Lukasz; Kok, Jim B.W.

2017-01-01

Thermo-acoustic instabilities in gas turbine engines are studied to avoid engine failure. Compared to the engines with annular combustors, the can-annular combustor design should be less vulnerable to acoustic burner-to-burner interaction, since the burners are acoustically coupled only by the

Effect of temperature on thermoacoustic properties of olive oil in alcohol mixtures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shriwas, R S; Chimankar, O P; Tabhane, P V; Dange, S P; Tembhurkar, Y D

2012-01-01

The ultrasonic studies in liquids are great use in understanding the nature and strength of molecular interactions. Recently ultrasonic is the rapidly growing field research, which has been used in the food industry for both analysis and modification of food products. This paper presents ultrasonic velocity, density, adiabatic compressibility in olive oil with alcohol at different concentration that has been measured in the temperature range from 283.15K to 298.15K. The Moelwyn-Hughes parameter has been utilised to establish some simple relations between the available volumes, Bayer's non- linearity parameter, internal pressure, van der Waal's constant, Debye temperature etc. a relationship among the isobaric, isothermal and isochoric thermo-acoustical parameter have been studied and analyzed in the case olive oil with alcohol mixture. The present treatments had the distinct advantages of the thermo-acoustic parameters in the particular mixture.

Thermoacoustic focusing lens by symmetric Airy beams with phase manipulations

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chen; Xia, Jian-Ping; Sun, Hong-Xiang; Yuan, Shou-Qi

2017-12-01

We report the realization of broadband acoustic focusing lenses based on two symmetric thermoacoustic phased arrays of Airy beams, in which the units of thermoacoustic phase control are designed by employing air with different temperatures surrounded by rigid insulated boundaries and thermal insulation films. The phase delays of the transmitted and reflected units could cover a whole 2π interval, which arises from the change of the sound velocity of air induced by the variation of the temperature. Based on the units of phase control, we design the transmitted and reflected acoustic focusing lenses with two symmetric Airy beams, and verify the high self-healing focusing characteristic and the feasibility of the thermal insulation films. Besides, the influences of the bending angle of the Airy beam on the focusing performance are discussed in detail. The proposed acoustic lens has advantages of broad bandwidth (about 4.8 kHz), high focusing performance, self-healing feature, and simple structure, which enable it to provide more schemes for acoustic focusing. It has excellent potential applications in acoustic devices.

Thermoacoustic model of a modified free piston Stirling engine with a thermal buffer tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Qin; Luo, Ercang; Dai, Wei; Yu, Guoyao

2012-01-01

This article presents a modified free-piston Stirling heat engine configuration in which a thermal buffer tube is added to sandwich between the hot and cold heat exchangers. Such a modified configuration may lead to an easier fabrication and lighter weight of a free piston. To analyze the thermodynamic performance of the modified free piston Stirling heat engine, thermoacoustic theory is used. In the thermoacoustic modelling, the regenerator, the free piston, and the thermal buffer tube are given at first. Then, based on linear thermoacoustic network theory, the thermal and thermodynamic networks are presented to characterize acoustic pressure and volume flow rate distributions at different interfaces, and the global performance such as the power output, the heat input and the thermal efficiency. A free piston Stirling heat engine with several hundreds of watts mechanical power output is selected as an example. The typical operating and structure parameters are as follows: frequency around 50 Hz, mean pressure around 3.0 MPa, and a diameter of free piston around 50 mm. From the analysis, it was found that the modified free-piston Stirling heat engine has almost the same thermodynamic performance as the original design, which indicates that the modified configuration is worthy to develop in future because of its mechanical simplicity and reliability.

Experimental Investigation of Bifurcations in a Thermoacoustic Engine

OpenAIRE

Vishnu R. Unni; Yogesh M. S. Prasaad; N. T. Ravi; S. Md Iqbal; Bala Pesala; R. I. Sujith

2015-01-01

In this study, variation in the characteristics of the pressure oscillations in a thermoacoustic engine is explored as the input heat flux is varied. A bifurcation diagram is plotted to study the variation in the qualitative behavior of the acoustic oscillations as the input heat flux changes. At a critical input heat flux (60 Watt), the engine begins to produce acoustic oscillations in its fundamental longitudinal mode. As the input heat flux is increased, incommensurate frequencies appear i...

Measurement of Heat Flow Transmitted through a Stacked-Screen Regenerator of Thermoacoustic Engine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shu Han Hsu

2017-03-01

Full Text Available A stacked-screen regenerator is a key component in a thermoacoustic Stirling engine. Therefore, the choice of suitable mesh screens is important in the engine design. To verify the applicability of four empirical equations used in the field of thermoacoustic engines and Stirling engines, this report describes the measurements of heat flow rates transmitted through the stacked screen regenerator inserted in an experimental setup filled with pressurized Argon gas having mean pressure of 0.45 MPa. Results show that the empirical equations reproduce the measured heat flow rates to a mutually similar degree, although their derivation processes differ. Additionally, results suggest that two effective pore radii would be necessary to account for the viscous and thermal behaviors of the gas oscillating in the stacked-screen regenerators.

Basic treatment of onset conditions and transient effects in thermoacoustic Stirling engines

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Waele, de A.T.A.M.

2009-01-01

This paper treats the basics of thermoacoustic engines. The set of differential equations, which describes the dynamics of the individual components, is condensed in a single high-order differential equation which determines the time dependence of all dynamic variables. From this relation analytical

Venezuela's Bolivarian Schools Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Diaz, Maria Magnolia Santamaria

2002-01-01

Discusses efforts by the Venezuelan government to improve the nation's school infrastructure through the Bolivarian Schools Project administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. The project set educational principles which are guiding current school building efforts. (EV)

Turbulent Flow Modification With Thermoacoustic Waves for Separation Control

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-24

respectively. At the outlet, the time-average flow is set to be the target state of the sponge zone. In this section, the effects of momentum thickness...Turbulent Flow Modification With Thermoacoustic Waves For Separation Control The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those...currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. Florida State University Sponsored Research Administration 874

Project governance: "Schools of thought"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michiel Christiaan Bekker

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The terminology, definition and context of project governance have become a focal subject for research and discussions in project management literature. This article reviews literature on the subject of project governance and categorise the arguments into three schools of thought namely the single-firm school, multi-firm school and large capital school. The single-firm school is concerned with governance principles related to internal organisational projects and practice these principles at a technical level. The multi-firm school address the governance principles concerned with two of more organisations participating on a contractual basis on the same project and focus their governance efforts at the technical and strategic level. The large capital school consider projects as temporary organisations, forming their own entity and establishing governance principles at an institutional level. From these schools of thought it can be concluded that the definition of project governance is dependent on the type of project and hierarchical positioning in the organisation. It is also evident that further research is required to incorporate other governance variables and mechanisms such as transaction theory, social networks and agency theory. The development of project governance frameworks should also consider the complexity of projects spanning across international companies, across country borders and incorporating different value systems, legal systems, corporate governance guidelines, religions and business practices.

Sustainable New Brick and Thermo-Acoustic Insulation Panel from Mineralization of Stranded Driftwood Residues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Laura Pisello

2016-08-01

Full Text Available There is considerable interest recently in by-products for application in green buildings. These materials are widely used as building envelope insulators or blocks. In this study, an experimental study was conducted to test stranded driftwood residues as raw material for possible thermo-acoustic insulation panel and environmentally sustainable brick. The thermal and acoustic characteristics of such a natural by-product were examined. Part of samples were mineralized by means of cement-based additive to reinforce the material and enhance its durability as well as fire resistance. Several mixtures with different sizes of ground wood chips and different quantities of cement were investigated. The thermo-acoustic in-lab characterization was aimed at investigating the thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, volumetric specific heat, and acoustic transmission loss. All samples were tested before and after mineralization. Results from this study indicate that it is possible to use stranded driftwood residues as building materials with competitive thermo-acoustic properties. In fact, the thermal conductivity was shown to be always around 0.07 W/mK in the unbound samples, and around double that value for the mineralized samples, which present a much higher volumetric specific heat (1.6 MJ/m3K and transmission loss capability. The lignin powder showed a sort of intermediate behavior between the unbound and the mineralized samples.

Thermodynamic analysis of onset characteristics in a miniature thermoacoustic Stirling engine

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Xin; Zhou, Gang; Li, Qing

2013-06-01

This paper analyzes the onset characteristics of a miniature thermoacoustic Stirling heat engine using the thermodynamic analysis method. The governing equations of components are reduced from the basic thermodynamic relations and the linear thermoacoustic theory. By solving the governing equation group numerically, the oscillation frequencies and onset temperatures are obtained. The dependences of the kinds of working gas, the length of resonator tube, the diameter of resonator tube, on the oscillation frequency are calculated. Meanwhile, the influences of hydraulic radius and mean pressure on the onset temperature for different working gas are also presented. The calculation results indicate that there exists an optimal dimensionless hydraulic radius to obtain the lowest onset temperature, whose value lies in the range of 0.30-0.35 for different working gases. Furthermore, the amplitude and phase relationship of pressures and volume flows are analyzed in the time-domain. Some experiments have been performed to validate the calculations. The calculation results agree well with the experimental values. Finally, an error analysis is made, giving the reasons that cause the errors of theoretical calculations.

Exogenous contrast agents for thermoacoustic imaging: An investigation into the underlying sources of contrast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogunlade, Olumide; Beard, Paul

2015-01-01

Purpose: Thermoacoustic imaging at microwave excitation frequencies is limited by the low differential contrast exhibited by high water content tissues. To overcome this, exogenous thermoacoustic contrast agents based on gadolinium compounds, iron oxide, and single wall carbon nanotubes have previously been suggested and investigated. However, these previous studies did not fully characterize the electric, magnetic, and thermodynamic properties of these agents thus precluding identification of the underlying sources of contrast. To address this, measurements of the complex permittivity, complex permeability, DC conductivity, and Grüneisen parameter have been made. These measurements allowed the origins of the contrast provided by each substance to be identified. Methods: The electric and magnetic properties of the contrast agents were characterized at 3 GHz using two rectangular waveguide cavities. The DC conductivity was measured separately using a conductivity meter. Thermoacoustic signals were then acquired and compared to those generated in water. Finally, 3D electromagnetic simulations were used to decouple the different contributions to the absorbed power density. Results: It was found that the gadolinium compounds provided appreciable electric contrast but not originating from the gadolinium itself. The contrast was either due to dissociation of the gadolinium salt which increased ionic conductivity or its nondissociated polar fraction which increased dielectric polarization loss or a combination of both. In addition, very high concentrations were required to achieve appreciable contrast, to the extent that the Grüneisen parameter increased significantly and became a source of contrast. Iron oxide particles were found to produce low but measurable dielectric contrast due to dielectric polarization loss, but this is attributed to the coating of the particles not the iron oxide. Single wall carbon nanotubes did not provide measurable contrast of any type

Exogenous contrast agents for thermoacoustic imaging: An investigation into the underlying sources of contrast

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ogunlade, Olumide, E-mail: o.ogunlade@ucl.ac.uk; Beard, Paul [Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom)

2015-01-15

Purpose: Thermoacoustic imaging at microwave excitation frequencies is limited by the low differential contrast exhibited by high water content tissues. To overcome this, exogenous thermoacoustic contrast agents based on gadolinium compounds, iron oxide, and single wall carbon nanotubes have previously been suggested and investigated. However, these previous studies did not fully characterize the electric, magnetic, and thermodynamic properties of these agents thus precluding identification of the underlying sources of contrast. To address this, measurements of the complex permittivity, complex permeability, DC conductivity, and Grüneisen parameter have been made. These measurements allowed the origins of the contrast provided by each substance to be identified. Methods: The electric and magnetic properties of the contrast agents were characterized at 3 GHz using two rectangular waveguide cavities. The DC conductivity was measured separately using a conductivity meter. Thermoacoustic signals were then acquired and compared to those generated in water. Finally, 3D electromagnetic simulations were used to decouple the different contributions to the absorbed power density. Results: It was found that the gadolinium compounds provided appreciable electric contrast but not originating from the gadolinium itself. The contrast was either due to dissociation of the gadolinium salt which increased ionic conductivity or its nondissociated polar fraction which increased dielectric polarization loss or a combination of both. In addition, very high concentrations were required to achieve appreciable contrast, to the extent that the Grüneisen parameter increased significantly and became a source of contrast. Iron oxide particles were found to produce low but measurable dielectric contrast due to dielectric polarization loss, but this is attributed to the coating of the particles not the iron oxide. Single wall carbon nanotubes did not provide measurable contrast of any type

Detectability prediction for a thermoacoustic sensor in the breazeale nuclear reactor pool

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, James [Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Hrisko, Joshua [Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Garrett, Steven [Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2016-03-01

Laboratory experiments have suggested that thermoacoustic engines can be in- corporated within nuclear fuel rods. Such engines would radiate sounds that could be used to measure and acoustically-telemeter information about the op- eration of the nuclear reactor (e.g., coolant temperature or uxes of neutrons or other energetic particles) or the physical condition of the nuclear fuel itself (e.g., changes in temperature, evolved gases) that are encoded as the frequency and/or amplitude of the radiated sound [IEEE Measurement and Instrumen- tation 16(3), 18-25 (2013)]. For such acoustic information to be detectable, it is important to characterize the vibroacoustical environments within reactors. Measurements will be presented of the background noise spectra (with and with- out coolant pumps) and reverberation times within the 70,000 gallon pool that cools and shields the fuel in the 1 MW research reactor on Penn State's campus using two hydrophones, a piezoelectric projector, and an accelerometer. Sev- eral signal-processing techniques will be demonstrated to enhance the measured results. Background vibrational measurement were also taken at the 250 MW Advanced Test Reactor, located at the Idaho National Laboratory, using ac- celerometers mounted outside the reactor's pressure vessel and on plumbing will also be presented. The detectability predictions made in the thesis were validated in September 2015 using a nuclear ssion-heated thermoacoustic sensor that was placed in the core of the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor on Penn State's campus. Some features of the thermoacoustic device used in that experiment will also be revealed. [Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Investigation of a high frequency pulse tube cryocooler driven by a standing wave thermoacoustic engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boroujerdi, A.A.; Ziabasharhagh, M.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A nonlinear numerical model of a high frequency TADPTC has been developed. • The finite volume method has been used for discretization of governing equations. • The self-excitation process has been simulated very well. • The effects of APAT on the performance of the device have been investigated. • Lagrangian approach has been used to trace the thermodynamic cycle of gas parcels. - Abstract: In this work, a typical thermoacoustically driven pulse tube cooler as a no-moving part device has been investigated by a numerical method. A standing wave thermoacoustic engine as a prime mover in coupled with an inertance tube pulse tube cryocooler has been modeled. Nonlinear equations of unsteady one-dimensional compressible flow have been solved by the finite volume method. The model presents an important step towards the development of nonlinear simulation tools for the high amplitude thermoacoustic systems that are needed for practical use. The results of the computations show that the self-excited oscillations are well accompanied by the increasing of the pressure amplitude. The necessity of implementation of a nonlinear model to investigate such devices has been proven. The effect of APAT length as an amplifier coupler on the performance of the cooler has been investigated. Furthermore, by using Lagrangian approach, thermodynamic cycle of gas parcels has been attained

Critical Temperature Differences of a Standing Wave Thermoacoustic Prime Mover with Various Helium-Based Binary Mixture Working Gases

Science.gov (United States)

Setiawan, Ikhsan; Nohtomi, Makoto; Katsuta, Masafumi

2015-06-01

Thermoacoustic prime movers are energy conversion devices which convert thermal energy into acoustic work. The devices are environmentally friendly because they do not produce any exhaust gases. In addition, they can utilize clean energy such as solar-thermal energy or waste heat from internal combustion engines as the heat sources. The output mechanical work of thermoacoustic prime movers are usually used to drive a thermoacoustic refrigerator or to generate electricity. A thermoacoustic prime mover with low critical temperature difference is desired when we intend to utilize low quality of heat sources such as waste heat and sun light. The critical temperature difference can be significantly influenced by the kinds of working gases inside the resonator and stack's channels of the device. Generally, helium gas is preferred as the working gas due to its high sound speed which together with high mean pressure will yield high acoustic power per unit volume of the device. Moreover, adding a small amount of a heavy gas to helium gas may improve the efficiency of thermoacoustic devices. This paper presents numerical study and estimation of the critical temperature differences of a standing wave thermoacoustic prime mover with various helium-based binary-mixture working gases. It is found that mixing helium (He) gas with other common gases, namely argon (Ar), nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2), and carbon dioxide (CO2), at appropriate pressures and molar compositions, reduce the critical temperature differences to lower than those of the individual components of the gas mixtures. In addition, the optimum mole fractions of Hegas which give the minimum critical temperature differences are shifted to larger values as the pressure increases, and tends to be constant at around 0.7 when the pressure increases more than 2 MPa. However, the minimum critical temperature differences slightly increase as the pressure increases to higher than 1.5 MPa. Furthermore, we found that the lowest

In vivo microwave-based thermoacoustic tomography of rats (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Li; Zhou, Yong; Wang, Lihong V.

2016-03-01

Microwave-based thermoacoustic tomography (TAT), based on the measurement of ultrasonic waves induced by microwave pulses, can reveal tissue dielectric properties that may be closely related to the physiological and pathological status of the tissues. Using microwaves as the excitation source improved imaging depth because of their deep penetration into biological tissues. We demonstrate, for the first time, in vivo microwave-based thermoacoustic imaging in rats. The transducer is rotated around the rat in a full circle, providing a full two-dimensional view. Instead of a flat ultrasonic transducer, we used a virtual line detector based on a cylindrically focused transducer. A 3 GHz microwave source with 0.6 µs pulse width and an electromagnetically shielded transducer with 2.25 MHz central frequency provided clear cross-sectional images of the rat's body. The high imaging contrast, based on the tissue's rate of absorption, and the ultrasonically defined spatial resolution combine to reveal the spine, kidney, muscle, and other deeply seated anatomical features in the rat's abdominal cavity. This non-invasive and non-ionizing imaging modality achieved an imaging depth beyond 6 cm in the rat's tissue. Cancer diagnosis based on information about tissue properties from microwave band TAT can potentially be more accurate than has previously been achievable.

Development of a Thermoacoustic Stirling Engine Technology Demonstrator

Science.gov (United States)

Reissner, Alexander; Gerger, Joachim; Hummel, Stefan; Reißig, Jannis; Pawelke, Roland

2014-08-01

Waste heat is a primary source of energy loss in many aerospace and terrestrial applications. FOTEC, an Austrian Research Company located in Wiener Neustadt, is presently developing a micro power converter, promising high efficiencies even for small- scale applications. The converter is based on an innovative thermoacoustic stirling engine concept without any moving parts. Such a maintenance-free engine system would be particularly suitable for advanced space power systems (radioisotope, waste heat) or even within the scope of terrestrial energy harvesting. This paper will summarizes the status of our ongoing efforts on this micro power converter technology.

Portsmouth Atmospheric Science School (PASS) Project

Science.gov (United States)

Coleman, Clarence D.; Hathaway, Roger (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The Portsmouth Atmospheric Science School Project (PASS) Project was granted a one-year no cost extension for 2001-2002. In year three of the project, objectives and strategies were modified based on the previous year-end evaluation. The recommendations were incorporated and the program was replicated within most of the remaining elementary schools in Portsmouth, Virginia and continued in the four middle schools. The Portsmouth Atmospheric Science School Project is a partnership, which includes Norfolk State University, Cooperating Hampton Roads Organizations for Minorities in Engineering (CHROME), NASA Langley Research Center, and the City of Portsmouth, Virginia Public Schools. The project seeks to strengthen the knowledge of Portsmouth Public Schools students in the field of atmospheric sciences and enhance teacher awareness of hands on activities in the atmospheric sciences. The project specifically seeks to: 1) increase the interest and participation of elementary and middle school students in science and mathematics; 2) strengthen existing science programs; and 3) facilitate greater achievement in core subjects, which are necessary for math, science, and technical careers. Emphasis was placed on providing training activities, materials and resources for elementary students (grades 3 - 5) and middle school students (grades 6 - 8), and teachers through a CHROME club structure. The first year of the project focused on introducing elementary students to concepts and activities in atmospheric science. Year two of the project built on the first year's activities and utilizes advanced topics and activities appropriate for middle school students. During the third year of the project, in addition to the approaches used in years one and two, emphasis was placed on activities that enhanced the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL).

Thermoacoustic refrigerators and engines comprising cascading stirling thermodynamic units

Science.gov (United States)

Backhaus, Scott; Swift, Greg

2013-06-25

The present invention includes a thermoacoustic assembly and method for improved efficiency. The assembly has a first stage Stirling thermal unit comprising a main ambient heat exchanger, a regenerator and at least one additional heat exchanger. The first stage Stirling thermal unit is serially coupled to a first end of a quarter wavelength long coupling tube. A second stage Stirling thermal unit comprising a main ambient heat exchanger, a regenerator, and at least one additional heat exchanger, is serially coupled to a second end of the quarter wavelength long coupling tube.

Science in Schools Project

Science.gov (United States)

Waugh, Mike

As part of a program to increase learning and engagement in science classes 124 Victorian schools are trialing a best practice teaching model. The Science in Schools Research Project is a DEET funded project under the Science in Schools Strategy, developed in response to recent research and policy decisions at national and state levels through which literacy, numeracy and science have been identified as key priorities for learning. This major science research project aims to identify, develop and trial best practice in Science teaching and learning. The Department will then be able to provide clear advice to Victoria's schools that can be adopted and sustained to: * enhance teaching and learning of Science * enhance student learning outcomes in Science at all year levels * increase student access to, and participation in Science learning from Prep through to Year 10, and hence in the VCE as well. The nature of the SiS program will be detailed with specific reference to the innovative programs in solar model cars, robotics and environmental science developed at Forest Hill College in response to this project.

Synthetical optimization of hydraulic radius and acoustic field for thermoacoustic cooler

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang Huifang; Li Qing; Zhou Gang

2009-01-01

It is well known that the acoustic field and the hydraulic radius of the regenerator play key roles in thermoacoustic processes. The optimization of hydraulic radius strongly depends on the acoustic field in the regenerator. This paper investigates the synthetical optimization of hydraulic radius and acoustic field which is characterized by the ratio of the traveling wave component to the standing wave component. In this paper, we discussed the heat flux, cooling power, temperature gradient and coefficient of performance of thermoacoustic cooler with different combinations of hydraulic radiuses and acoustic fields. The calculation results show that, in the cooler's regenerator, due to the acoustic wave, the heat is transferred towards the pressure antinodes in the pure standing wave, while the heat is transferred in the opposite direction of the wave propagation in the pure traveling wave. The better working condition for the regenerator appears in the traveling wave phase region of the like-standing wave, where the directions of the heat transfer by traveling wave component and standing wave component are the same. Otherwise, the small hydraulic radius is not a good choice for acoustic field with excessively high ratio of traveling wave, and the small hydraulic radius is only needed by the traveling wave phase region of like-standing wave.

Experimental evaluation of DC electric field effect on the thermoacoustic behaviour of flat premixed flames

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Volkov, E.N.; Kornilov, V.N.; Goey, de L.P.H.

2013-01-01

One promising approach to eliminate thermoacoustic instabilities in combustion appliances is the use of adaptive control of the flame/burner acoustic transfer function (TF). Application of a DC electric field (EF) as a spatially distributed, easily and quickly adjustable and low-energy method to

Thermo-acoustic characterization of the burner-turbine interface in a can-annular combustor using CFD

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Farisco, Federica

2016-01-01

Thermo-acoustic instabilities in high power density gas turbine engines need to be understood to avoid unexpected shutdown events. This dissertation is focused on the combustor-turbine interaction for acoustic waves. The first part of the study is based on the acoustic reflection coefficient

Thermoacoustic Molecular Imaging of Small Animals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert A. Kruger

2003-04-01

Full Text Available We have designed, constructed, and tested a thermoacoustic computed tomography (TCT scanner for imaging optical absorption in small animals in three dimensions. The device utilizes pulsed laser irradiation (680–1064 nm and a unique, 128-element transducer array. We quantified the isotropic spatial resolution of this scanner to be 0.35 mm. We describe a dual-wavelength subtraction technique for isolating optical dyes with TCT. Phantom experiments demonstrate that we can detect 5 fmol of a near-infrared dye (indocyanine green, ICG in a 1-ML volume using dual-wavelength subtraction. Initial TCT imaging in phantoms and in two sacrificed mice suggests that three-dimensional, optical absorption patterns in small animals can be detected with an order of magnitude better spatial resolution and an order of magnitude better low-contrast detectability in small animals when compared to fluorescence imaging or diffusion optical tomography.

Thermoacoustic tomography for an integro-differential wave equation modeling attenuation

Science.gov (United States)

Acosta, Sebastián; Palacios, Benjamín

2018-02-01

In this article we study the inverse problem of thermoacoustic tomography (TAT) on a medium with attenuation represented by a time-convolution (or memory) term, and whose consideration is motivated by the modeling of ultrasound waves in heterogeneous tissue via fractional derivatives with spatially dependent parameters. Under the assumption of being able to measure data on the whole boundary, we prove uniqueness and stability, and propose a convergent reconstruction method for a class of smooth variable sound speeds. By a suitable modification of the time reversal technique, we obtain a Neumann series reconstruction formula.

[Administration of the "Healthy School" project].

Science.gov (United States)

Bjegović, V; Zivković, M; Marinković, J; Vuković, D; Legetić, B

1996-01-01

The term of project management is commonly used to describe the work of a team that is handling a special program. In this type of management, a form of leadership which creates environment, enables fast movement of participants through different work phases achieving the common aims, is used [1-4]. The "Healthy School" Project, launched in almost all European countries, has been taking place in Yugoslavia since the end of 1991 [5]. The project developed within the country designed as a health promotion-education intervention study in primary schools. The network of 13 schools on 11 locations representing typical economic, cultural and social environments, was established to cover the country. Although the proposed methodological approach from WHO was followed [6], the specific situation in the country (economic crisis, break down of Yugoslav Federation, the war and international blockade) distated the particular modification. The management of the Healthy School Project in general, and in Yugoslavia particularly, is based upon project management structure (Scheme 1). The objective of this research was to assess the Healthy School project management in Yugoslavia, by measuring causal, intervening and output variables. In the process of assessing the management in general, three groups of criteria are commonly used: (a) causal (those that influence the course of developments in the Project), (b) intervening (representing the current condition of the internal state of the Project), and (c) output (that reflect the Project achievements). (a) For the purpose of this study the causal criteria were measured by analyzing the overall management strategy and the level of agreement in objectives of the Project itself, the Project Coordinators and main participants in the Project. (b) The intervening criteria used in this assessment were: the time spent on different project activities, the estimate of the severity of the problems in different aspects of project management

Adjoint-based sensitivity analysis of low-order thermoacoustic networks using a wave-based approach

Science.gov (United States)

Aguilar, José G.; Magri, Luca; Juniper, Matthew P.

2017-07-01

Strict pollutant emission regulations are pushing gas turbine manufacturers to develop devices that operate in lean conditions, with the downside that combustion instabilities are more likely to occur. Methods to predict and control unstable modes inside combustion chambers have been developed in the last decades but, in some cases, they are computationally expensive. Sensitivity analysis aided by adjoint methods provides valuable sensitivity information at a low computational cost. This paper introduces adjoint methods and their application in wave-based low order network models, which are used as industrial tools, to predict and control thermoacoustic oscillations. Two thermoacoustic models of interest are analyzed. First, in the zero Mach number limit, a nonlinear eigenvalue problem is derived, and continuous and discrete adjoint methods are used to obtain the sensitivities of the system to small modifications. Sensitivities to base-state modification and feedback devices are presented. Second, a more general case with non-zero Mach number, a moving flame front and choked outlet, is presented. The influence of the entropy waves on the computed sensitivities is shown.

The Role of Research in School Project Work and Teacher Development: Results from Project "Schools Ethics Technology."

Science.gov (United States)

Wellensiek, Anneliese; Lembens, Anja; Schallies, Michael

"Schools Ethics Technology" was a German interdisciplinary research project with the Centre of Ethics in the Sciences at the University of Tubingen. The project highlighted the new topic of biotechnology and genetic engineering, involving the formation of active project groups within schools. This study examined teaching activities…

Influence of thermodynamic properties of a thermo-acoustic emitter on the efficiency of thermal airborne ultrasound generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Daschewski, M; Kreutzbruck, M; Prager, J

2015-12-01

In this work we experimentally verify the theoretical prediction of the recently published Energy Density Fluctuation Model (EDF-model) of thermo-acoustic sound generation. Particularly, we investigate experimentally the influence of thermal inertia of an electrically conductive film on the efficiency of thermal airborne ultrasound generation predicted by the EDF-model. Unlike widely used theories, the EDF-model predicts that the thermal inertia of the electrically conductive film is a frequency-dependent parameter. Its influence grows non-linearly with the increase of excitation frequency and reduces the efficiency of the ultrasound generation. Thus, this parameter is the major limiting factor for the efficient thermal airborne ultrasound generation in the MHz-range. To verify this theoretical prediction experimentally, five thermo-acoustic emitter samples consisting of Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO) coatings of different thicknesses (from 65 nm to 1.44 μm) on quartz glass substrates were tested for airborne ultrasound generation in a frequency range from 10 kHz to 800 kHz. For the measurement of thermally generated sound pressures a laser Doppler vibrometer combined with a 12 μm thin polyethylene foil was used as the sound pressure detector. All tested thermo-acoustic emitter samples showed a resonance-free frequency response in the entire tested frequency range. The thermal inertia of the heat producing film acts as a low-pass filter and reduces the generated sound pressure with the increasing excitation frequency and the ITO film thickness. The difference of generated sound pressure levels for samples with 65 nm and 1.44 μm thickness is in the order of about 6 dB at 50 kHz and of about 12 dB at 500 kHz. A comparison of sound pressure levels measured experimentally and those predicted by the EDF-model shows for all tested emitter samples a relative error of less than ±6%. Thus, experimental results confirm the prediction of the EDF-model and show that the model can

Thermo-acoustic instabilities in lean premixed swirl-stabilized combustion and their link to acoustically coupled and decoupled flame macrostructures

KAUST Repository

Taamallah, Soufien; LaBry, Zachary A.; Shanbhogue, Santosh J.; Ghoniem, Ahmed F.

2015-01-01

© 2014 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. We investigate the onset of thermo-acoustic instabilities and their link to the mean flame configurations - or macrostructures - under acoustically coupled

Correspondence Between Uncoupled Flame Macrostructures and Thermoacoustic Instability in Premixed Swirl-Stabilized Combustion

KAUST Repository

Taamallah, Soufien

2014-06-16

In this paper, we conduct an experimental investigation of a confined premixed swirl-stabilized dump combustor similar to those found in modern gas turbines. We operate the combustor with premixed methane-air in the lean range of equivalence ratio ϕ ∈ [0.5–0.75]. First, we observe different dynamic modes in the lean operating range, as the equivalence ratio is raised, confirming observations made previously in a similar combustor geometry but with a different fuel [1]. Next we examine the correspondence between dynamic mode transitions and changes in the mean flame configuration or macrostructure. We show that each dynamic mode is associated with a specific flame macrostructure. By modifying the combustor length without changing the underlying flow, the resonant frequencies of the geometry are altered allowing for decoupling the heat release fluctuations and the acoustic field, in a certain range of equivalence ratio. Mean flame configurations in the modified (short) combustor and for the same range of equivalence ratio are examined. It is found that not only the same sequence of flame configurations is observed in both combustors (long and short) but also that the set of equivalence ratio where transitions in the flame configuration occur is closely related to the onset of thermo-acoustic instabilities. For both combustor lengths, the flame structure changes at similar equivalence ratio whether thermo-acoustic coupling is allowed or not, suggesting that the flame configuration holds the key to understanding the onset of self-excited thermo-acoustic instability in this range. Finally, we focus on the flame configuration transition that was correlated with the onset of the first dynamically unstable mode ϕ ∈ [0.61–0.64]. Our analysis of this transition in the short, uncoupled combustor shows that it is associated with an intermittent appearance of a flame in the outer recirculation zone (ORZ). The spectral analysis of this “ORZ flame flickering” �

Correspondence Between Uncoupled Flame Macrostructures and Thermoacoustic Instability in Premixed Swirl-Stabilized Combustion

KAUST Repository

Taamallah, Soufien; LaBry, Zachary A.; Shanbhogue, Santosh J.; Ghoniem, Ahmed F.

2014-01-01

In this paper, we conduct an experimental investigation of a confined premixed swirl-stabilized dump combustor similar to those found in modern gas turbines. We operate the combustor with premixed methane-air in the lean range of equivalence ratio ϕ ∈ [0.5–0.75]. First, we observe different dynamic modes in the lean operating range, as the equivalence ratio is raised, confirming observations made previously in a similar combustor geometry but with a different fuel [1]. Next we examine the correspondence between dynamic mode transitions and changes in the mean flame configuration or macrostructure. We show that each dynamic mode is associated with a specific flame macrostructure. By modifying the combustor length without changing the underlying flow, the resonant frequencies of the geometry are altered allowing for decoupling the heat release fluctuations and the acoustic field, in a certain range of equivalence ratio. Mean flame configurations in the modified (short) combustor and for the same range of equivalence ratio are examined. It is found that not only the same sequence of flame configurations is observed in both combustors (long and short) but also that the set of equivalence ratio where transitions in the flame configuration occur is closely related to the onset of thermo-acoustic instabilities. For both combustor lengths, the flame structure changes at similar equivalence ratio whether thermo-acoustic coupling is allowed or not, suggesting that the flame configuration holds the key to understanding the onset of self-excited thermo-acoustic instability in this range. Finally, we focus on the flame configuration transition that was correlated with the onset of the first dynamically unstable mode ϕ ∈ [0.61–0.64]. Our analysis of this transition in the short, uncoupled combustor shows that it is associated with an intermittent appearance of a flame in the outer recirculation zone (ORZ). The spectral analysis of this “ORZ flame flickering” �

The Chancellor's Model School Project (CMSP)

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, Gil

1999-01-01

What does it take to create and implement a 7th to 8th grade middle school program where the great majority of students achieve at high academic levels regardless of their previous elementary school backgrounds? This was the major question that guided the research and development of a 7-year long project effort entitled the Chancellor's Model School Project (CMSP) from September 1991 to August 1998. The CMSP effort conducted largely in two New York City public schools was aimed at creating and testing a prototype 7th and 8th grade model program that was organized and test-implemented in two distinct project phases: Phase I of the CMSP effort was conducted from 1991 to 1995 as a 7th to 8th grade extension of an existing K-6 elementary school, and Phase II was conducted from 1995 to 1998 as a 7th to 8th grade middle school program that became an integral part of a newly established 7-12th grade high school. In Phase I, the CMSP demonstrated that with a highly structured curriculum coupled with strong academic support and increased learning time, students participating in the CMSP were able to develop a strong foundation for rigorous high school coursework within the space of 2 years (at the 7th and 8th grades). Mathematics and Reading test score data during Phase I of the project, clearly indicated that significant academic gains were obtained by almost all students -- at both the high and low ends of the spectrum -- regardless of their previous academic performance in the K-6 elementary school experience. The CMSP effort expanded in Phase II to include a fully operating 7-12 high school model. Achievement gains at the 7th and 8th grade levels in Phase II were tempered by the fact that incoming 7th grade students' academic background at the CMSP High School was significantly lower than students participating in Phase 1. Student performance in Phase II was also affected by the broadening of the CMSP effort from a 7-8th grade program to a fully functioning 7-12 high

The impact of stack geometry and mean pressure on cold end temperature of stack in thermoacoustic refrigeration systems

Science.gov (United States)

Wantha, Channarong

2018-02-01

This paper reports on the experimental and simulation studies of the influence of stack geometries and different mean pressures on the cold end temperature of the stack in the thermoacoustic refrigeration system. The stack geometry was tested, including spiral stack, circular pore stack and pin array stack. The results of this study show that the mean pressure of the gas in the system has a significant impact on the cold end temperature of the stack. The mean pressure of the gas in the system corresponds to thermal penetration depth, which results in a better cold end temperature of the stack. The results also show that the cold end temperature of the pin array stack decreases more than that of the spiral stack and circular pore stack geometry by approximately 63% and 70%, respectively. In addition, the thermal area and viscous area of the stack are analyzed to explain the results of such temperatures of thermoacoustic stacks.

Safe Routes to School Local School Project: A health evaluation at 10 low-income schools

OpenAIRE

Cooper, Jill F MSW; McMillan, Tracy MPH, PHD

2010-01-01

fe Routes to School National Partnership (Partnership) founded the Local School Project (Project) in 2008 to assist ten schools in lowincome communities to: 1) develop and evaluate a school-based SRTS program, 2) build local capacity to apply for state or federal SRTS funding, and 3) increase safe walking and bicycling to and from the school and in the community. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kaiser Permanente, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided funding for the ...

Flame Interactions and Thermoacoustics in Multiple-Nozzle Combustors

Science.gov (United States)

Dolan, Brian

The first major chapter of original research (Chapter 3) examines thermoacoustic oscillations in a low-emission staged multiple-nozzle lean direct injection (MLDI) combustor. This experimental program investigated a relatively practical combustor sector that was designed and built as part of a commercial development program. The research questions are both practical, such as under what conditions the combustor can be safely operated, and fundamental, including what is most significant to driving the combustion oscillations in this system. A comprehensive survey of operating conditions finds that the low-emission (and low-stability) intermediate and outer stages are necessary to drive significant thermoacoustics. Phase-averaged and time-resolved OH* imaging show that dramatic periodic strengthening and weakening of the reaction zone downstream of the low-emission combustion stages. An acoustic modal analysis shows the pressure wave shapes and identifies the dominant thermoacoustic behavior as the first longitudinal mode for this combustor geometry. Finally, a discussion of the likely significant coupling mechanisms is given. Periodic reaction zone behavior in the low-emission fuel stages is the primary contributor to unsteady heat release. Differences between the fuel stages in the air swirler design, the fuel number of the injectors, the lean blowout point, and the nominal operating conditions all likely contribute to the limit cycle behavior of the low-emission stages. Chapter 4 investigates the effects of interaction between two adjacent swirl-stabilized nozzles using experimental and numerical tools. These studies are more fundamental; while the nozzle hardware is the same as the lean direct injection nozzles used in the MLDI combustion concept, the findings are generally applicable to other swirl-stabilized combustion systems as well. Much of the work utilizes a new experiment where the distance between nozzles was varied to change the level of interaction

A Model of Successful School Leadership from the International Successful School Principalship Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Gurr

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP has been actively conducting research about the work of successful principals since 2001. Findings from four project books and eight models derived from this project are synthesised into a model of successful school leadership. Building on Gurr, Drysdale and Mulford’s earlier model, the work of school leaders is described as engaging within the school context to influence student and school outcomes through interventions in teaching and learning, school capacity building, and the wider context. The qualities a leader brings to their role, a portfolio approach to using leadership ideas, constructing networks, collaborations and partnerships, and utilising accountability and evaluation for evidence-informed improvement, are important additional elements. The model is applicable to all in leadership roles in schools.

The Fulton School Recycling Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsay, Jean

1994-01-01

Outlines a school recycling project that started as a newspaper collection for library funds and evolved into a community service. Discusses problems that were overcome, strategies for implementation of the project, and related cross-curricular studies and activities. Contains two curriculum mind maps. (LZ)

Increasing Epilepsy Awareness in Schools: A Seizure Smart Schools Project

Science.gov (United States)

Brook, Heather A.; Hiltz, Cynthia M.; Kopplin, Vicki L.; Lindeke, Linda L.

2015-01-01

A high prevalence of epilepsy diagnoses and seizure events among students was identified at a large Midwestern school district. In partnership with the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota (EFMN), a quality improvement project was conducted to provide education and resources to staff caring for school children with seizures. School nurses (N = 26)…

Numerical Predictions of Early Stage Turbulence in Oscillatory Flow across Parallel-Plate Heat Exchangers of a Thermoacoustic System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatimah A. Z. Mohd Saat

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This work focuses on the predictions of turbulent transition in oscillatory flow subjected to temperature gradients, which often occurs within heat exchangers of thermoacoustic devices. A two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD model was developed in ANSYS FLUENT and validated using the earlier experimental data. Four drive ratios (defined as maximum pressure amplitude to mean pressure were investigated: 0.30%, 0.45%, 0.65% and 0.83%. It has been found that the introduction of the turbulence model at a drive ratio as low as 0.45% improves the predictions of flow structure compared to experiments, which indicates that turbulent transition may occur at much smaller flow amplitudes than previously thought. In the current investigation, the critical Reynolds number based on the thickness of Stokes’ layer falls in the range between 70 and 100. The models tested included four variants of the RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations: k-ε, k-ω, shear-stress-transport (SST-k-ω and transition-SST, the laminar model being used as a reference. Discussions are based on velocity profiles, vorticity plots, viscous dissipation and the resulting heat transfer and their comparison with experimental results. The SST-k-ω turbulence model and, in some cases, transition-SST provide the best fit of the velocity profile between numerical and experimental data (the value of the introduced metric measuring the deviation of the CFD velocity profiles from experiment is up to 43% lower than for the laminar model and also give the best match in terms of calculated heat flux. The viscous dissipation also increases with an increase of the drive ratio. The results suggest that turbulence should be considered when designing thermoacoustic devices even in low-amplitude regimes in order to improve the performance predictions of thermoacoustic systems.

[Outcomes evaluation of the school staff health promotion project].

Science.gov (United States)

Woynarowska-Sołdan, Magdalena

This article presents selected outcomes of a 3-year project "Health promotion of school staff in health-promoting schools," as well as the achievements and difficulties in its implementation. The research was conducted on 644 teachers and 226 members of non-teaching staff in 21 schools. The method involved opinion poll and authored questionnaires. A 2-part model of outcome evaluation was developed. Most participants appreciated the changes that took place within the 3 years of the project implementation. These included the improved level of their knowledge about health, health-conducive behaviors (62-93%) and the physical and social environment of the school (50-92%). Changes were more frequently acknowledged by teachers. About 80% of the participants had a positive attitude to the project, but only 20% assessed their involvement as considerable. About 90% believed that health promotion activities should be continued. According to the project leaders, insufficient support and financial resources, and difficulties in motivating school employees, particularly the nonteaching staff, to undertake health-promotion activities were the major handicaps in the project implementation. The project outcomes can be assessed as satisfying. They revealed that it is posssible to initiate health promotion among school staff. This can be effective on condition that participants are motivated, actively engaged in the project and supported by the head teacher and the local community. Necessarily, school leaders should be prepared to promote health among adults and to gain support from school policy decision makers, school administration, trade unions and universities involved in teacher training. Med Pr 2016;67(2):187-200. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Outcomes evaluation of the school staff health promotion project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magdalena Woynarowska-Sołdan

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Background: This article presents selected outcomes of a 3-year project “Health promotion of school staff in health-promoting schools,” as well as the achievements and difficulties in its implementation. Material and Methods: The research was conducted on 644 teachers and 226 members of non-teaching staff in 21 schools. The method involved opinion poll and authored questionnaires. A 2-part model of outcome evaluation was developed. Results: Most participants appreciated the changes that took place within the 3 years of the project implementation. These included the improved level of their knowledge about health, health-conducive behaviors (62–93% and the physical and social environment of the school (50–92%. Changes were more frequently acknowledged by teachers. About 80% of the participants had a positive attitude to the project, but only 20% assessed their involvement as considerable. About 90% believed that health promotion activities should be continued. According to the project leaders, insufficient support and financial resources, and difficulties in motivating school employees, particularly the nonteaching staff, to undertake health-promotion activities were the major handicaps in the project implementation. Conclusions: The project outcomes can be assessed as satisfying. They revealed that it is posssible to initiate health promotion among school staff. This can be effective on condition that participants are motivated, actively engaged in the project and supported by the head teacher and the local community. Necessarily, school leaders should be prepared to promote health among adults and to gain support from school policy decision makers, school administration, trade unions and universities involved in teacher training. Med Pr 2016;67(2:187–200

Training readers at school: the educational project, the school library and the mediation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rovilson José da Silva

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Discusses the formation of readers in the first years of elementary school and proposes the integration between the school pedagogical project, teachers, reading practices and the school library. Objective: To analyze the basic assumptions to train readers in school. Methods: Bibliographic research based on a literature review on the subject. Results: Initial elements that may be used to structure readers-training projects at any schools are presented. Conclusion: Training readers at school consists in having procedures and pedagogical actions performed in combination with guided and free usage of the library, borrowing books and time to hear stories and talk about them.

Schools water efficiency and awareness project

African Journals Online (AJOL)

driniev

2002-04-23

Apr 23, 2002 ... Schools Water Efficiency Project in February 2003, which supports several of the City's Water Demand ... of automatic flushing urinals (AFUs) alone in schools can save up .... to go back into the bag as the cistern is filling.

Project Chrysalis: The Evolution of a Community School.

Science.gov (United States)

Garrett, K.

1996-01-01

Describes the creation and operation of Project Chrysalis, a community, service-learning school transformed from row houses, where children can learn, work, and gain inspiration from artists and social entrepreneurs involved with Houston's Project Row Houses. Personal narratives of two teachers highlight the school's and students' accomplishments…

Effect of Dynamic Pressure on the Performance of Thermoacoustic Refrigerator with Aluminium (Al) Resonator

Science.gov (United States)

Arya, Bheemsha; Nayak, B. Ramesh; Shivakumara, N. V.

2018-04-01

In practice the refrigerants are being used in the conventional refrigeration system to get the required cooling effect. These refrigerants produce Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and Hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) which are highly harmful to the environment, particularly depleting of ozone layers resulting in green house emissions. In order to overcome these effects, the research needs to be focused on the development of an ecofriendly refrigeration system. The thermoacoustic refrigeration system is one among such system where the sound waves are used to compress and expand the gas particles. This study focuses on the effect of dynamic pressure on the thermoacoustic refrigerator made of aluminium with overall length of 748.82 mm, and the entire inner surface of the resonator tube was coated with 2mm thickness of polyurethane to minimize the heat losses to the atmosphere. Experiments were conducted with different stack geometries i.e. parallel plates having 0.119 mm thick with spacing between the plates maintained at 0.358 mm, 1mm diameter pipes, 2mm diameter pipes and 4 mm diameter pipes. Experiments were also conducted with different drive ratios of 0.6%, 1% and 1.6% for a constant dynamic pressure of 2 bar and 10 bar for helium and air as working medium. The results were plotted with the help of graphs, the variation of coefficient of performance (COP) and the relative coefficient of performance (COPR) for the above said conditions were calculated.

Thermoacoustic instability of a laminar premixed flame in Rijke tube with a hydrodynamic region

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Dan; Chow, Z. H.

2013-07-01

In this work, a Rijke tube with a hydrodynamic region confined is considered to investigate its non-normality and the effect of the hydrodynamic region on the system stability behaviors. Experiments are first conducted on Rijke tubes with different lengths. It is found that the fundamental mode frequency is decreased and then increased, as the flame is placed at different axial positions at the bottom half of the tube. This trend agrees well with the prediction from the thermoacoustic model developed, of which the hydrodynamic region is modelled as an oscillating 'airplug' and the flame dynamics is captured by using classical G-equation. In addition, the flame as measured is found to respond differently to oncoming acoustic disturbances. Modal and non-modal stability analyses are then conducted to determine the eigenmode growth rate and the transient one of acoustic disturbances. The 'safest' and most 'dangerous' flame locations as defined as those corresponding to extreme eigenmode and transient growth rate are estimated, and compared with those from the model without the hydrodynamic region. In order to mitigate such detrimental oscillations, identification and mitigation algorithms are experimentally implemented on the Rijke tube. The sound pressure level is reduced by approximately 50 dB. To gain insights on the thermoacoustic system, transfer function of the actuated Rijke tube system is measured by injecting a broad-band white noise. Compared with the estimation from our model, good agreement is observed. Finally, the marginal stability regions are estimated.

Elementary and middle school science improvement project

Science.gov (United States)

Mcguire, Saundra Y.

1989-01-01

The Alabama A and M University Elementary and Middle School Science Improvement Project (Project SIP) was instituted to improve the science knowledge of elementary and middle school teachers using the experimental or hands-on approach. Summer workshops were conducted during the summers of 1986, 1987, and 1988 in the areas of biology, chemistry, physics, and electricity, and magnetism. Additionally, a manual containing 43 lessons which included background information, experiments and activities for classroom and home use was provided to each teacher. During the course of the project activities, the teachers interacted with various university faculty members, scientists, and NASA staff. The administrative aspects of the program, the delivery of the services to participating teachers, and the project outcome are addressed.

Revisiting the difference between traveling-wave and standing-wave thermoacoustic engines - A simple analytical model for the standing-wave one

Science.gov (United States)

Yasui, Kyuichi; Kozuka, Teruyuki; Yasuoka, Masaki; Kato, Kazumi

2015-11-01

There are two major categories in a thermoacoustic prime-mover. One is the traveling-wave type and the other is the standing-wave type. A simple analytical model of a standing-wave thermoacoustic prime-mover is proposed at relatively low heat-flux for a stack much shorter than the acoustic wavelength, which approximately describes the Brayton cycle. Numerical simulations of Rott's equations have revealed that the work flow (acoustic power) increases by increasing of the amplitude of the particle velocity (| U|) for the traveling-wave type and by increasing cosΦ for the standing-wave type, where Φ is the phase difference between the particle velocity and the acoustic pressure. In other words, the standing-wave type is a phase-dominant type while the traveling-wave type is an amplitude-dominant one. The ratio of the absolute value of the traveling-wave component (| U|cosΦ) to that of the standing-wave component (| U|sinΦ) of any thermoacoustic engine roughly equals the ratio of the absolute value of the increasing rate of | U| to that of cosΦ. The different mechanism between the traveling-wave and the standing-wave type is discussed regarding the dependence of the energy efficiency on the acoustic impedance of a stack as well as that on ωτα, where ω is the angular frequency of an acoustic wave and τα is the thermal relaxation time. While the energy efficiency of the traveling-wave type at the optimal ωτα is much higher than that of the standing-wave type, the energy efficiency of the standing-wave type is higher than that of the traveling-wave type at much higher ωτα under a fixed temperature difference between the cold and the hot ends of the stack.

Impact of acoustic impedance and flow resistance on the power output capacity of the regenerators in travelling-wave thermoacoustic engines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Zhibin; Jaworski, Artur J.

2010-01-01

This paper considers the role of acoustic impedance, flow resistance, configuration and geometrical dimensions of regenerators on the power produced in travelling-wave thermoacoustic engines. The effects are modelled assuming a pure travelling-wave and ideal gas, which allows defining a pair of dimensionless factors based on the 'net' acoustic power production. Based on the analysis provided, the acoustic power flow in the regenerators is investigated numerically. It is shown that impedance essentially reflects the proportion between the acoustic power produced from heat energy through the thermoacoustic processes and the acoustic power dissipated by viscous and thermal-relaxation effects in the regenerators. Viscous resistance of the regenerator mainly determines the magnitude of the volumetric velocity and then affects the magnitude of acoustic impedance. High impedance and high volumetric velocity are both required in the regenerators for high power engines. The results also show that the optimum transverse dimension of the gas passage exists, but depends on the local acoustic impedance. In principle, it is possible to obtain an optimum combination between these two parameters.

Basic principles of thermo-acoustic energy and temporal profile detection of microwave pulses

CERN Document Server

Andreev, V G; Vdovin, V A

2001-01-01

Basic principles of a thermo-acoustic method developed for the detection of powerful microwave pulses of nanosecond duration are discussed.A proposed method is based on the registration of acoustic pulse profile originated from the thermal expansion of the volume where microwave energy was absorbed.The amplitude of excited acoustic transient is proportional to absorbed microwave energy and its temporal profile resembles one of a microwave pulse when certain conditions are satisfied.The optimal regimes of microwave pulse energy detection and sensitivity of acoustic transient registration with piezo-transducer are discussed.It was demonstrated that profile of a microwave pulse could be detected with temporal resolution of 1 - 3 nanosecond.

White Pine Co. Public School System Biomass Conversion Heating Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paul Johnson

2005-11-01

The White Pine County School District and the Nevada Division of Forestry agreed to develop a pilot project for Nevada using wood chips to heat the David E. Norman Elementary School in Ely, Nevada. Consideration of the project was triggered by a ''Fuels for Schools'' grant that was brought to the attention of the School District. The biomass project that was part of a district-wide energy retrofit, called for the installation of a biomass heating system for the school, while the current fuel oil system remained as back-up. Woody biomass from forest fuel reduction programs will be the main source of fuel. The heating system as planned and completed consists of a biomass steam boiler, storage facility, and an area for unloading and handling equipment necessary to deliver and load fuel. This was the first project of it's kind in Nevada. The purpose of the DOE funded project was to accomplish the following goals: (1) Fuel Efficiency: Purchase and install a fuel efficient biomass heating system. (2) Demonstration Project: Demonstrate the project and gather data to assist with further research and development of biomass technology; and (3) Education: Educate the White Pine community and others about biomass and other non-fossil fuels.

Reproduction of mouse-pup ultrasonic vocalizations by nanocrystalline silicon thermoacoustic emitter

Science.gov (United States)

Kihara, Takashi; Harada, Toshihiro; Kato, Masahiro; Nakano, Kiyoshi; Murakami, Osamu; Kikusui, Takefumi; Koshida, Nobuyoshi

2006-01-01

As one of the functional properties of ultrasound generator based on efficient thermal transfer at the nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) layer surface, its potential as an ultrasonic simulator of vocalization signals is demonstrated by using the acoustic data of mouse-pup calls. The device composed of a surface-heating thin-film electrode, an nc-Si layer, and a single-crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafer, exhibits an almost completely flat frequency response over a wide range without any mechanical surface vibration systems. It is shown that the fabricated emitter can reproduce digitally recorded ultrasonic mouse-pups vocalizations very accurately in terms of the call duration, frequency dispersion, and sound pressure level. The thermoacoustic nc-Si device provides a powerful physical means for the understanding of ultrasonic communication mechanisms in various living animals.

Examining Thai high school students' developing STEM projects

Science.gov (United States)

Teenoi, Kultida; Siripun, Kulpatsorn; Yuenyong, Chokchai

2018-01-01

Like others, Thailand education strongly focused on STEM education. This paper aimed to examine existing Thai high school students' integrated knowledge about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in their developing science project. The participants included 49 high school students were studying the subject of individual study (IS) in Khon Kaen wittayayon school, Khon Kaen, Thailand. The IS was provided to gradually enhance students to know how to do science project starting from getting start to do science projects, They enrolled to study the individual study of science project for three year in roll. Methodology was qualitative research. Views of students' integrated knowledge about STEM were interpreted through participant observation, interview, and students' science projects. The first author as participant observation has taught this group of students for 3 years. It found that 16 science projects were developed. Views of students' integrated knowledge about STEM could be categorized into three categories. These included (1) completely indicated integration of knowledge about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, (2) partial indicated integration of knowledge about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and (3) no integration. The findings revealed that majority of science projects could be categorized as completely indicated integration of knowledge about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The paper suggested some ideas of enhancing students to applying STEM for developing science projects.

A thermoacoustic engine capable of utilizing multi-temperature heat sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiu Limin; Wang Bo; Sun Daming; Liu Yu; Steiner, Ted

2009-01-01

Low-grade energy is widespread. However, it cannot be utilized with high thermal efficiency directly. Following the principle of thermal energy cascade utilization, a thermoacoustic engine (TE) with a new regenerator that can be driven by multiple heat sources at different temperature levels is proposed. Taking a regenerator that utilizes heat sources at two temperatures as an example, theoretical research has been conducted on a traveling-wave TE with the new regenerator to predict its performance. Experimental verification is also done to demonstrate the benefits of the new regenerator. Results indicate that a TE with the new regenerator utilizing additional heat at a lower temperature experiences an increase in pressure ratio, acoustic power, efficiency, and exergy efficiency with proper heat input at an appropriate temperature at the mid-heater. A regenerator that uses multi-temperature heat sources can provide a means of recovering lower grade heat.

Projective Test Use among School Psychologists: A Survey and Critique

Science.gov (United States)

Hojnoski, Robin L.; Morrison, Rhonda; Brown, Melissa; Matthews, William J.

2006-01-01

The use of projective techniques by school psychologists has been a point of interest and debate, with a number of survey studies documenting usage. The purpose of this study is to update the status of projective use among school psychologists, with a specific focus on their use in the social emotional assessment of children in schools. In…

Thermo-acoustic instabilities in lean premixed swirl-stabilized combustion and their link to acoustically coupled and decoupled flame macrostructures

KAUST Repository

Taamallah, Soufien

2015-01-01

© 2014 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. We investigate the onset of thermo-acoustic instabilities and their link to the mean flame configurations - or macrostructures - under acoustically coupled and decoupled conditions. Methane-hydrogen mixtures are used to explore the role of the fuel in changing the flame macrostructure, as determined by chemilumi-nescence, as the equivalence ratio (φ) varies. We observe four different configurations: a columnar flame (I); a bubble-columnar flame (II); a single conical flame (III); and a double conical flame (IV). We also observe different thermo-acoustic modes in the lean regime investigated, φ ∈ [0.5-0.75], that correspond to different flame configurations. By changing the combustor length without affecting the underlying flow, the resonant modes of the combustor are shifted to higher frequencies allowing for the decoupling of heat release fluctuations and the acoustic field over a range of equivalence ratio. We find that the same flame macrostructures observed in the long, acoustically coupled combustor arise in the short, acoustically decoupled combustor and transition at similar equivalence ratios in both combustors. The onset of the first fully unstable mode in the long combustor occurs at similar equivalence ratio as the flame transition from configuration III to IV. In the acoustically decoupled case, this transition occurs gradually starting with the intermittent appearance of a flame in the outer recirculation zone (ORZ). Spectral analysis of this phenomenon, referred to as "ORZ flame flickering" shows the existence of an unsteady event occurring over a narrow frequency band centered around 28 Hz along with a weaker broadband region at lower frequency in the range [1-10] Hz. The tone at 28 Hz is shown to be associated with the azimuthal advection of the flame by the outer recirculation zone flow. Changes in the fuel composition, by adding hydrogen (up to 20%), do not

Building a partnership to evaluate school-linked health services: the Cincinnati School Health Demonstration Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Barbara L; Mansour, Mona; Kohake, Kelli

2005-12-01

The Cincinnati School Health Demonstration Project was a 3-year collaboration that evaluated school-linked health services in 6 urban elementary (kindergarten to eighth grade) schools. Partners from the Cincinnati Health Department, Cincinnati Public Schools, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati wanted to determine if levels of school-linked care made a difference in student quality of life, school connectedness, attendance, emergency department use, and volume of referrals to health care specialists. School nurses, principals and school staff, parents and students, upper-level managers, and health service researchers worked together over a 2.5-year period to learn about and use new technology to collect information on student health, well-being, and outcome measures. Varying levels of school health care intervention models were instituted and evaluated. A standard model of care was compared with 2 models of enhanced care and service. The information collected from students, parents, nurses, and the school system provided a rich database on the health of urban children. School facilities, staffing, and computer technology, relationship building among stakeholders, extensive communication, and high student mobility were factors that influenced success and findings of the project. Funding for district-wide computerization and addition of school health staff was not secured by the end of the demonstration project; however, relationships among the partners endured and paved the way for future collaborations designed to better serve urban school children in Cincinnati.

Prevention of homicidal violence in schools in Germany: the Berlin Leaking Project and the Networks Against School Shootings Project (NETWASS).

Science.gov (United States)

Leuschner, Vincenz; Bondü, Rebecca; Schroer-Hippel, Miriam; Panno, Jennifer; Neumetzler, Katharina; Fisch, Sarah; Scholl, Johanna; Scheithauer, Herbert

2011-01-01

Since 1999, Germany has experienced at least twelve serious cases of targeted school violence. This article describes two projects designed to fill the gap between universal prevention and emergency response in preventing severe forms of school violence in Germany. The Berlin Leaking Project examined the viability of preventive efforts based on early identification of leaking behavior that often precedes targeted school attacks. Leaking refers to any behavior or communication that indicates a student is preparing to carry out a violent attack. This would include explicit or implied threats of violence, apparent fascination with prior acts of violence such as Columbine, and any evidence of planning or preparation to carry out an attack. The NETWASS project will test a training program and intervention strategy based on those findings, examining the usefulness of a threat assessment approach to prevent violence by training teachers to recognize leaking behavior by students. This approach is extended by training teachers on a larger scale to identify leaking and then having a school-based team evaluate the student and initiate appropriate interventions, such as mental health services, and in some cases, law enforcement action. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

Thermoacoustic CT of the breast: pilot study observations

Science.gov (United States)

Kruger, Robert A.; Kiser, William L., Jr.; Romilly, A. P.; Scmidt, Phyllis

2001-06-01

In order to assess the potential clinical utility of using thermoacoustic computer tomography (TCT) to image the breast, we conducted a retrospective pilot study of 78 patients. We recruited patients in three age groups (50 years). The study population was further segregated into normal and suspicious based on the results of the previous x-ray mammography and ultrasound. Image quality was evaluated qualitatively by consensus of two trained mammographers using a 4-point scale. The appearance of normal anatomy, cysts, benign disease and cancer was noted. Patients were also asked to rate the comfort of the TCT exam and to indicate a personal preference for x-ray mammography or TCT. Analysis of the data indicated that TCT image quality was dependent upon both patient age and breast density, improving with both increasing breast density and decreasing patient age. Fibrocystic disease was well seen, cysts appearing as areas of low RF absorption. Fibroadenomas did not demonstrate contrast enhancement with the exception of one patient with associated atypical hyperplasia. Cancer displayed higher RF absorption than surrounding tissues in 4/7 patients in whom cancer was confirmed, including one patient with a 7-mm ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

Broadband Spectroscopic Thermoacoustic Characterization of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel R. Bauer

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Carbon nanotubes have attracted interest as contrast agents for biomedical imaging because they strongly absorb electromagnetic radiation in the optical and microwave regions. This study applies thermoacoustic (TA imaging and spectroscopy to measure the frequency-dependent absorption profile of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT in the ranges of 2.7–3.1 GHz and 7–9 GHz using two tunable microwave sources. Between 7 and 9 GHz, the peak TA signal for solutions containing semiconducting and metallic SWNTs increased monotonically with a slope of 1.75 AU/GHz (R2=0.95 and 2.8 AU/GHz (R2=0.93, respectively, relative to a water baseline. However, after compensating for the background signal from water, it was revealed that the TA signal from metallic SWNTs increased exponentially within this frequency band. Results suggest that TA imaging and spectroscopy could be a powerful tool for quantifying the absorption properties of SWNTs and optimizing their performance as contrast agents for imaging or heat sources for thermal therapy.

Vortical flow structure of thermoacoustic oscillations in a closed tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishii, Katsuya; Kitagawa, Shyun; Ishigaki, Masahiro; Adachi, Shizuko

2014-01-01

Spontaneous thermoacoustic oscillations of a gas in a closed cylindrical tube are studied. Numerical simulations of the flow field in the tube on which a temperature gradient along the axis is imposed are performed by solving the axisymmetric compressible Navier–Stokes equations. The wall temperature of the hot part near both ends (300 K) and that of the cold part near the center (20 K) are fixed. The computations are done for various values of the length ratio ξ of the hot part to the cold part between 0.3 and 1.0, and steady oscillatory states are obtained. These states are divided into three groups according to the magnitude of the pressure amplitude. The state in each group has distinguished features of the flow field. We analyze the effect of vortices on the structure of the temperature distribution. The difference of the boundary layer thickness between the hot part and the cold part is shown to play an important role. (paper)

Vortical flow structure of thermoacoustic oscillations in a closed tube

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ishii, Katsuya [Information Technology Center, Nagoya University, Furou-chou, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601 (Japan); Kitagawa, Shyun [Department of Computational Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furou-chou, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8603 (Japan); Ishigaki, Masahiro [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2–4 Shirakata-shirane, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan); Adachi, Shizuko, E-mail: ishii@cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp [School of Business and Commerce, Tokyo International University, Matoba-kita, Kawagoe-shi, Saitama 350-1197 (Japan)

2014-12-01

Spontaneous thermoacoustic oscillations of a gas in a closed cylindrical tube are studied. Numerical simulations of the flow field in the tube on which a temperature gradient along the axis is imposed are performed by solving the axisymmetric compressible Navier–Stokes equations. The wall temperature of the hot part near both ends (300 K) and that of the cold part near the center (20 K) are fixed. The computations are done for various values of the length ratio ξ of the hot part to the cold part between 0.3 and 1.0, and steady oscillatory states are obtained. These states are divided into three groups according to the magnitude of the pressure amplitude. The state in each group has distinguished features of the flow field. We analyze the effect of vortices on the structure of the temperature distribution. The difference of the boundary layer thickness between the hot part and the cold part is shown to play an important role. (paper)

Joint Aircraft Survivability Program Final Test Report for the Acoustic Fire Suppression Project JASP-TR-14-05

Science.gov (United States)

2016-09-01

Unlike traditional coil speakers that produce sound through mechanical vibration , thin-film CNTs are thermoacoustic actuators. Acoustic sound is a...extinction. The model was based on the ratio of an acoustic Nusselt Number to the Spalding B Number of the fuel, and it was found that at the minimum speaker ...then used to design criteria for a prototype carbon nanotube (CNT) thermoacoustic speaker . Of the 3 designs fabricated, none of the CNT thermoacoustic

TU-FG-BRB-09: Thermoacoustic Range Verification with Perfect Co-Registered Overlay of Bragg Peak onto Ultrasound Image

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Patch, S; Kireeff Covo, M; Jackson, A; Qadadha, Y; Campbell, K; Albright, R; Bloemhard, P; Donoghue, A; Siero, C; Gimpel, T; Small, S; Ninemire, B; Johnson, M; Phair, L [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: The potential of particle therapy has not yet been fully realized due to inaccuracies in range verification. The purpose of this work was to correlate the Bragg peak location with target structure, by overlaying thermoacoustic localization of the Bragg peak onto an ultrasound image. Methods: Pulsed delivery of 50 MeV protons was accomplished by a fast chopper installed between the ion source and the inflector of the 88″ cyclotron at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. 2 Gy were delivered in 2 µs by a beam with peak current of 2 µA. Thermoacoustic emissions were detected by a cardiac array and Verasonics V1 ultrasound system, which also generated a grayscale ultrasound image. 1024 thermoacoustic pulses were averaged before filtering and one-way beamforming focused signal onto the Bragg peak location with perfect co-registration to the ultrasound images. Data was collected in a room temperature water bath and gelatin phantom with a cavity designed to mimic the intestine, in which gas pockets can displace the Bragg peak. Experiments were performed with the cavity both empty and filled with olive oil. Results: In the waterbath overlays of the Bragg peak agreed with Monte Carlo simulations to within 800±170 µm. Agreement within 1.3 ± 0.2 mm was achieved in the gelatin phantom, although relative stopping powers were estimated only to first order from CT scans. Protoacoustic signals were detected after travel from the Bragg peak through 29 mm and 65 mm of phantom material when the cavity was empty and full of olive oil, respectively. Conclusion: Protoacoustic range verification is feasible with a commercial clinical ultrasound array, but at doses exceeding the clinical realm. Further optimization of both transducer array and injection line chopper is required to enable range verification within a 2 Gy dose limit, which would enable online adaptive treatment. This work was supported in part by a UWM Intramural Instrumentation Grant and by the Director, Office

Undergraduate degree projects in the Swedish dental schools: a documentary analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Franzén, C; Brown, G

2013-05-01

Undergraduate degree projects have currently been introduced into courses in the four Swedish dental schools. The rationale for research projects is that they enable students to develop research expertise skills and to show their ability to apply and develop knowledge relevant to professional practice. This paper reports a qualitative analysis of the curriculum documents and handbooks including the criteria used to assess the students' research reports. The aim was to investigate commonalities and differences in the design of degree projects between the four Swedish dental schools and to explore any inconsistencies within the documents. The documentary analysis was based on the constant comparison method. Four overarching themes emerged from the analysis: (i) developing scientific expertise, (ii) developing professional expertise, (iii) following rules and (iv) fostering creativity. The documents from the four dental schools revealed similar views on the purposes of the projects and provided similar assessment criteria. The students were requested to formulate an odontological problem, apply a relevant scientific method, analyse texts and empirical data, express critical reflections and write a short thesis. The students were free to choose topics. There were differences between the dental schools on the emphasis placed on practical uses of the projects and theoretical background of the projects. Two of the schools insisted on rigid rules of completing and writing the project yet paradoxically emphasised creativity. There were wide variations in the required length of the project report. The report may prove useful to dental schools in other countries who are about to design undergraduate research projects. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Implementation of municipal health promoting projects in primary schools: teachers perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordin, Lone Lindegard

2013-01-01

. The project is funded by the Danish Ministry of Science, University of Aarhus and Silkeborg municipality, and involves 5 primary schools, 23 teachers and 233 pupils from 7th to 9 class. The project is positioned within the critical approach to school health education and health promotion, developed......Implementation of municipally health promoting projects' in primary schools: teachers perspective Research question This paper discusses the findings from a qualitative research, that aimed to investigate how teachers in primary schools implemented municipal health promoting projects focusing...... that there is a “gap” between policy and practice according to aim, content and methods, and that teachers practice can be explained as coping mechanism. The key findings include: • Teachers practice is closer to traditional health education than critical health education. • Teachers priorities the mandatory teaching...

Reading and Writing Gains for Maori Students in Mainstream Schools: Effective Partnerships in the Rotorua Home and School Literacy Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Glynn, Ted; Berryman, Mere; Glynn, Vin

The Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust with support from the Ministry of Education funded a home and school literacy project in nine Rotorua primary schools. The project funded each school to train a home-school liaison worker (either a school staff member or a community person) to assist schools in developing a working partnership with the students'…

Identification of flame transfer functions in the presence of intrinsic thermoacoustic feedback and noise

Science.gov (United States)

Jaensch, Stefan; Merk, Malte; Emmert, Thomas; Polifke, Wolfgang

2018-05-01

The Large Eddy Simulation/System Identification (LES/SI) approach is a general and efficient numerical method for deducing a Flame Transfer Function (FTF) from the LES of turbulent reacting flow. The method may be summarised as follows: a simulated flame is forced with a broadband excitation signal. The resulting fluctuations of the reference velocity and of the global heat release rate are post-processed via SI techniques in order to estimate a low-order model of the flame dynamics. The FTF is readily deduced from the low-order model. The SI method most frequently applied in aero- and thermo-acoustics has been Wiener-Hopf Inversion (WHI). This method is known to yield biased estimates in situations with feedback, thus it was assumed that non-reflective boundary conditions are required to generate accurate results with the LES/SI approach. Recent research has shown that the FTF is part of the so-called Intrinsic ThermoAcoustic (ITA) feedback loop. Hence, identifying an FTF from a compressible LES is always a closed-loop problem, and consequently one should expect that the WHI would yield biased results. However, several studies proved that WHI results compare favourably with validation data. To resolve this apparent contradiction, a variety of identification methods are compared against each other, including models designed for closed-loop identification. In agreement with theory, we show that the estimate given by WHI does not converge to the actual FTF. Fortunately, the error made is small if excitation amplitudes can be set such that the signal-to-noise ratio is large, but not large enough to trigger nonlinear flame dynamics. Furthermore, we conclude that non-reflective boundary conditions are not essentially necessary to apply the LES/SI approach.

Analysis of Thermo-Acoustic Emission from Damage in Composite Laminates under Thermal Cyclic Loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Young Bok; Min, Dae Hong; Lee, Deok Bo; Choi, Nak Sam

2001-01-01

An investigation on nondestructive evaluation of thermal stress-reduced damage in the composite laminates (3mm in thickness and [+45 6 /-45 6 ] S lay-up angles) has been performed using the thermo-acoustic emission technique. Reduction of thermo-AE events due to repetitive thermal load cycles showed a Kaiser effect. An analysis of the thermo-AE behavior determined the stress free temperature of composite laminates. Fiber fracture and matrix cracks were observed using the optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and ultrasonic C-sean. Short-Time Fourier Transform of thermo-AE signals offered the time-frequency characteristics which might classify the thermo-AE as three different types to estimate the damage processes of the composites

School Astronomy Club: from Project to Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Folhas, Alvaro

2016-04-01

Prepare a generation of young people for the challenges of the future is a task which forces us to rethink the school, not just for being difficult, but also because students feel that the school has very little to offer, especially something that interests them. Thus, the school is dysfunctional, is ill, and needs prompt treatment. School have to adjust to the new times, and this does not mean changing the old blackboards by advanced interactive whiteboards. The school has to find the way to the students with something that seduce them: the Challenge. The Astronomy Club that I lead in my school is essentially a Project space. Students who voluntarily joined the club, organize themselves according to their interests around projects whose outcome is not defined from the beginning, which requires them to do, undo and redo. Which obliges them to feel the need to ask for help to mathematics or physics to achieve answers, to feel the passion to study with a genuine purpose of learning. Some examples of the work: The younger students are challenged to reproduce the historical astronomical experiments that have opened the doors of knowledge such as the Eratosthenes experiment to determine the perimeter of the Earth (on equinox), or by using congruent triangles, determine the diameter the sun. These students are driven to establish distance scales in the solar system, which, to their astonishment, allows them to clear misconceptions that arise from some pictures of books and allows them to have a scientifically correct idea of the planetary orbit and distance separating the planets of the Solar System. For students from 15 to 18 years, I have to raise the level of the challenges and use the natural tendency of this age bracket to assert making new and exciting things. To this purpose, I am fortunate to have the support of large organizations like NUCLIO, ESA, CERN, and Go-Lab Project, Inspiring Science Education, Open Discovery Space and Global Hands on Universe. Through

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Thermoacoustic Sources Related to High-Frequency Instabilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mathieu Zellhuber

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Flame dynamics related to high-frequency instabilities in gas turbine combustors are investigated using experimental observations and numerical simulations. Two different combustor types are studied, a premix swirl combustor (experiment and a generic reheat combustor (simulation. In both cases, a very similar dynamic behaviour of the reaction zone is observed, with the appearance of transverse displacement and coherent flame wrinkling. From these observations, a model for the thermoacoustic feedback linked to transverse modes is proposed. The model splits heat release rate fluctuations into distinct contributions that are related to flame displacement and variations of the mass burning rate. The decomposition procedure is applied on the numerical data and successfully verified by comparing a reconstructed Rayleigh index with the directly computed value. It thus allows to quantify the relative importance of various feedback mechanisms for a given setup.

System Identification and Resonant Control of Thermoacoustic Engines for Robust Solar Power

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boe-Shong Hong

2015-05-01

Full Text Available It was found that thermoacoustic solar-power generators with resonant control are more powerful than passive ones. To continue the work, this paper focuses on the synthesis of robustly resonant controllers that guarantee single-mode resonance not only in steady states, but also in transient states when modelling uncertainties happen and working temperature temporally varies. Here the control synthesis is based on the loop shifting and the frequency-domain identification in advance thereof. Frequency-domain identification is performed to modify the mathematical modelling and to identify the most powerful mode, so that the DSP-based feedback controller can online pitch the engine to the most powerful resonant-frequency robustly and accurately. Moreover, this paper develops two control tools, the higher-order van-der-Pol oscillator and the principle of Dynamical Equilibrium, to assist in system identification and feedback synthesis, respectively.

Wind Powering America's Wind for Schools Project: Summary Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baring-Gould, I.; Newcomb, C.

2012-06-01

This report provides an overview of the U.S. Department of Energy, Wind Powering America, Wind for Schools project. It outlines teacher-training activities and curriculum development; discusses the affiliate program that allows school districts and states to replicate the program; and contains reports that provide an update on activities and progress in the 11 states in which the Wind for Schools project operates.

Financing School Capital Projects in New York State.

Science.gov (United States)

Howe, Edward T.

1990-01-01

Financing school capital projects in New York State is a responsibility involving both local school districts and the state government. State building aid is provided through an aid ratio and approved expenditure formula. This formula has an equalizing effect among districts by explicitly providing an aid amount inversely proportional to property…

Experimental investigation on preconditioned rate induced tipping in a thermoacoustic system.

Science.gov (United States)

Tony, J; Subarna, S; Syamkumar, K S; Sudha, G; Akshay, S; Gopalakrishnan, E A; Surovyatkina, E; Sujith, R I

2017-07-14

Many systems found in nature are susceptible to tipping, where they can shift from one stable dynamical state to another. This shift in dynamics can be unfavorable in systems found in various fields ranging from ecology to finance. Hence, it is important to identify the factors that can lead to tipping in a physical system. Tipping can mainly be brought about by a change in parameter or due to the influence of external fluctuations. Further, the rate at which the parameter is varied also determines the final state that the system attains. Here, we show preconditioned rate induced tipping in experiments and in a theoretical model of a thermoacoustic system. We provide a specific initial condition (preconditioning) and vary the parameter at a rate higher than a critical rate to observe tipping. We find that the critical rate is a function of the initial condition. Our study is highly relevant because the parameters that dictate the asymptotic behavior of many physical systems are temporally dynamic.

The pedagogical and ethical legacy of a "successful" educational reform: The Citizen School Project

Science.gov (United States)

Fischman, Gustavo E.; Gandin, Luis Armando

2016-02-01

The Citizen School Project (Escola Cidadã) was implemented from 1993 to 2004 in Porto Alegre, capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. This article presents the conception behind the Citizen School Project, the basic mechanisms created to implement and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses, and some of its contradictions. After contextualising the educational reforms in Brazil during the 1980s and 1990s, the authors demonstrate how the Citizen School Project's emphasis on participation and democratisation was a radical departure from Brazil's traditional public education system. Next, they present the three main goals and structures of the Citizen School Project - democratisation of access to schools, democratisation of schools' administration, and democratisation of access to knowledge. They conclude by discussing some pedagogic, social and political dynamics which appear to be strong legacies of this pedagogical project. The authors also argue that the Citizen School Project has both improved the quality of education in Porto Alegre and is an important contribution to our collective thinking about the politics of "successful" educational policies.

Evaluation of the Family/School Partnership Project, Year III, 1996-97.

Science.gov (United States)

Kester, Donald L.; Plakos, John; Santos, Will

The report details the third-year evaluation of a transitional bilingual education project at Chester W. Nimitz Middle School in Huntington Park, California. The Family/School Partnership Project is designed to assist limited English proficient students in mastering English skills to transition to regular classroom activities by integrating…

Wind for Schools: A Wind Powering America Project

Science.gov (United States)

US Department of Energy, 2007

2007-01-01

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Wind Powering America program (based at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory) sponsors the Wind for Schools Project to raise awareness in rural America about the benefits of wind energy while simultaneously educating college seniors regarding wind energy applications. The three primary project goals of…

Intercultural Education in Primary School: A Collaborative Project

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Marta; Araújo e Sá, Maria Helena; Simões, Ana Raquel

2014-01-01

In this article, we present and discuss a collaborative project on intercultural education developed by a group of educational partners. The group was made up of 12 people representing different institutions in the community, namely primary schools, cultural and social associations and the local council. The project takes an intercultural approach…

Astronomy Education Project for Guangdong High Schools F. P. Pi ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Guangzhou University, ... an astronomy education project for high school teachers and students was initiated ... ipality, universities and research institutes, professional and amateur astronomical.

Service-learning and learning communities: two innovative school projects that are mutually enriched

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen ÁLVAREZ ÁLVAREZ

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article reflects on the interrelationships that exist between two educational projects of today: service-learning (ApS and learning communities (CdA. The ApS is an educational methodology applied worldwide where a single project combines a learning based on experience with the implementation of a service to the community. CdA is a school transformation project to achieve that the information society does not exclude any person, constituting a reality in more than one hundred and ninety schools in Spain and Latin America. Between the two, it is possible to show differences, especially in what refers to its theoretical substrates, but in actual teaching practice in schools there is some harmony, particularly in the so closely that they cultivate both projects with the school community. Therefore, we conclude that service-learning and learning communities can occur as two innovative and relevant today projects which can be mutually enriching: because for both the approach school-community-environment and volunteering is essential.

Students' Perceptions of Life Skill Development in Project-Based Learning Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Kimberly; Wurdinger, Scott

2016-01-01

This research aimed to examine students' perceptions of their life skills while attending project-based learning (PBL) schools. The study focused on three questions including: (1) What are students' perceptions of their development of life skills in project-based learning schools?; (2) In what ways, if any, do students perceive an increase in…

Boundary Crossing in R&D Projects in Schools: Learning through Cross-Professional Collaboration

Science.gov (United States)

Schenke, Wouter; van Driel, Jan; Geijsel, Femke P.; Volman, Monique L. L.

2017-01-01

Background/Context: School leaders, teachers, and researchers are increasingly involved in collaborative research and development (R&D) projects in schools, which encourage crossing boundaries between the fields of school and research. It is not clear, however, what and how professionals in these projects learn through cross-professional…

Project on School Staff Health Promotion in Poland: The First Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Woynarowska-Soldan, Magdalena

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the concept, methods of implementation, results and experiences from the first stage of the three-year project on school staff health promotion carried out within the framework of the health-promoting school (HPS) network in Poland. Design/methodology/approach: The project was implemented in 2012 in…

"KiDS and Diabetes in Schools" project: Experience with an international educational intervention among parents and school professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Bechara, Glaucia Margonari; Castelo Branco, Fernanda; Rodrigues, Avelino Luiz; Chinnici, Daniela; Chaney, David; Calliari, Luis Eduardo P; Franco, Denise Reis

2018-06-01

Although it is known that school care is a major challenge in diabetes treatment, there is still no published international initiative. The aims of this study were to introduce an international educational intervention tool, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) KiDS and Diabetes in Schools project (KiDS project), and to describe its impact on diabetes knowledge and behavior of caregivers and school professionals. The KiDS project was developed with the support of IDF and the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes and provides online free material in 10 languages, directed to caregivers and school personnel. A pilot evaluation of the KiDS intervention was performed in Brazil. An educational intervention was conducted in 5 primary schools, with 42 parents and school staff, followed by 2 individual interviews after 1 and 3 months. The results were evaluated in a qualitative study with a descriptive design based on content analysis. School staff acquired new knowledge on diabetes and its treatment. They felt more confident when helping students with diabetes and said the educational intervention promoted a positive impact on the teacher-student relationship, on the caring for health, and on school infrastructure. Family members of children with diabetes stated that the educational intervention gave them an opportunity to strengthen and update information on treatment and improve their knowledge. The KiDS project is the first international tool directed to foster a safe and supportive environment and a better understanding of diabetes in schools. In this pilot evaluation, it achieved the goal of informing and changing the behavior of parents and school staff, thus improving the care provided to children with diabetes in schools. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Schools water efficiency and awareness project | Wilson | Water SA

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The City of Cape Town's Water Demand Management (WDM) department has been involved in school projects for several years, although these have generally been restricted to educational activities during Water Week and school competitions, due mainly to limited resources. Cape Town is a water scarce area, and ...

Iterative reconstruction methods for Thermo-acoustic Tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marinesque, Sebastien

2012-01-01

We define, study and implement various iterative reconstruction methods for Thermo-acoustic Tomography (TAT): the Back and Forth Nudging (BFN), easy to implement and to use, a variational technique (VT) and the Back and Forth SEEK (BF-SEEK), more sophisticated, and a coupling method between Kalman filter (KF) and Time Reversal (TR). A unified formulation is explained for the sequential techniques aforementioned that defines a new class of inverse problem methods: the Back and Forth Filters (BFF). In addition to existence and uniqueness (particularly for backward solutions), we study many frameworks that ensure and characterize the convergence of the algorithms. Thus we give a general theoretical framework for which the BFN is a well-posed problem. Then, in application to TAT, existence and uniqueness of its solutions and geometrical convergence of the algorithm are proved, and an explicit convergence rate and a description of its numerical behaviour are given. Next, theoretical and numerical studies of more general and realistic framework are led, namely different objects, speeds (with or without trapping), various sensor configurations and samplings, attenuated equations or external sources. Then optimal control and best estimate tools are used to characterize the BFN convergence and converging feedbacks for BFF, under observability assumptions. Finally, we compare the most flexible and efficient current techniques (TR and an iterative variant) with our various BFF and the VT in several experiments. Thus, robust, with different possible complexities and flexible, the methods that we propose are very interesting reconstruction techniques, particularly in TAT and when observations are degraded. (author) [fr

University-Level Research Projects for High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

McConnell, Mark L.

2000-01-01

The goal of this project was to provide an opportunity for high school students to participate in university-level research projects. In this case, students from Pinkerton Academy (Derry, New Hampshire) were invited to participate in efforts to catalog data from the COMPTEL experiment on NASA's Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO). These activities were part of a senior level honors course at Pinkerton. Although the success of this particular program was rather limited, we feel that the general concept is a sound one. In principle, the concept of partnerships between local schools and university researchers is one that could be especially attractive to soft money researchers. Programs can be carefully designed to benefit both the students and the research program.

An Agile Constructionist Mentoring Methodology for Software Projects in the High School

Science.gov (United States)

Meerbaum-Salant, Orni; Hazzan, Orit

2010-01-01

This article describes the construction process and evaluation of the Agile Constructionist Mentoring Methodology (ACMM), a mentoring method for guiding software development projects in the high school. The need for such a methodology has arisen due to the complexity of mentoring software project development in the high school. We introduce the…

The Maui's Dolphin Challenge: Lessons from a School-Based Litter Reduction Project

Science.gov (United States)

Townrow, Carly S.; Laurence, Nick; Blythe, Charlotte; Long, Jenny; Harré, Niki

2016-01-01

The Maui's Dolphin Challenge was a litter reduction project that was run twice at a secondary school in Aotearoa New Zealand. The project drew on a theoretical framework encompassing four psycho-social principles: values, embodied learning, efficacy, and perceived social norms. It challenged students to reduce the litter at the school by offering…

Thermoacoustic imaging of prostate cancer: comparison to histology

Science.gov (United States)

Patch, S. K.; Griep, S. K.; Jacobsohn, K.; See, W. A.; Hull, D.

2014-03-01

Ex vivo imaging of fresh prostate specimens was performed to test the hypothesis that the thermoacoustic (TA) contrast mechanism generated with very high frequency electromagnetic (EM) irradiation is sensitive to prostate cancer. Ex vivo imaging was performed immediately after radical prostatectomy, performed as part of normal care. Irradiation pulsewidth was 700 ns and duty cycle was extremely low. Typical specific absorption rate (SAR) throughout the prostate was 70-90 kW/kg during pulsing, but time-averaged SAR was below 2 W/kg. TA pressure pulses generated by rapid heating due to EM energy deposition were detected using single element transducers. 15g/L glycine powder mixed into DI water served as acoustic couplant, which was chilled to prevent autolysis. Spatial encoding was performed by scanning in tomographic "step-and-shoot" mode, with 3 mm translation between slices and 1.8-degree rotation between tomographic views. Histology slides for 3 cases scanned with 2.25 MHz transducers were marked for comparison to TA reconstructions. These three cases showed little, moderate, and severe involvement in the histology levels surrounding the verumontanum. TA signal strength decreased with percent cancerous involvement. When VHF is used for tissue heating, the TA contrast mechanism is driven by ionic content and we observed suppressed TA signal from diseased prostate tissue in the peripheral zone. For the 45 regions of interest analyzed, a reconstruction value of 0.4 mV provides 100% sensitivity but only 29% specificity.

Inclusive design in the implementation of projects for schools modernization in Portugal - case studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, Lígia; Aguiar, Carlos; da Silva, Fernando Moreira

2012-01-01

The Project for Schools Modernization taking place in Portugal, with an estimated total investment of 2450 million for the intervention in the first 205 schools, provide the reclassification of 332 secondary schools by 2015. One of the questions we can pose is if the authorities and the teams of architects selected to design these schools considered fundamental for the correctness of architectural barriers within the school and its accessibility the implementation of standards and principles of inclusion of children/teenagers with special needs within their school environment. As most of the projects are already being implemented, the main aim of this paper is to present the outcomes of a comparative analysis and synthesis of six schools located in the northern part of the country. This analysis occurs from the of Participatory Design perspective which appeals to the experience of the disable children to look (or evaluate) the negative and positive factors in terms of physical space, interpreted by inclusive design rules and orientations. Therefore, the evaluation of schools modernization project, and its discussion, is central for the understanding how these children are addressed in projects which are directed at them.

Solar Wind Monitor--A School Geophysics Project

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Ian

2018-01-01

Described is an established geophysics project to construct a solar wind monitor based on a nT resolution fluxgate magnetometer. Low-cost and appropriate from school to university level it incorporates elements of astrophysics, geophysics, electronics, programming, computer networking and signal processing. The system monitors the earth's field in…

2017 NMC Technology Outlook for Nordic Schools A Horizon Project Regional Report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2017-01-01

research effort between the New Media Consortium (NMC) and the Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education to inform Nordic school leaders and decision-makers about significant developments in technologies supporting teaching, learning, and creative inquiry in primary and secondary education across Denmark......Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Freeman, A., and Rose, K. (2017). 2017 NMC Technology Outlook for Nordic Schools: A Horizon Project Regional Report. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. The 2017 NMC Technology Outlook for Nordic Schools: A Horizon Project Regional Report reflects a collaborative...

Portland Public Schools Project Chrysalis: Year 2 Evaluation Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Stephanie J.; Gabriel, Roy M.; Hahn, Karen J.; Laws, Katherine E.

In 1994, the Chrysalis Project in Portland Public Schools received funding to prevent or delay the onset of substance abuse among a special target population: high-risk, female adolescents with a history of childhood abuse. Findings from the evaluation of the project's second year of providing assistance to these students are reported here. During…

Collaborative School Innovation Project as a Pivot for Teachers' Professional Development: The Case of Acharnes' Second Chance School in Greece

Science.gov (United States)

Katsarou, Eleni; Tsafos, Vassilis

2008-01-01

A collaborative school innovation project is explored as a pivot for the professional development of the teachers involved. The Second Chance School (SCS) of Acharnes in Greece constitutes such a collaborative innovative project, regarding the underlying theory of multiliteracies, its decentralised character, respect for student individuality, and…

Experimental study of thermoacoustic effects on a single plate. Pt. 1. Temperature fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wetzel, M.; Herman, C. [Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (USA). Dept. of Mech. Eng.

2000-03-01

The thermal interaction between a heated solid plate and the acoustically driven working fluid was investigated by visualizing and quantifying the temperature fields in the neighbourhood of the solid plate. A combination of holographic interferometry and high-speed cinematography was applied in the measurements. A better knowledge of these temperature fields is essential to develop systematic design methodologies for heat exchangers in oscillatory flows. The difference between heat transfer in oscillatory flows with zero mean velocity and steady-state flows is demonstrated in the paper. Instead of heat transfer from a heated solid surface to the colder bulk fluid, the visualized temperature fields indicated that heat was transferred from the working fluid into the stack plate at the edge of the plate. In the experiments, the thermoacoustic effect was visualized through the temperature measurements. A novel evaluation procedure that accounts for the influence of the acoustic pressure variations on the refractive index was applied to accurately reconstruct the high-speed, two-dimensional oscillating temperature distributions. (orig.)

School Building Projects: Managing Insurance and Contracts during Construction

Science.gov (United States)

Shands, Richard

2011-01-01

Managing the risks inherent in a building project presents a challenge and opportunities not often encountered in the ordinary affairs of a school district. A building project brings the district, its staff, and students, as well as the community, in close contact with architects and engineers and a number of contractors for a period of time often…

In vivo tumor detection with combined MR–Photoacoustic-Thermoacoustic imaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lin Huang

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Here, we report a new method using combined magnetic resonance (MR–Photoacoustic (PA–Thermoacoustic (TA imaging techniques, and demonstrate its unique ability for in vivo cancer detection using tumor-bearing mice. Circular scanning TA and PA imaging systems were used to recover the dielectric and optical property distributions of three colon carcinoma bearing mice While a 7.0-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI unit with a mouse body volume coil was utilized for high resolution structural imaging of the same mice. Three plastic tubes filled with soybean sauce were used as fiducial markers for the co-registration of MR, PA and TA images. The resulting fused images provided both enhanced tumor margin and contrast relative to the surrounding normal tissues. In particular, some finger-like protrusions extending into the surrounding tissues were revealed in the MR/TA infused images. These results show that the tissue functional optical and dielectric properties provided by PA and TA images along with the anatomical structure by MRI in one picture make accurate tumor identification easier. This combined MR–PA–TA-imaging strategy has the potential to offer a clinically useful triple-modality tool for accurate cancer detection and for intraoperative surgical navigation.

Sarah J. Hale High School-Project SABER.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenblatt, Harold

Project SABER, which operated in Sarah J. Hale High School in South Brooklyn, New York, consisted of bilingual instructional and supportive services to 9th and 10th grade Spanish language students. Students received bilingual instruction in social studies, science, math, and Spanish. All the SABER students received English as a second language…

High School Principals and School Reform: Lessons Learned from a Statewide Study of Project Re:Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Lorin W.; Shirley, J. Robert

1995-01-01

Summarizes a study examining the high school principal's role in providing the leadership needed to explore and implement Project Re:Learning. The 4-phase study initially included 15 schools and involved questionnaires, interviews, and shadowing. Identifies six types of administrators: the absent administrator, the pawn, the pragmatic principal,…

Passive control of thermoacoustic instabilities in swirl-stabilized combustion at elevated pressures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L Justin Williams

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In this study, a porous insert is placed at the dump plane of a swirl-stabilized lean premixed combustor to passively suppress thermoacoustic instabilities. The diffuser-shaped annular ring of porous inert material influences the turbulent flow field directly, including recirculation zones and vortical and/or shear layer structures to passively control the acoustic performance of the combustor. The porous inert material is made of silicon carbide–hafnium carbide coated, high-strength, high-temperature-resistant open-cell foam materials. In this study, the porous insert concept is investigated at above-ambient operating pressures to demonstrate its suitability for practical combustion applications. Experiments are conducted in quartz and metal combustors, without and with the porous insert while varying operating pressure, equivalence ratio, and reactant flow rate. Measurements show that the porous insert, and consequent changes in the combustor flow field, decrease the sound pressure levels at the frequency of combustion instability at all operating conditions investigated in this study. The porous insert also decreases the broadband combustion noise, i.e. the measured sound pressure levels over a wide frequency range.

Implementation of a project-based engineering school: increasing student motivation and relevant learning

Science.gov (United States)

Terrón-López, María-José; García-García, María-José; Velasco-Quintana, Paloma-Julia; Ocampo, Jared; Vigil Montaño, María-Reyes; Gaya-López, María-Cruz

2017-11-01

The School of Engineering at Universidad Europea de Madrid (UEM) implemented, starting in the 2012-2013 period, a unified academic model based on project-based learning as the methodology used throughout the entire School. This model expects that every year, in each grade, all the students should participate in a capstone project integrating the contents and competencies of several courses. This paper presents the academic context under which this experience has been implemented, and a summary of the work done to design and implement the Project-Based Engineering School at the UEM. The steps followed, the structure used, some sample projects, as well as the difficulties and benefits of implementing the programme are discussed in this paper. The results are encouraging as students are more motivated and the initial set objectives were accomplished.

Educating for Freedom and Responsibility: Lessons From the First Amendment Schools Project

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Cynthia

2016-01-01

The First Amendment Schools project holds rich lessons in how to change school cultures into "laboratories of democracy"--as well as in how to increase the odds of success for any school reform effort. School reform programs of any sort need to make sure to build in sustainability, to provide ways to spread their lessons beyond the…

The Western Primary School 'Quiet Room' Project.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Angus; Chantler, Zara

2002-01-01

This article describes a "Quiet Room" project for students with social, emotional, and behavioral problems at a British primary school. The Quiet Room was designed to provide a nurturing environment away from the classroom in which a child's emotional needs can be explored on a one-to-one basis. Benefits for children, parents, and…

Implementation of a Project-Based Engineering School: Increasing Student Motivation and Relevant Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Terrón-López, María-José; García-García, María-José; Velasco-Quintana, Paloma-Julia; Ocampo, Jared; Vigil Montaño, María-Reyes; Gaya-López, María-Cruz

2017-01-01

The School of Engineering at Universidad Europea de Madrid (UEM) implemented, starting in the 2012-2013 period, a unified academic model based on project-based learning as the methodology used throughout the entire School. This model expects that every year, in each grade, all the students should participate in a capstone project integrating the…

Design of a Thermoacoustic Sensor for Low Intensity Ultrasound Measurements Based on an Artificial Neural Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jida Xing

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In therapeutic ultrasound applications, accurate ultrasound output intensities are crucial because the physiological effects of therapeutic ultrasound are very sensitive to the intensity and duration of these applications. Although radiation force balance is a benchmark technique for measuring ultrasound intensity and power, it is costly, difficult to operate, and compromised by noise vibration. To overcome these limitations, the development of a low-cost, easy to operate, and vibration-resistant alternative device is necessary for rapid ultrasound intensity measurement. Therefore, we proposed and validated a novel two-layer thermoacoustic sensor using an artificial neural network technique to accurately measure low ultrasound intensities between 30 and 120 mW/cm2. The first layer of the sensor design is a cylindrical absorber made of plexiglass, followed by a second layer composed of polyurethane rubber with a high attenuation coefficient to absorb extra ultrasound energy. The sensor determined ultrasound intensities according to a temperature elevation induced by heat converted from incident acoustic energy. Compared with our previous one-layer sensor design, the new two-layer sensor enhanced the ultrasound absorption efficiency to provide more rapid and reliable measurements. Using a three-dimensional model in the K-wave toolbox, our simulation of the ultrasound propagation process demonstrated that the two-layer design is more efficient than the single layer design. We also integrated an artificial neural network algorithm to compensate for the large measurement offset. After obtaining multiple parameters of the sensor characteristics through calibration, the artificial neural network is built to correct temperature drifts and increase the reliability of our thermoacoustic measurements through iterative training about ten seconds. The performance of the artificial neural network method was validated through a series of experiments. Compared

Design of a Thermoacoustic Sensor for Low Intensity Ultrasound Measurements Based on an Artificial Neural Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Xing, Jida; Chen, Jie

2015-06-23

In therapeutic ultrasound applications, accurate ultrasound output intensities are crucial because the physiological effects of therapeutic ultrasound are very sensitive to the intensity and duration of these applications. Although radiation force balance is a benchmark technique for measuring ultrasound intensity and power, it is costly, difficult to operate, and compromised by noise vibration. To overcome these limitations, the development of a low-cost, easy to operate, and vibration-resistant alternative device is necessary for rapid ultrasound intensity measurement. Therefore, we proposed and validated a novel two-layer thermoacoustic sensor using an artificial neural network technique to accurately measure low ultrasound intensities between 30 and 120 mW/cm2. The first layer of the sensor design is a cylindrical absorber made of plexiglass, followed by a second layer composed of polyurethane rubber with a high attenuation coefficient to absorb extra ultrasound energy. The sensor determined ultrasound intensities according to a temperature elevation induced by heat converted from incident acoustic energy. Compared with our previous one-layer sensor design, the new two-layer sensor enhanced the ultrasound absorption efficiency to provide more rapid and reliable measurements. Using a three-dimensional model in the K-wave toolbox, our simulation of the ultrasound propagation process demonstrated that the two-layer design is more efficient than the single layer design. We also integrated an artificial neural network algorithm to compensate for the large measurement offset. After obtaining multiple parameters of the sensor characteristics through calibration, the artificial neural network is built to correct temperature drifts and increase the reliability of our thermoacoustic measurements through iterative training about ten seconds. The performance of the artificial neural network method was validated through a series of experiments. Compared to our previous

Urban High School Student Engagement through CincySTEM iTEST Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Beckett, Gulbahar H.; Hemmings, Annette; Maltbie, Catherine; Wright, Kathy; Sherman, Melissa; Sersion, Brian

2016-01-01

This paper focuses on the notable heightening of underrepresented students' engagement in STEM education through project-based learning CincySTEM iTEST projects. The projects, funded by an iTEST NSF grant, were designed and facilitated by teachers at a new STEM urban public high school serving low-income African-American students. Student…

The droso4schools project: Long-term scientist-teacher collaborations to promote science communication and education in schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Sanjai; DeMaine, Sophie; Heafield, Joshua; Bianchi, Lynne; Prokop, Andreas

2017-10-01

Science communication is becoming an increasingly important part of a scientist's remit, and engaging with primary and secondary schools is one frequently chosen strategy. Here we argue that science communication in schools will be more effective if based on good understanding of the realities of school life, which can be achieved through structured participation and/or collaboration with teachers. For example, the Manchester Fly Facility advocates the use of the fruit fly Drosophila as an important research strategy for the discovery processes in the biomedical sciences. To communicate this concept also in schools, we developed the 'droso4schools' project as a refined form of scientist-teacher collaboration that embraces the expertise and interests of teachers. Within this project, we place university students as teaching assistants in university partner schools to collaborate with teachers and develop biology lessons with adjunct support materials. These lessons teach curriculum-relevant biology topics by making use of the profound conceptual understanding existing in Drosophila combined with parallel examples taken from human biology. By performing easy to implement experiments with flies, we bring living organisms into these lessons, thus endeavouring to further enhance the pupil's learning experience. In this way, we do not talk about flies but rather work with flies as powerful teaching tools to convey mainstream curriculum biology content, whilst also bringing across the relevance of Drosophila research. Through making these lessons freely available online, they have the potential to reach out to teachers and scientists worldwide. In this paper, we share our experiences and strategies to provide ideas for scientists engaging with schools, including the application of the droso4schools project as a paradigm for long-term school engagement which can be adapted also to other areas of science. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All

Progress Report of the Schools Television Research Project--III

Science.gov (United States)

Kemelfield, Graeme

1969-01-01

"This concluding article provides the first published account of a series of psychological experiments which are presently being undertaken by the Schools Television Research Project, examining presentation factors in instructional television. (Editor)

Application of Markovian model to school enrolment projection ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Application of Markovian model to school enrolment projection process. VU Ekhosuehi, AA Osagiede. Abstract. No Abstract. Global Journal of Mathematical Sciences Vol. 5(1) 2006: 9-16. Full Text: EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT.

The Roland Maze Project - school-based extensive air shower network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feder, J.; Jedrzejczak, K.; Karczmarczyk, J.; Lewandowski, R.; Swarzynski, J.; Szabelska, B.; Szabelski, J.; Wibig, T.

2006-01-01

We plan to construct the large area network of extensive air shower detectors placed on the roofs of high school buildings in the city of Lodz. Detection points will be connected by INTERNET to the central server and their work will be synchronized by GPS. The main scientific goal of the project are studies of ultra high energy cosmic rays. Using existing town infrastructure (INTERNET, power supply, etc.) will significantly reduce the cost of the experiment. Engaging high school students in the research program should significantly increase their knowledge of science and modern technologies, and can be a very efficient way of science popularisation. We performed simulations of the projected network capabilities of registering Extensive Air Showers and reconstructing energies of primary particles. Results of the simulations and the current status of project realisation will be presented

High School Geography Project. Legacy for the Seventies. An Analysis of the High School Geography Project in Relation to New Developments in Geographic Education Worldwide.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunn, Angus M., Ed.

Nine articles by geographers and educators analyze the High School Geography Project (HSGP). A project overview by Angus Gunn presents essential ideas and content of six units and several preliminary reactions. The question of "HSGP exportability" to France and Germany is examined in articles by Maurice Saint-Yves and Robert Geipel…

Evaluation of authentic science projects on climate change in secondary schools : a focus on gender differences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, Elma; Goedhart, Martin

2011-01-01

Background and purpose: This study examines secondary-school students' opinions on participating in authentic science projects, which are part of an international EU project on climate change research in seven countries. Partnerships between schools and research institutes result in student projects

The Effect of Soil Education Project on Pre-School Children

Science.gov (United States)

Gulay, Hulya; Yilmaz, Sevket; Gullac, Esin Turan; Onder, Alev

2010-01-01

The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of the first two group applications of the project named "We are Learning about the Soil with Tipitop and His Friends" within the scope of the project group activities of The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) "Schools of Nature and…

Extreme Energy Events Project: Construction of the detectors and installation in Italian High Schools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbrescia, M.; An, S.; Antolini, R.; Badala, A.; Baldini Ferroli, R.; Bencivenni, G.; Blanco, F.; Bressan, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Chiri, C.; Cifarelli, L.; Cindolo, F.; Coccia, E.; De Pasquale, S.; Di Giovanni, A.; D'Incecco, M.; Fabbri, F.L.; Frolov, V.; Garbini, M.; Gustavino, C.

2008-01-01

The EEE Project, conceived by its leader Antonino Zichichi, aims to detect Extreme Energy Events of cosmic rays with an array of muon telescopes distributed over the Italian territory. The Project involves Italian High Schools in order to introduce young people to Physics, also countervailing the recent crisis of university scientific classes inscriptions. The detectors for the EEE telescopes are Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC) and have been constructed by teams of High School students who went in shift at the CERN laboratories. The mechanics and the electronics were developed by groups of researchers from CERN, the Italian Centro Fermi and INFN. The first group of schools of the EEE Project has inaugurated their telescopes recently. A status report of the Project and the preliminary results are presented

Extreme Energy Events Project: Construction of the detectors and installation in Italian High Schools

CERN Document Server

Abbrescia, M; An, S; Antolini, R; Badalà, A; Baldini Ferroli, R; Bencivenni, G; Blanco, F; Bressan, E; Chiavassa, A; Chiri, C; Cifarelli, L; Cindolo, F; Coccia, E; De Pasquale, S; Di Giovanni, A; D’Incecco, M; Fabbri, F L; Frolov, V; Garbini, M; Gustavino, C; Hatzifotiadou, D; Imponente, G; Kim, J; La Rocca, P; Librizzi, F; Maggiora, A; Menghetti, H; Miozzi, S; Moro, R; Panareo, M; Pappalardo, G S; Piragino, G; Riggi, F; Romano, F; Sartorelli, G; Sbarra, C; Selvi, M; Serci, S; Williams, C; Zuyeuski, R

2008-01-01

The EEE Project, conceived by its leader Antonino Zichichi, aims to detect Extreme Energy Events of cosmic rays with an array of muon telescopes distributed over the Italian territory. The Project involves Italian High Schools in order to introduce young people to Physics, also countervailing the recent crisis of university scientific classes inscriptions. The detectors for the EEE telescopes are Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC) and have been constructed by teams of High School students who went in shift at the CERN laboratories. The mechanics and the electronics were developed by groups of researchers from CERN, the Italian Centro Fermi and INFN. The first group of schools of the EEE Project has inaugurated their telescopes recently. A status report of the Project and the preliminary results are presented.

Low Mach number analysis of idealized thermoacoustic engines with numerical solution.

Science.gov (United States)

Hireche, Omar; Weisman, Catherine; Baltean-Carlès, Diana; Le Quéré, Patrick; Bauwens, Luc

2010-12-01

A model of an idealized thermoacoustic engine is formulated, coupling nonlinear flow and heat exchange in the heat exchangers and stack with a simple linear acoustic model of the resonator and load. Correct coupling results in an asymptotically consistent global model, in the small Mach number approximation. A well-resolved numerical solution is obtained for two-dimensional heat exchangers and stack. The model assumes that the heat exchangers and stack are shorter than the overall length by a factor of the order of a representative Mach number. The model is well-suited for simulation of the entire startup process, whereby as a result of some excitation, an initially specified temperature profile in the stack evolves toward a near-steady profile, eventually reaching stationary operation. A validation analysis is presented, together with results showing the early amplitude growth and approach of a stationary regime. Two types of initial excitation are used: Random noise and a small periodic wave. The set of assumptions made leads to a heat-exchanger section that acts as a source of volume but is transparent to pressure and to a local heat-exchanger model characterized by a dynamically incompressible flow to which a locally spatially uniform acoustic pressure fluctuation is superimposed.

Evaluation of Authentic Science Projects on Climate Change in Secondary Schools: A Focus on Gender Differences

Science.gov (United States)

Dijkstra, Elma; Goedhart, Martin

2011-01-01

Background and purpose: This study examines secondary-school students' opinions on participating in authentic science projects which are part of an international EU project on climate change research in seven countries. Partnerships between schools and research institutes result in student projects, in which students work with and learn from…

The Pedagogic Project as Provocative of the Collective Work in the School

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elaine Sampaio Araujo

2007-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this article is to discuss, starting from the historical-cultural perspective, the sense of a pedagogic project considering its procedural nature, the convergence of the personal and collective dimensions and the educational purpose. The goal is to notice the project as possibility in the field pragmatic and in the theory of the sciences of human formation, linking the human development with the schools and its projects. For that, it tries to demonstrate that pedagogic projects configured as activity don't just legitimate the collective participation as it establish a new theoretical and/or methodological order in the organization of the pedagogic work, provoking a school that learns and grows in the search of forming men and women of the best human quality.

Stack Parameters Effect on the Performance of Anharmonic Resonator Thermoacoustic Heat Engine

KAUST Repository

Nouh, Mostafa A.; Arafa, Nadim M.; Abdel-Rahman, Ehab

2014-01-01

A thermoacoustic heat engine (TAHE) converts heat into acoustic power with no moving parts. It exhibits several advantages over traditional engines, such as simple design, stable functionality, and environment-friendly working gas. In order to further improve the performance of TAHE, stack parameters need to be optimized. Stack's position, length and plate spacing are the three main parameters that have been investigated in this study. Stack's position dictates both the efficiency and the maximum produced acoustic power of the heat engine. Positioning the stack closer to the pressure anti-node might ensure high efficiency on the expense of the maximum produced acoustic power. It is noticed that the TAHE efficiency can further be improved by spacing the plates of the stack at a value of 2.4 of the thermal penetration depth, δk . Changes in the stack length will not affect the efficiency much as long as the temperature gradient across the stack, as a ratio of the critical temperature gradient ψ is more than 1. Upon interpreting the effect of these variations, attempts are made towards reaching the engine's most powerful operating point.

Stack Parameters Effect on the Performance of Anharmonic Resonator Thermoacoustic Heat Engine

KAUST Repository

Nouh, Mostafa A.

2014-01-01

A thermoacoustic heat engine (TAHE) converts heat into acoustic power with no moving parts. It exhibits several advantages over traditional engines, such as simple design, stable functionality, and environment-friendly working gas. In order to further improve the performance of TAHE, stack parameters need to be optimized. Stack\\'s position, length and plate spacing are the three main parameters that have been investigated in this study. Stack\\'s position dictates both the efficiency and the maximum produced acoustic power of the heat engine. Positioning the stack closer to the pressure anti-node might ensure high efficiency on the expense of the maximum produced acoustic power. It is noticed that the TAHE efficiency can further be improved by spacing the plates of the stack at a value of 2.4 of the thermal penetration depth, δk . Changes in the stack length will not affect the efficiency much as long as the temperature gradient across the stack, as a ratio of the critical temperature gradient ψ is more than 1. Upon interpreting the effect of these variations, attempts are made towards reaching the engine\\'s most powerful operating point.

Microwave pumped high-efficient thermoacoustic tumor therapy with single wall carbon nanotubes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Liewei; Ding, Wenzheng; Yang, Sihua; Xing, Da

2016-01-01

The ultra-short pulse microwave could excite to the strong thermoacoustic (TA) shock wave and deeply penetrate in the biological tissues. Based on this, we developed a novel deep-seated tumor therapy modality with mitochondria-targeting single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) as microwave absorbing agents, which act efficiently to convert ultra-short microwave energy into TA shock wave and selectively destroy the targeted mitochondria, thereby inducing apoptosis in cancer cells. After the treatment of SWNTs (40 μg/mL) and ultra-short microwave (40 Hz, 1 min), 77.5% of cancer cells were killed and the vast majority were caused by apoptosis that initiates from mitochondrial damage. The orthotopic liver cancer mice were established as deep-seated tumor model to investigate the anti-tumor effect of mitochondria-targeting TA therapy. The results suggested that TA therapy could effectively inhibit the tumor growth without any observable side effects, while it was difficult to achieve with photothermal or photoacoustic therapy. These discoveries implied the potential application of TA therapy in deep-seated tumor models and should be further tested for development into a promising therapeutic modality for cancer treatment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

THE PROJECT-BASED CURRICULUM AND COMPLEXITY IN SCHOOL: POSSIBILITIES FOR AN EDUCATION ON VALUES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Fernandes Pátaro

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This paper is derived from a dissertation and the main goal is to argue how the project-based curriculum, in a perspective of complexity, can offers some possibilities for an education on values introducing studies of nowadays social problems into the school. To achieve the objectives was considered a project developed with a ten years old students. The investigation was based on project activities and daily field. As a result we have demonstrated the project-based curriculum – using the complexity, interdisciplinary and transversality as references – can help school to combine the disciplinary knowledge to the ethical formation. The investigation has show that the project-based curriculum may lead schools to succeed in implementing an education in values, pointing out some directions to develop citizens who can deal with diversity and conflicts as well as capable of get indignant with the injustices and have disposal to individual and collective welfare.

A Project-Centric Course on Cyberinfrastructure to Support High School STEM Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daphne Rainey

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Recent rapid advances in information technology pose new challenges for teachers in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM fields to incorporate the latest knowledge and technical expertise into courses in a way that will be applicable to students as future scientists. A demonstration project was designed, developed, and deployed by university faculty and high school teachers for their students to explore the use of the components of cyberinfrastructure. The project explored the introduction of cyberinfrastructure through the use of bioinformatics and the use of team science. This paper describes the high school course that was deployed at Galileo Magnet High School (GMHS in collaboration with the scientists at Virginia Tech University, and details its overall assessment. Implementation of a project-centric teaching paradigm to engage students in applying the concepts of cyberinfrastructure by integrating the disciplines of biology, computer science, mathematics, and statistics through bioinformatics was an integral part of this study.

An analytical study of photoacoustic and thermoacoustic generation efficiency towards contrast agent and film design optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Gao

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Photoacoustic (PA and thermoacoustic (TA effects have been explored in many applications, such as bio-imaging, laser-induced ultrasound generator, and sensitive electromagnetic (EM wave film sensor. In this paper, we propose a compact analytical PA/TA generation model to incorporate EM, thermal and mechanical parameters, etc. From the derived analytical model, both intuitive predictions and quantitative simulations are performed. It shows that beyond the EM absorption improvement, there are many other physical parameters that deserve careful consideration when designing contrast agents or film composites, followed by simulation study. Lastly, several sets of experimental results are presented to prove the feasibility of the proposed analytical model. Overall, the proposed compact model could work as a clear guidance and predication for improved PA/TA contrast agents and film generator/sensor designs in the domain area.

Seward Park High School Project CABES 1984-1985. OEA Evaluation Report.

Science.gov (United States)

New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn. Office of Educational Assessment.

Career Advancement through Bilingual Educational Skills (Project CABES) completed the second year of a 3-year funding cycle at Seward Park High School on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Project CABES serves 233 recently immigrated, predominantly low-income, ninth through twelfth grade, Hispanic students of limited English proficiency (LEP). Included…

Readings in Wildlife and Fish Conservation, High School Conservation Curriculum Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Ensminger, Jack

This publication is a tentative edition of readings on Wildlife and Fish Conservation in Louisiana, and as such it forms part of one of the four units of study designed for an experimental high school course, the "High School Conservation Curriculum Project." The other three units are concerned with Forest Conervation, Soil and Water…

Development and Validation of a Project Package for Junior Secondary School Basic Science

Science.gov (United States)

Udofia, Nsikak-Abasi

2014-01-01

This was a Research and Developmental study designed to develop and validate projects for Junior Secondary School Basic Science instruction and evaluation. The projects were developed using the project blueprint and sent for validation by experts in science education and measurement and evaluation; using a project validation scale. They were to…

School Autonomy: perspectives and practices in the development of political projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nora Gluz

2008-03-01

Full Text Available State programs promoting school autonomy have been developed within the neo-liberal project and its state reform policies characterized by decentralization and privatization of social services. These programs were fostered as strategies to improve educational quality and equity, in the midst of the redefinition of the role of the state as guarantor of education as a social right. Disputing the neo-liberal view which led to the dismantlement of the welfare state, social movements arising from marginal sectors of society have implemented their own education projects, often working in collaboration with academia. In these projects, school autonomy is seen as a strategy to challenge existing social relations. In this paper, we compare and contrast the meanings attached to the notion of “school autonomy” and the characteristics of the social practices fostered by the educational programs promoted by two different agents, i.e. the state and social movements. Thus, we analyze in the case of Argentina a nation-wide program implemented by the National Ministry of Education (Programa Nueva Escuela Argentina para el Siglo XXI as well as an educational program developed by a social movement (the Movimiento Nacional de Empresas Recuperadas.

Lessons from two Dutch projects for the introduction of computers in schools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

ten Brummelhuis, A.C.A.; Plomp, T.

1993-01-01

The systematic introduction of computers in schools for general secondary education in The Netherlands started in the early 1980s. Initially, the Dutch government experimented in 1983 with a project in 100 lower general secondary schools limited in scope to gain experience with educational computer

Supporting Social and Cognitive Growth Among Disadvantaged Middle-Grades Students in TASC After-School Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christina A. Russell

2006-09-01

Full Text Available The field of after-school programming remains rife with unanswered questions. What constitutes quality in after-school programs? Are after-school opportunities valuable for participants regardless of their quality? Are differences in quality associated with differences in participant benefit? This sub-study of the longitudinal evaluation of The After-School Corporation (TASC looks at how after-school opportunities with varying features affect urban middle-grades (6-8 adolescents who live in impoverished circumstances. Supported by the William T. Grant Foundation, the study explores the associations between after-school project features and the social and cognitive outcomes of disadvantaged middle-grades participants in TASC programs. The study relies on data collected during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 school years in eight TASC projects serving middle-grades students.

Music, Synergies and Interculturality: "MUSSI at School" Project

Science.gov (United States)

Corte-Real, Maria De Sao Jose

2008-01-01

MUSSI is the name of a she-cat from an imaginary story invented and told by children from two elementary schools through different performing modalities. It is also the name of a pilot project of Applied Ethnomusicology funded by a major Portuguese Company, SONAE Sierra, through the local Loures Shopping Centre, which paid for the musical…

Buddy-Tutor Project. Hilo Intermediate School. Final Report, March-July, 1974.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawaii Univ., Honolulu. Social Welfare Development and Research Center.

An operational description of the 1973-74 Buddy-Tutor Project at Hilo Intermediate School in Hilo, Hawaii and an evaluative assessment of its outcome with statistical treatment of the data is provided in this report. This project is an exploratory behavioral intervention program for educationally deprived students and focuses its efforts on the…

The SISIFO project: Seismic Safety at High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Peruzza, Laura; Barnaba, Carla; Bragato, Pier Luigi; Dusi, Alberto; Grimaz, Stefano; Malisan, Petra; Saraò, Angela; Mucciarelli, Marco

2014-05-01

For many years, the Italian scientific community has faced the problem of the reduction of earthquake risk using innovative educational techniques. Recent earthquakes in Italy and around the world have clearly demonstrated that seismic codes alone are not able to guarantee an effective mitigation of risk. After the tragic events of San Giuliano di Puglia (2002), where an earthquake killed 26 school children, special attention was paid in Italy to the seismic safety of schools, but mainly with respect to structural aspects. Little attention has been devoted to the possible and even significant damage to non-structural elements (collapse of ceilings, tipping of cabinets and shelving, obstruction of escape routes, etc..). Students and teachers trained on these aspects may lead to a very effective preventive vigilance. Since 2002, the project EDURISK (www.edurisk.it) proposed educational tools and training programs for schools, at primary and middle levels. More recently, a nationwide campaign aimed to adults (www.iononrischio.it) was launched with the extensive support of civil protection volounteers. There was a gap for high schools, and Project SISIFO was designed to fill this void and in particular for those schools with technical/scientific curricula. SISIFO (https://sites.google.com/site/ogssisifo/) is a multidisciplinary initiative, aimed at the diffusion of scientific culture for achieving seismic safety in schools, replicable and can be structured in training the next several years. The students, helped by their teachers and by experts from scientific institutions, followed a course on specialized training on earthquake safety. The trial began in North-East Italy, with a combination of hands-on activities for the measurement of earthquakes with low-cost instruments and lectures with experts in various disciplines, accompanied by specifically designed teaching materials, both on paper and digital format. We intend to raise teachers and students knowledge of the

Vermont EPSCoR Streams Project: Engaging High School and Undergraduate Students in Watershed Research

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, E.; McCabe, D.; Sheldon, S.; Jankowski, K.; Haselton, L.; Luck, M.; van Houten, J.

2009-12-01

The Vermont EPSCoR Streams Project engages a diverse group of undergraduates, high school students, and their teachers in hands-on water quality research and exposes them to the process of science. The project aims to (1) recruit students to science careers and (2) create a water quality database comprised of high-quality data collected by undergraduates and high school groups. The project is the training and outreach mechanism of the Complex Systems Modeling for Environmental Problem Solving research program, an NSF-funded program at the University of Vermont (UVM) that provides computational strategies and fresh approaches for understanding how natural and built environments interact. The Streams Project trains participants to collect and analyze data from streams throughout Vermont and at limited sites in Connecticut, New York, and Puerto Rico. Participants contribute their data to an online database and use it to complete individual research projects that focus on the effect of land use and precipitation patterns on selected measures of stream water quality. All undergraduates and some high school groups are paired with a mentor, who is either a graduate student or a faculty member at UVM or other college. Each year, undergraduate students and high school groups are trained to (1) collect water and macroinvertebrate samples from streams, (2) analyze water samples for total phosphorus, bacteria, and total suspended solids in an analytical laboratory, and/or (3) use geographic information systems (GIS) to assess landscape-level data for their watersheds. After training, high school groups collect samples from stream sites on a twice-monthly basis while undergraduates conduct semi-autonomous field and laboratory research. High school groups monitor sites in two watersheds with contrasting land uses. Undergraduate projects are shaped by the interests of students and their mentors. Contribution to a common database provides students with the option to expand the

Pathway to Graduation: A Pilot Reading Project for Middle School Students during the Summer Months

Science.gov (United States)

Hilsmier, Amanda Strong; Wood, Patricia F.; Wirt, Susan; McTamney, Diane; Malone, Mary Beth; Milstead, Becky

2014-01-01

The purpose of this article is to outline the implementation of a summer reading project targeted at middle school students with identified reading deficits and behavioral concerns called Pathway to Graduation (PTG). The project was a collaborative process between a school district, local university, and department of mental health. The students…

A World of Learning: Practical Manual. Enhancing the Multiplier Effect of the Associated Schools Project.

Science.gov (United States)

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris (France).

This manual presents the major lessons learned about how national authorities, individual institutions, and individual educators can work to increase the impact of the Associated Schools Project (ASP) schools and spread it to other parts of the educational system. ASP is a project of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural…

ITEAMS: An Out-Of-School Time Project to Promote Gain in Fundamental Science Content and Enhance Interest in STEM Careers for Middle School Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaimie L. Miller

2011-08-01

Full Text Available We report preliminarily on the efficacy of an innovative, STEM education project for middle-school youth participating in outof- school-time programs, targeting girls and students from underrepresented communities. Participating students attend urban schools in Eastern Massachusetts. The two main goals for the technology-based project are to inspire the participants to consider STEM careers and increase the student mastery of fundamental STEM subject matter. The students control robotic telescopes – either from school or home – to acquire and then process images of solar system and deep space objects. Project teachers attend workshops to become adept at using the robotic telescopes, meet weekly with the students, pilot project curricula, collaborate with staff to plan and supervise field trips and star parties, and assist in all project evaluation. There are both academic and non-academic partners; the latter include amateur astronomers and retired engineers. We use an online system to evaluate teacher and student subject matter knowledge and survey students and parents about STEM careers.

Project-Based Learning versus Textbook/Lecture Learning in Middle School Science

Science.gov (United States)

Main, Sindy

2015-01-01

As schools continue to become more diverse, it is important to look at science teaching methods that will meet the needs of all students. In this study, 172 students in a middle school in Northwestern Illinois were taught using two methods of teaching science. Half of the students were taught using project-based science (PBS) and the other half of…

Health. Nevada Competency-Based Adult High School Diploma Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Nevada Univ., Las Vegas. Coll. of Education.

This document is one of ten curriculum guides developed by the Nevada Competency-Based Adult High School Diploma (CBAHSD) Project. This curriculum guide on health is divided into ten topics. The topics included are Nutrition, Reproduction, Menstruation, Contraception, Alcohol Abuse, Tobacco, Immunization, Disease, Accident Prevention, and…

Stakeholders' Opinions on "Let the Schools Become Life" Project in Scope of Lifelong Learning Activities

Science.gov (United States)

Karatas, Süleyman

2015-01-01

The objective of this study is to find out the opinions of school administrators, teachers, staff, benefiting students and parents and other stakeholders of "Let the Schools Become Life" project being carried out in order to reveal the effectiveness and efficiency of the project. Data in this qualitative research was gathered by…

Assessment and Evaluation Report on a Pilot Project on Preventive School Maintenance in Eritrea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vagnby, Bo Hellisen

In 2002, efforts started on formulating a maintenance policy for schools and other social service facilities in Eritrea. Since then, an appropriate policy and related implementation strategies have been further developed. In 2003, a specific pilot project was designed covering a number of schools...... of a school based approach to school maintenance are presented in the report....

Seward Park High School Project CABES, 1985-1986. OEA Evaluation Report.

Science.gov (United States)

New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn. Office of Educational Assessment.

In 1985-86, the Career Advancement through Bilingual Education Skills (CABES) project was in the final year of a three-year funding cycle at Seward Park High School in Manhattan, New York. The project's major goal was to provide career advancement skills to a population group of 279 students of limited English proficiency (LEP). Included in the…

Being everything to anyone: Applicability of thermoacoustic technology in the commercial refrigeration market

Science.gov (United States)

Poese, Matthew E.; Smith, Robert W. M.; Garrett, Steven L.

2005-09-01

This talk will compare electrodynamically driven thermoacoustic refrigeration technology to some common implementations of low-lift vapor-compression technology. A rudimentary explanation of vapor-compression refrigeration will be presented along with some of the implementation problems faced by refrigeration engineers using compressor-based systems. These problems include oil management, compressor slugging, refrigerant leaks and the environmental impact of refrigerants. Recently, the method of evaluating this environmental impact has been codified to include the direct effects of the refrigerants on global warming as well as the so-called ``indirect'' warming impact of the carbon dioxide released during the generation (at the power plant) of the electrical power consumed by the refrigeration equipment. It is issues like these that generate commercial interest in an alternative refrigeration technology. However, the requirements of a candidate technology for adoption in a mature and risk-averse commercial refrigeration industry are as hard to divine as they are to meet. Also mentioned will be the state of other alternative refrigeration technologies like free-piston Stirling, thermoelectric and magnetocaloric as well as progress using vapor compression technology with alternative refrigerants like hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide.

Implicit Knowledge of General Upper Secondary School in a Bridge-building Project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Annette; Andreasen, Karen Egedal

2016-01-01

Bridge-building activities are practiced widely in the education systems of Europe. They are meant to bridge transitions between lower and upper secondary school and form a mandatory part of the youth guidance system in Denmark. By giving pupils the opportunity to experience the different...... educational context of upper secondary school, bridge-building activities are meant to facilitate their decision-making on educational paths, but also to attract more and new groups of pupils. However, the premises of the inherent differences of educational contexts and of pupils’ lacking knowledge of upper...... secondary education can be questioned. In this ethnographic case study of a bridge-building project in a rural area in Denmark, we analyse the implicit knowledge of the general upper secondary school, as it is practiced in a bridge-building project, and how it is experienced by the pupils on the background...

PROJECTS EDUCATION RESEARCH: PRACTICAL EXPERIENCED IN A SCHOOL IN / FIELD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosenilde Nogueira Paniago

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This study discusses an investigation done with teachers of a public school, located on countryside, city of Água Boa, Mato Grosso, with a view to looking for new alternatives to the teaching practice on school, by means of using the collaborative realization of projects and researches as pedagogical alternatives. As qualitative approach, the investigation has developed by means of the study of benchmarks, that discuss the research on teaching formation, on teaching practice, education on/of the countryside and, of the projects’ realization of teaching and research with and by teachers. The work enabled to get closer relationship between school and community, to articulate the theoretical knowledge, studied on school, and the life of countryside students, showing the necessity of theoretico-methodological formation with collective engagement of teachers and public politics that propitiate the emergence of conditions to the new practices of teaching on school on/of the countryside by the bias of search.

Evaluation of authentic science projects on climate change in secondary schools: a focus on gender differences

Science.gov (United States)

Dijkstra, Elma; Goedhart, Martin

2011-07-01

Background and purpose This study examines secondary-school students' opinions on participating in authentic science projects which are part of an international EU project on climate change research in seven countries. Partnerships between schools and research institutes result in student projects, in which students work with and learn from scientists about the global carbon cycle. This study focuses in particular on differences between male and female students, as female students normally like traditional school science less than male students. Sample and design Data, drawn from 1370 students from 60 secondary schools across Europe, were collected through questionnaires taken at the end of the projects. The evaluated aspects were: organization; enjoyment; difficulty; and impact of the projects. Results The findings suggest that authentic science education is appreciated very much by both male students and even more by female students. The projects had positive impacts on climate change ideas, in particular for female students. Female students felt that they had learned many new things more often than male students. Conclusions Both male and female students have positive opinions about the authentic science projects. The results further point to positive effects of activities in which students have an active role, like hands-on experiments or presentation of results. The findings are placed in the international context of science education and their implications for policy are discussed.

The Impact an Oratory Project generates to Primary School Students who live in Rural Areas of Cartago

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Gabriela Amador-Solano

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This article aims at showing the development and relevance of an extension project in seven rural schools located in “circuito 05” in the central area of Cartago. The main goal is to enhance oral commu­nication in elementary school students. The project was designed as a training workshop for the teach­ers in the chosen schools in order to be taught to students by implementing an oratory club. In each student´s dissertation, the researchers observed the enthusiasm that the project caused in the schools. Objectives, contents, activities, assessment and observations were designed in a didactic plan to be used upon needs of institutions.

Life project of adolescents, a product of socio-educational work of school

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maibel Rebollar-Ferrer

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The improvement of formative work, through a life orientation that is characterized by the correspondence of aspirations or individual goals, potentials and social demands is a challenge to Junior high school in the design and implementation of sócio–educative system of actions, that led by principals and teachers, integrates socializing agents, in order to prepare adolescents in managing a developmental life project to ensure their integration into dynamic and complex society. This research paper nowadays, from the pedagogical, psychological and sociological references, a conceptual basis for understanding adolescents’ life project as an expression of integral formation and the product of social and educational work of school.

Project NANO (nanoscience and nanotechnology outreach): a STEM training program that brings SEM's and stereoscopes into high-school and middle-school classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Cady, Sherry L.; Blok, Mikel; Grosse, Keith; Wells, Jennifer

2014-09-01

The program Project NANO (Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Outreach) enables middle and high school students to discover and research submicroscopic phenomena in a new and exciting way with the use of optical and scanning electron microscopes in the familiar surroundings of their middle or high school classrooms. Project NANO provides secondary level professional development workshops, support for classroom instruction and teacher curriculum development, and the means to deliver Project NANO toolkits (SEM, stereoscope, computer, supplies) to classrooms with Project NANO trained teachers. Evaluation surveys document the impact of the program on student's attitudes toward science and technology and on the learning outcomes for secondary level teachers. Project NANO workshops (offered for professional development credit) enable teachers to gain familiarity using and teaching with the SEM. Teachers also learn to integrate new content knowledge and skills into topic-driven, standards-based units of instruction specifically designed to support the development of students' higher order thinking skills that include problem solving and evidence-based thinking. The Project NANO management team includes a former university science faculty, two high school science teachers, and an educational researcher. To date, over 7500 students have experienced the impact of the Project NANO program, which provides an exciting and effective model for engaging students in the discovery of nanoscale phenomena and concepts in a fun and engaging way.

A community-wide school health project for the promotion of smoke-free homes.

Science.gov (United States)

Loke, Alice Yuen; Mak, Y W

2015-11-26

A community-wide school health project for the promotion of smoke-free homes was launched in June 2010 with the aim of promoting the benefits of smoke-free homes to all school-aged children (aged 6-18), and indirectly to their parents and family members. The 1-year project included health talks on a smoke-free life; the distribution of educational leaflets; slogan and visual art competitions; and a health fair held in June 2011. Two sets of questionnaires were developed to solicit a resolution and action from the participants regarding the establishment of a smoke-free home, and their decision to stay smoke-free. This is a paper to report on the activities of this project, the attempts to reach out to school-aged children, and their indications of agreement with, support for, and commitment to promoting smoke-free homes. The project reached an estimated 12,800 school-aged children in Hong Kong. A large proportion of those received educational leaflets (69.6-88.2 %). Of those who participated in the health fair, 69.7-87.6 % agreed to promote the concept of smoke-free homes to friends and family. More primary than secondary students pledged to not take up smoking (90.8 vs 85.8 %). About 82 % of those who had experimented with smoking pledged to stop. A small proportion of them reported already having established a smoke-free policy at home (14.9 %), placed a 'No Smoking' sign at home (16.4 %), informed visitors of their smoke-free policy at home (12.9 %), and asked visitors to dispose of lit cigarettes before entering their home (15.9 %). This community-wide school health project on the benefits of smoke-free homes reached a large number of students, and indirectly to family members, and home visitors. Public health efforts of this kind should be continued to reach younger generations and the general public.

Assessment of environmental projects in official schools in the locality 18 in Bogota

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrera R, Juan Francisco; Reyes S, Lucia; Amaya, Hector Oswaldo T .Gerena Oscar Arturo

2006-01-01

It was investigated the current state of de School Environment Projects in the public educational institutions of de Town 18 Rafael Uribe Uribe in Bogota (Colombia). The participation grade was measured in the design o execution and evaluation of the environmental projects, the registration and systematising of experiences, the generation of reflection spaces and the structuring to the Institutional Educational Project. By means of the test pilot the variables were determined for the sample design and the validation of the mensuration instrument. Three populations study object were determined and for each was designed a for through which the information of the variable was gathered by means of the method of direct interview. The results show that the overwhelming majority of the considered population didn't participated in the design in the execution of the environmental projects. The registration and systematizing of experiences are minimum, as well as the reflection spaces and conceptualization. There is not articulation from the environmental project to the Institutional Educational Project. The little participation, systematizing of experiences and lack of reflection spaces and conceptualization limit the impact of the School Environmental Projects in the formation of favorable attitudes to the environment

[Subtainable health promotion via organisational development--a model project for teachers in professional training schools].

Science.gov (United States)

Schumacher, L; Nieskens, B; Bräuer, H; Sieland, B

2005-02-01

The goal of this project is the development, implementation and evaluation of a concept designed for sustainable health promotion among occupational and trade school teachers. We assume that for sustainable health promotion -- along with a behavioral prevention program -- a change is necessary in the structure, as well as, the working and communication processes within schools. The realization of early teacher participation and self regulated cooperative groups initiates comprehensive and goal-oriented developmental processes in the project schools. The organizational development process was accomplished in the following way: At the beginning we conducted a diagnosis of school-specific and individual health risks and the resources available to the project schools. The results were reported for both the individual and for the teacher group. This was intended to clarify the potential for improvement and, thus, strengthen the teachers' motivation toward processes of change. Following the diagnosis, the teachers chose areas of stress-related strain and then worked in groups to develop and implement behaviour and working condition-oriented intervention strategies for health promotion. The diagnosis results confirm the necessity of school-specific health promotion: the schools demonstrate very different demand and resource profiles. Furthermore, is has become evident that the central success factor for health promotion in schools is the teachers' willingness for change. The individual and group reports of the diagnosis results seem to have made clear how essential individual and organisational changes are.

A Study on the Evaluation of Science Projects of Primary School Students Based on Scientific Criteria

Science.gov (United States)

Gungor, Sema Nur; Ozer, Dilek Zeren; Ozkan, Muhlis

2013-01-01

This study re-evaluated 454 science projects that were prepared by primary school students between 2007 and 2011 within the scope of Science Projects Event for Primary School Students. Also, submitted to TUBITAK BIDEB Bursa regional science board by MNE regional work groups in accordance with scientific research methods and techniques, including…

Bilingual Academic and Career Education Services for Hispanic High School Students (Project BACES). Final Evaluation Report, 1992-93. OER Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Candice

This report presents an evaluation of the Bilingual Academic and Career Education Services for Hispanic High School Students (Project BACES), an Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title VII-funded project in its third year of operation at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx and George Washington High School in Manhattan. The project served…

Model Wind Turbine Design in a Project-Based Middle School Engineering Curriculum Built on State Frameworks

Science.gov (United States)

Cogger, Steven D.; Miley, Daniel H.

2012-01-01

This paper proposes that project-based active learning is a key part of engineering education at the middle school level. One project from a comprehensive middle school engineering curriculum developed by the authors is described to show how active learning and state frameworks can coexist. The theoretical basis for learning and assessment in a…

Undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of service-learning through a school-based community project.

Science.gov (United States)

Bassi, Sherry

2011-01-01

Service-learning (SL) is an experiential teaching method that combines instruction with community service, with the aim of enriching students' academic learning, interpersonal skills and sense of responsibility while making meaningful contributions to the community. However, measuring outcomes of service-learning projects is difficult. This article reports on the perceptions of 18 third-year undergraduate nursing students who took part in a pilot service-learning project targeting tobacco use in a local elementary school. Faculty members evaluated the program's outcomes by engaging students in structured reflection on the program about its relevance to their future careers as practicing professionals, especially in community-based settings. The students' perceptions were elicited through three sets of reflective assignments following the project. Findings from the reflective assignments suggest that the pilot program was successful in enhancing the students' academic, social, and personal development while building a partnership between the school of nursing and key players in the community, including school-based nurses, teachers, administrators, families, and community leaders. The author suggests that service-learning projects can help nursing students accomplish key developmental tasks of the college years (such as building their competence, autonomy, and integrity), while helping impart the skills and values they will need as they graduate and seek professional nursing roles.

A project for recovering mercury from fluorescent tubes from schools in the Grand Erie District School Board

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-10-15

Mercury is a persistent, toxic substance that poses a serious threat to the environment and human health. Mercury compounds can be carried hundreds of kilometers once airborne and inhaling mercury vapours or ingesting mercury can cause serious injury or death. In Canada, mercury is regularly found in thousands of products such as fluorescent lamps, thermostats, fever thermometers and button batteries, as well as a variety of industrial applications. This report discussed a project that was undertaken by the Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) that targeted schools, within the Grand Erie District School Board (GEDSB), to pilot a program over a period of 3 months to track, collect and recycle sufficient number of fluorescent tubes. The purpose was to successfully divert 2200 mgs of mercury that may otherwise be destined for landfill. The primary objective of the pilot project was to establish an operating system to collect and recycle fluorescent tube lighting and develop recycling guidelines for the GEDSB that would be transferable to other school districts. The report discussed why fluorescent lamp recycling was needed and outlined the project partners. One recycling partner's recycling process, Fluorescent Lamp Recyclers (FLR) was described. The report also discussed regulations affecting the handling and disposal of fluorescent lamps in Ontario. GEDSB's, RCO's and FLR's responsibilities in the project were outlined. The methodology and florescent lamp collection process were described. The report also presented the collection schedule and results. It was concluded that with very little effort, significant amounts of fluorescent lamps could be diverted, preventing mercury from entering landfills. refs., tabs., figs., appendices.

Healthier snacks in school vending machines: a pilot project in four Ontario high schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Callaghan, Christine; Mandich, Gillian; He, Meizi

2010-01-01

The Healthy Vending Machine Pilot Project (HVMPP) was a public health initiative intended to create a healthier school nutrition environment by making healthier snacks available in vending machines, while maintaining a profit margin. The HVMPP was evaluated using quantitative and qualitative measures. Vending machines were stocked with healthier choices and conventional vending products at a 50:50 ratio. The HVMPP was implemented from February to May 2007 in four Ontario secondary schools in Middlesex-London, Elgin, and Oxford counties. Product sales were tracked, and focus groups were conducted to obtain students' opinions about healthy eating and vending choices. "Healthier choice" sales ranged from 14% to 17%. In all schools, vending revenues declined from 0.7% to 66%. A majority of participants had substantial knowledge of healthy eating and were in favour of healthier choices in vending machines; however, price, value, and taste were barriers that led them to purchase these products rarely. Students preferred to have "real" healthy snacks, such as yogurt, fruit, and vegetables, available in schools. Replacing 50% of vending stock with healthier snacks resulted in a decline in vending revenues. Future health programs in schools need to provide "real" healthy snacks, such as low-fat dairy products, fruits, and vegetables.

"I Wish Everyone Had a Library Like This": Year 2 Report on the Baltimore Elementary and Middle School Library Project

Science.gov (United States)

Sheldon, Steven B.; Davis, Marcia H.

2015-01-01

This report focuses on the opening of new school libraries and their impact on schools, teachers and students after two years of implementation of the Baltimore Elementary and Middle School Library Project (Library Project). The findings build on the first report of this project and show that it is not just new facilities, but also the added…

School, multiliteracies and tecnologies in the portuguese language class: reflections from a project on youtubers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriela da Silva Bulla

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper aims at reflecting on school, multiliteracies and technologies in contemporary society. To this end, we describe and analyze a learning project carried out with a ninth grade class in Portuguese Language classes at a public school in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The project focused on multimodal discourse genres such as Youtuber video and written dissertation. We highlight the importance of working with the promotion of multiliteracies in the school that is committed to the formation of citizens that are able to circulate critically through the cybercultural and mediatic spheres inherent in the network society.

CERN SUMMER SCHOOL 2015 PROJECT REPORT

CERN Document Server

Jin, Zizhuo Tony

2015-01-01

The context of this internship is the CERN summer student program for the year 2015. As a member of the CERN summer school, I have been assigned, in addition to the classes I attended in the morning, a scientific project within the BE-ABP-HSC section. This work was done under the directions of Benoit Salvant and Nicolo Biancacci whom I thank greatly for their help, patience and teaching. The project consisted in observing the effects generated by the beam passing through various devices. We focused mainly on the electromagnetic waves generated by beams of particles travelling along two of the accelerator's devices: A wire scanner and the TDI (LHC injection beam stopper). These Simulations are of importance to estimate the effect of the beam onto the surrounding apparatus and ensuring both that the latter doesn't get damaged and that the beam doesn't lose too much energy. All the models and simulations were done using c CST STUDIO SUITE software developed by the c CST company.

The Planning, Implementation and Evaluation of a Character-Based School Culture Project in Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Chi-Ming

2009-01-01

This study focused on the planning, implementation and evaluation of a character-based school culture (CBSC) project in Taiwan. The project integrated the principles of justice, caring and developmental discipline and was influenced by several well-known American models of character education programmes. The CBSC project was conducted in a…

The School Children Mental Health in Europe (SCMHE) Project: Design and First Results

OpenAIRE

Kovess, Viviane; Carta, Mauro Giovanni; Pez, Ondine; Bitfoi, Adina; Ko?, Ceren; Goelitz, Dietmar; Kuijpers, Rowella; Lesinskiene, Sigita; Mihova, Zlatka; Otten, Roy

2015-01-01

Background : The School Children Mental Health in Europe (SCMHE) project aims to build up a set of indicators to collect and monitor children's mental health in an efficient and comparable methodology across the EU countries. It concerns primary schools children aged 6 to 11 years a range where few data are available whereas school interventions are promising. Methods : Three informants were used: parents, teachers and children. In selecting instruments language, instruments were selected acc...

Correspondence Between “Stable” Flame Macrostructure and Thermo-acoustic Instability in Premixed Swirl-Stabilized Turbulent Combustion

KAUST Repository

Taamallah, Soufien; LaBry, Zachary A.; Shanbhogue, Santosh J.; Habib, Mohamed A. M.; Ghoniem, Ahmed F.

2014-01-01

Copyright © 2015 by ASME. In this paper, we conduct an experimental investigation to study the link between the flame macroscale structure - or flame brush spatial distribution - and thermo-acoustic instabilities, in a premixed swirl-stabilized dump combustor. We operate the combustor with premixed methane-air in the range of equivalence ratio (Φ) from the lean blowout limit to Φ = 0. 75. First, we observe the different dynamic modes in this lean range as Φ is raised. We also document the effect of Φ on the flame macrostructure. Next, we examine the correspondence between dynamic mode transitions and changes in flame macrostructure. To do so, we modify the combustor length - by downstream truncation - without changing the underlying flow upstream. Thus, the resonant frequencies of the geometry are altered allowing for decoupling the heat release rate fluctuations and the acoustic feedback. Mean flame configurations in the modified combustor and for the same range of equivalence ratio are examined, following the same experimental protocol. It is found that not only the same sequence of flame macrostructures is observed in both combustors but also that the transitions occur at a similar set of equivalence ratio. In particular, the appearance of the flame in the outside recirculation zone (ORZ) in the long combustor - which occurs simultaneously with the onset of instability at the fundamental frequency - happens at similar Φ when compared to the short combustor, but without being in latter case accompanied by a transition to thermo-acoustic instability. Then, we interrogate the flow field by analyzing the streamlines, mean, and rms velocities for the nonreacting flow and the different flame types. Finally, we focus on the transition of the flame to the ORZ in the acoustically decoupled case. Our analysis of this transition shows that it occurs gradually with an intermittent appearance of a flame in the ORZ and an increasing probability with Φ. The spectral

Correspondence Between “Stable” Flame Macrostructure and Thermo-acoustic Instability in Premixed Swirl-Stabilized Turbulent Combustion

KAUST Repository

Taamallah, Soufien

2014-12-23

Copyright © 2015 by ASME. In this paper, we conduct an experimental investigation to study the link between the flame macroscale structure - or flame brush spatial distribution - and thermo-acoustic instabilities, in a premixed swirl-stabilized dump combustor. We operate the combustor with premixed methane-air in the range of equivalence ratio (Φ) from the lean blowout limit to Φ = 0. 75. First, we observe the different dynamic modes in this lean range as Φ is raised. We also document the effect of Φ on the flame macrostructure. Next, we examine the correspondence between dynamic mode transitions and changes in flame macrostructure. To do so, we modify the combustor length - by downstream truncation - without changing the underlying flow upstream. Thus, the resonant frequencies of the geometry are altered allowing for decoupling the heat release rate fluctuations and the acoustic feedback. Mean flame configurations in the modified combustor and for the same range of equivalence ratio are examined, following the same experimental protocol. It is found that not only the same sequence of flame macrostructures is observed in both combustors but also that the transitions occur at a similar set of equivalence ratio. In particular, the appearance of the flame in the outside recirculation zone (ORZ) in the long combustor - which occurs simultaneously with the onset of instability at the fundamental frequency - happens at similar Φ when compared to the short combustor, but without being in latter case accompanied by a transition to thermo-acoustic instability. Then, we interrogate the flow field by analyzing the streamlines, mean, and rms velocities for the nonreacting flow and the different flame types. Finally, we focus on the transition of the flame to the ORZ in the acoustically decoupled case. Our analysis of this transition shows that it occurs gradually with an intermittent appearance of a flame in the ORZ and an increasing probability with Φ. The spectral

The Pedagogic Project as Provocative of the Collective Work in the School

OpenAIRE

Elaine Sampaio Araujo

2007-01-01

The objective of this article is to discuss, starting from the historical-cultural perspective, the sense of a pedagogic project considering its procedural nature, the convergence of the personal and collective dimensions and the educational purpose. The goal is to notice the project as possibility in the field pragmatic and in the theory of the sciences of human formation, linking the human development with the schools and its projects. For that, it tries to demonstrate that pedagogic projec...

Charting a Path to Graduation. The Effect of Project GRAD on Elementary School Student Outcomes in Four Urban School Districts

Science.gov (United States)

Snipes, Jason C.; Holton, Glee Ivory; Doolittle, Fred

2006-01-01

In the past decade, school districts around the country have sought to improve struggling urban high schools, where high dropout rates, poor student achievement, and low rates of graduation and college-going remain all too prevalent. In a field crowded with reform initiatives, Project Graduation Really Achieves Dreams (GRAD) stands out as…

American Government. Nevada Competency-Based Adult High School Diploma Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Nevada Univ., Las Vegas. Coll. of Education.

This document is one of ten curriculum guides developed by the Nevada Competency-Based Adult High School Diploma (CBAHSD) Project. This curriculum guide on American government is divided into fourteen topics. The topics included are: definition of "State"; left to right political spectrum; Dictatorship vs. Democracy; Capitalism,…

Evaluation Tool for the Application of Discovery Teaching Method in the Greek Environmental School Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Kalathaki, Maria

2015-01-01

Greek school community emphasizes on the discovery direction of teaching methodology in the school Environmental Education (EE) in order to promote Education for the Sustainable Development (ESD). In ESD school projects the used methodology is experiential teamwork for inquiry based learning. The proposed tool checks whether and how a school…

Managing Projects for Change: Contextualised Project Management

Science.gov (United States)

Tynan, Belinda; Adlington, Rachael; Stewart, Cherry; Vale, Deborah; Sims, Rod; Shanahan, Peter

2010-01-01

This paper will detail three projects which focussed on enhancing online learning at a large Australian distance education University within a School of Business, School of Health and School of Education. Each project had special funding and took quite distinctive project management approaches, which reflect the desire to embed innovation and…

Innovative use of ICT in schools based on the findings in ELFE project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frederiksson, Ulf; Jedeskog, Gunilla; Plomp, T.

2008-01-01

The European e-Learning Forum for Education (ELFE) is a project initiated by the ETUCE (European Trade Union Committee on Education). An important objective of the project has been to study good experiences with implementing the use of ICT in schools. This objective has been broken down in seven

Education in the radioactivity field: a project for the italian schools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Venoso, G.; Bertucci, A.; Balzano, E.; Giberti, G.; Pugliese, M.; Roca, V.; Romano, M.; Venoso, G.; Balzano, E.; D'Onofrio, A.; Gialanella, L.; Giberti, G.; Pugliese, M.; Roca, V.; Romano, M.; Sabbarese, C.; D'Onofrio, A.; Sabbarese, C.; Bertucci, A.

2006-01-01

Environmental topics are today at the centre of the public attention, but people mostly does not have cultural tools for an adequate knowledge. The radioactivity, in particular, is generally misunderstood and this had negatively influence debate about the energy. To fill this gap science subjects need to be study in school with a more efficient approach. Many efforts have spent to obtain this goal: in this framework the Envirad project was developed with the aim to make students of high schools of Campania Region (south-Italy) able to practice experimental method involving directly them in a real environmental physics experiment [1]. The aim of this project, developed by the grant of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, is that the effective experimental activity is the best way to provide for an adequate scientific background. (N.C.)

Research and Development Projects with ICT and students as learning designers in Primary Schools

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Levinsen, Karin; Sørensen, Birgitte Holm; Tosca, Susana

2014-01-01

In this paper we present some methodological challenges that emerged during the process of shaping the research design for the comprehensive and complex research project Children as learning designers in a digital school. The project is the realization of our proposal to a research call from...... to the need to strengthen the populations’ digital literacy and 21st century competencies. The call’s scope was research and development projects as pilot school experiments in relation to five selected areas. The selected projects should contribute with new generalizable and practice oriented knowledge...... of how: • ICT supports students learning, • ICT release time for more teaching, and • teachers digital literacy impact on the role of ICT in the educational practice. Further the call required collaboration between universities and university colleges in order to disseminate knowledge and new practices...

Variables that impact the implementation of project-based learning in high school science

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Kellie

Wagner and colleagues (2006) state the mediocrity of teaching and instructional leadership is the central problem that must be addressed if we are to improve student achievement. Educational reform efforts have been initiated to improve student performance and to hold teachers and school leaders accountable for student achievement (Wagner et al., 2006). Specifically, in the area of science, goals for improving student learning have led reformers to establish standards for what students should know and be able to do, as well as what instructional methods should be used. Key concepts and principles have been identified for student learning. Additionally, reformers recommend student-centered, inquiry-based practices that promote a deep understanding of how science is embedded in the everyday world. These new approaches to science education emphasize inquiry as an essential element for student learning (Schneider, Krajcik, Marx, & Soloway, 2002). Project-based learning (PBL) is an inquiry-based instructional approach that addresses these recommendations for science education reform. The objective of this research was to study the implementation of project-based learning (PBL) in an urban school undergoing reform efforts and identify the variables that positively or negatively impacted the PBL implementation process and its outcomes. This study responded to the need to change how science is taught by focusing on the implementation of project-based learning as an instructional approach to improve student achievement in science and identify the role of both school leaders and teachers in the creation of a school environment that supports project-based learning. A case study design using a mixed-method approach was used in this study. Data were collected through individual interviews with the school principal, science instructional coach, and PBL facilitator. A survey, classroom observations and interviews involving three high school science teachers teaching grades 9

Solar Schools Assessment and Implementation Project: Financing Options for Solar Installations on K-12 Schools

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coughlin, J.; Kandt, A.

2011-10-01

This report focuses on financial options developed specifically for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in three California public school districts. Solar energy systems installed on public schools have a number of benefits that include utility bill savings, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and other toxic air contaminants, job creation, demonstrating environmental leadership, and creating learning opportunities for students. In the 2011 economic environment, the ability to generate general-fund savings as a result of reducing utility bills has become a primary motivator for school districts trying to cut costs. To achieve meaningful savings, the size of the photovoltaic (PV) systems installed (both individually on any one school and collectively across a district) becomes much more important; larger systems are required to have a material impact on savings. Larger PV systems require a significant financial commitment and financing therefore becomes a critical element in the transaction. In simple terms, school districts can use two primary types of ownership models to obtain solar installations and cost savings across a school district. The PV installations can be financed and owned directly by the districts themselves. Alternatively, there are financing structures whereby another entity, such as a solar developer or its investors, actually own and operate the PV systems on behalf of the school district. This is commonly referred to as the 'third-party ownership model.' Both methods have advantages and disadvantages that should be weighed carefully.

Studies on thermo-acoustic parameters in binary liquid mixtures of phosphinic acid (Cyanex 272) with different diluents at temperature 303.15 K: an ultrasonic study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamila, Susmita; Jena, Satyaban; Swain, Bipin Bihari

2005-01-01

Acoustical investigations for the binary mixtures of phosphinic acid (Cyanex 272), used as liquid-liquid extractant, have been made in various diluents such as benzene, toluene, and xylene from ultrasonic velocity and density measurements at temperature 303.15 K and atmospheric pressure. This study involves evaluation of different thermo-acoustic parameters along with the excess properties, which are interpreted in the light of molecular interaction between a polar extractant, Cyanex 272 with non-polar diluent, benzene and weakly polar diluents, toluene and xylene. The excess values are correlated using Redlich-Kister polynomial equation, and corresponding adjustable parameters are derived

[Educational Facilities for Pregnant School-Age Girls in Districts 3, 4, 12, 13, and 18. Project No. 1369. Evaluation of ESEA Title I Projects in New York City 1968-69.

Science.gov (United States)

Appel, Yetta; Berken, Ruth R.

This project for pregnant school age girls is an ESEA Title I program operating in five facilities in Manhattan, Bronx, and Brooklyn. The primary objective of the project was to assist pregnant school age girls complete their education by being able to attend school. Additional objectives included provision of information and training in personal…

Rightsizing Projects for Non-Research-Intensive Schools of Nursing via Academic-Clinical Partnerships.

Science.gov (United States)

Kooken, Wendy Carter; Eckhardt, Ann L; McNutt-Dungan, Marianne; Woods, Jonathan

Most academic-clinical partnerships are described as formal agreements between schools of nursing at research-intensive universities and large teaching hospitals. This article demonstrates less formal versions of academic-clinical partnerships established between a small, private liberal arts university school of nursing and 2 regional clinical agencies. In both exemplars, students, faculty, and staff contributed to evidence-based practice projects. Schools of nursing in non-research-intensive environments can develop right-size academic-clinical partnerships that are beneficial for all parties involved.

Solar wind monitor—a school geophysics project

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Ian

2018-05-01

Described is an established geophysics project to construct a solar wind monitor based on a nT resolution fluxgate magnetometer. Low-cost and appropriate from school to university level it incorporates elements of astrophysics, geophysics, electronics, programming, computer networking and signal processing. The system monitors the earth’s field in real-time uploading data and graphs to a website every few minutes. Modular design encourages construction and testing by teams of students as well as expansion and refinement. The system has been tested running unattended for months at a time. Both the hardware design and software is published as open-source [1, 10].

Effect of project work on secondary school students science process ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study investigated the effect of students' project work on secondary school science process skills acquisition in Biology. The study was carried out in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State. Three research questions guided the study and three null hypotheses were postulated and tested at 0.05 level of ...

Educational Interdisciplinarity in the High School through working with Pedagogical Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irinéa de Lourdes Batista

2008-08-01

Full Text Available In this research, an understanding about scholar interdisciplinarity and project working is brought, aiming at showing that the last one is an alternative methodological to promote an interdisciplinary educative practice. Therefore a pedagogical proposal was built to implement interdisciplinarity in Science and Mathematics Education in High School. It is exposed the theoretical syntheses, analysis and discussions concerning the pertinence and possibility to implement the proposal studied by the teachers and pedagogical staff in a public High School in the State of Paraná, Brazil.

Whole School Improvement and Restructuring as Prevention and Promotion: Lessons from STEP and the Project on High Performance Learning Communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Felner, Robert D.; Favazza, Antoinette; Shim, Minsuk; Brand, Stephen; Gu, Kenneth; Noonan, Nancy

2001-01-01

Describes the School Transitional Environment Project and its successor, the Project on High Performance Learning Communities, that have contributed to building a model for school improvement called the High Performance Learning Communities. The model seeks to build the principles of prevention into whole school change. Presents findings from…

Exploring Marine Ecosystems with Elementary School Portuguese Children: Inquiry-Based Project Activities Focused on "Real-Life" Contexts

Science.gov (United States)

Guilherme, Elsa; Faria, Cláudia; Boaventura, Diana

2016-01-01

The purpose of the study was to investigate how young students engage in an inquiry-based project driven by real-life contexts. Elementary school children were engaged in a small inquiry project centred on marine biodiversity and species adaptations. All activities included the exploration of an out-of-school setting as a learning context. A total…

Virginia Demonstration Project Encouraging Middle School Students in Pursuing STEM Careers

Science.gov (United States)

Bachman, Jane T.; Kota, Dena H.; Kota, Aaron J.

2011-01-01

Encouraging students at all grade levels to consider pursuing a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields i s a national focus. In 2005, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), a Department of Defense laboratory located in Da hlgren, Virginia, began work on the Virginia Demonstration Project (VDP) with the goal of increasing more student interest in STEM educatio n and pursuing STEM careers. This goal continues as the program enters its sixth year. This project has been successful through the partici pation of NSWCDD's scientists and engineers who are trained as mentor s to work in local middle school classrooms throughout the school year, As an extension of the in-class activities, several STEM summer aca demies have been conducted at NSWCDD, These academies are supported by the Navy through the VDP and the STEM Learning Module Project. These projects are part of more extensive outreach efforts offered by the National Defense Education Program (NDEP), sponsored by the Director, Defense Research and Engineering. The focus of this paper is on the types of activities conducted at the summer academy, an overview of the academy planning process, and recommendations to help support a nati onal plan of integrating modeling and simulation-based engineering and science into all grade levels. based upon the lessons learned

A coordinated school health approach to obesity prevention among Appalachian youth: the Winning with Wellness Pilot Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Schetzina, Karen E; Dalton, William T; Lowe, Elizabeth F; Azzazy, Nora; VonWerssowetz, Katrina M; Givens, Connie; Pfortmiller, Deborah T; Stern, H Patrick

2009-01-01

Childhood obesity has been an increasing problem in the United States, especially in rural areas. Effective prevention approaches are needed. This article describes the development, implementation, effectiveness, feasibility, and sustainability of a school-based obesity prevention pilot project, Winning with Wellness. The program was based on the coordinated school health model and included a community-based participatory research approach aimed at promoting healthy eating and physical activity in a rural Appalachian elementary school. Findings from this preliminary project revealed improvements in nutrition offerings and increased physical activity during the school day. In addition, the program was found to be acceptable to teachers, successfully implemented utilizing both existing and newly developed resources, and sustainable as evidenced in continued practice and expansion to other area schools.

Failure to Thrive? The Community Literacy Strand of the Additive Bilingual Project at an Eastern Cape Community School, South Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, George

2007-01-01

This paper discusses an attempt to establish community literacy procedures in an Eastern Cape community school. The school hosts the Additive Bilingual Education (ABLE) project, a cooperation between UK and South African universities and the school trust. The community literacy strand of the project encourages family members to contribute oral…

Which Type of Inquiry Project Do High School Biology Students Prefer: Open or Guided?

Science.gov (United States)

Sadeh, Irit; Zion, Michal

2012-01-01

In teaching inquiry to high school students, educators differ on which method of teaching inquiry is more effective: Guided or open inquiry? This paper examines the influence of these two different inquiry learning approaches on the attitudes of Israeli high school biology students toward their inquiry project. The results showed significant…

New roles for mathematics in multi-disciplinary,upper secondary school projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindenskov, Lena; Andresen, Mette

2009-01-01

A new concept, compulsory multi-disciplinary courses, was introduced in upper secondary school curriculum as a central part of a recent reform. This paper reports from a case study of such a triple/four-disciplinary project in mathematics, physics, chemistry and ‘general study preparation...

Promoting Energy-Balance Behaviors among Ethnically Diverse Adolescents: Overview and Baseline Findings of the Central Texas CATCH Middle School Project

Science.gov (United States)

Springer, Andrew E.; Kelder, Steven H.; Byrd-Williams, Courtney E.; Pasch, Keryn E.; Ranjit, Nalini; Delk, Joanne E.; Hoelscher, Deanna M.

2013-01-01

The Central Texas Coordinated Approach To Child Health (CATCH) Middle School Project is a 3.5-year school-based project aimed at promoting physical activity (PA), healthy eating, and obesity prevention among public middle school students in Texas. This article describes the CATCH intervention model and presents baseline findings from spring 2009.…

Project Notes

Science.gov (United States)

School Science Review, 1978

1978-01-01

Presents sixteen project notes developed by pupils of Chipping Norton School and Bristol Grammar School, in the United Kingdom. These Projects include eight biology A-level projects and eight Chemistry A-level projects. (HM)

Effects of Implementing STEM-I Project-Based Learning Activities for Female High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Lou, Shi-Jer; Tsai, Huei-Yin; Tseng, Kuo-Hung; Shih, Ru-Chu

2014-01-01

This study aims to explore the application of STEM-I (STEM-Imagination) project-based learning activities and its effects on the effectiveness, processes, and characteristics of STEM integrative knowledge learning and imagination development for female high school students. A total of 72 female high school students were divided into 18 teams.…

University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) Algebra. WWC Intervention Report

Science.gov (United States)

What Works Clearinghouse, 2009

2009-01-01

University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) Algebra is a one-year course covering three primary topics: (1) linear and quadratic expressions, sentences, and functions; (2) exponential expressions and functions; and (3) linear systems. Topics from geometry, probability, and statistics are integrated with the appropriate algebra.…

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Forms of the Enhancing Relationships in School Communities Project for Promoting Cooperative Conflict Resolution Education in Australian Primary Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Trinder, Margot; Wertheim, Eleanor H.; Freeman, Elizabeth; Sanson, Ann; Richardson, Shanel; Hunt, Sue

2010-01-01

This study evaluated the Enhancing Relationships in School Communities (ERIS) Project which aimed to promote constructive conflict resolution (CR) in Australian primary school communities through professional development for core teams of three-five staff (n = 33 teachers). Twelve schools were randomly assigned to a full intervention (FI) group or…

An Analysis of the Supports and Constraints for Scientific Discussion in High School Project-Based Science

Science.gov (United States)

Alozie, Nonye M.; Moje, Elizabeth Birr; Krajcik, Joseph S.

2010-01-01

One goal of project-based science is to promote the development of scientific discourse communities in classrooms. Holding rich high school scientific discussions is challenging, especially when the demands of content and norms of high school science pose challenges to their enactment. There is little research on how high school teachers enact…

Thermal management of thermoacoustic sound projectors using a free-standing carbon nanotube aerogel sheet as a heat source.

Science.gov (United States)

Aliev, Ali E; Mayo, Nathanael K; Baughman, Ray H; Avirovik, Dragan; Priya, Shashank; Zarnetske, Michael R; Blottman, John B

2014-10-10

Carbon nanotube (CNT) aerogel sheets produce smooth-spectra sound over a wide frequency range (1-10(5) Hz) by means of thermoacoustic (TA) sound generation. Protective encapsulation of CNT sheets in inert gases between rigid vibrating plates provides resonant features for the TA sound projector and attractive performance at needed low frequencies. Energy conversion efficiencies in air of 2% and 10% underwater, which can be enhanced by further increasing the modulation temperature. Using a developed method for accurate temperature measurements for the thin aerogel CNT sheets, heat dissipation processes, failure mechanisms, and associated power densities are investigated for encapsulated multilayered CNT TA heaters and related to the thermal diffusivity distance when sheet layers are separated. Resulting thermal management methods for high applied power are discussed and deployed to construct efficient and tunable underwater sound projector for operation at relatively low frequencies, 10 Hz-10 kHz. The optimal design of these TA projectors for high-power SONAR arrays is discussed.

Thermal management of thermoacoustic sound projectors using a free-standing carbon nanotube aerogel sheet as a heat source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aliev, Ali E; Mayo, Nathanael K; Baughman, Ray H; Avirovik, Dragan; Priya, Shashank; Zarnetske, Michael R; Blottman, John B

2014-01-01

Carbon nanotube (CNT) aerogel sheets produce smooth-spectra sound over a wide frequency range (1–10 5 Hz) by means of thermoacoustic (TA) sound generation. Protective encapsulation of CNT sheets in inert gases between rigid vibrating plates provides resonant features for the TA sound projector and attractive performance at needed low frequencies. Energy conversion efficiencies in air of 2% and 10% underwater, which can be enhanced by further increasing the modulation temperature. Using a developed method for accurate temperature measurements for the thin aerogel CNT sheets, heat dissipation processes, failure mechanisms, and associated power densities are investigated for encapsulated multilayered CNT TA heaters and related to the thermal diffusivity distance when sheet layers are separated. Resulting thermal management methods for high applied power are discussed and deployed to construct efficient and tunable underwater sound projector for operation at relatively low frequencies, 10 Hz–10 kHz. The optimal design of these TA projectors for high-power SONAR arrays is discussed. (paper)

Final report to the Department of Energy: Green Schools Project DE-FC01-99EE10685. Schools for the 21st century: Transferring the Green Schools experience; FINAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrigan, Merrilee

2002-01-01

This report describes five major activities that the Alliance to Save Energy performed for the years 2000 and 2001 to support and compliment DOE's Energy Smart Schools Partnership. The major tasks under this project were to: (1) Promote the School Efficiency Peer Exchange program for school personnel; (2) develop the Earth Apple Awards program and disseminate the best award-winning ideas; (3) link Green Schools with Rebuilt with at least one metropolitan area such as Philadelphia or Buffalo; (4) support Rebuild/Energy Smart Schools through working at the state level to develop business, state, and local government and through making presentations in support of school efficiency; (5) update the curriculum search originally conducted in 1995

Project A+ Elementary Technology Demonstration Schools 1990-91. The First Year.

Science.gov (United States)

Marable, Paula; Frazer, Linda

Project A+ Elementary Technology Demonstration Schools is a program made possible through grants from IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) and Apple, Inc. The primary purpose of the program is to demonstrate the educational effectiveness of technology in accelerating the learning of low achieving at-risk students and enhancing the…

Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Chemical Engineering Practice, Brookhaven station: Summary of projects, 1983-1986

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-11-01

The MIT Graduate School of Chemical Engineering Practice stresses engineering problem solving. The Practice School program, as it is commonly called, develops in a unique and particularly effective way the student's ability to apply fundamentals to problems in the chemical industry and thus accelerates one's professional development. The themes of atomization, emthanol production and utilization, hydrogen production and compression, localized electrochemical corrosion and biochemical engineering reflect some of the major programs at the Laboratory. The titles of all the projects are listed in chronological order in the index at the end of this document. Brief summaries are presented for each project with related projects grouped together

William H. Taft High School Project HOLA 1983-1984. O.E.A. Evaluation Report.

Science.gov (United States)

New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, NY. Office of Educational Evaluation.

This report evaluates Project HOLA, in its first year of funding, which provides instruction in English as a second language, Spanish language skills, and bilingual instruction in mathematics, science, and social studies to approximately 230 students in a high school in Bronx, New York. The report examines the project's long- and short-range…

Astronomy and Space Science On The School - An Outreach Project for Elementary and High School Students of Brasilia

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Jose Leonardo

2016-07-01

This project aims to develop interdisciplinary actions, articulated and convergence in the field of education, dissemination and popularization of science and technology in Brasilia-DF, the Federal District of Brazil. These actions are also been carried out at DF surroundings areas. Since 2015 linked convergent actions are focused on the development of space science and astronomy teaching with hands on experimental activities. Workshops, short basic astronomy courses, expositions and planetarium show are been carried out by a team of professors, graduate and under graduate students from University of Brasilia- UnB. At the same time upgrade actions are been done in order to modernize The Luiz Cruls Astronomical Observatory located at the far campus of UnB, named Fazenda Água Limpa. It is now a Center for research and space science dissemination and popularization not only for students but also for the whole community of Brasilia. Working toghether with the Physics Institute of UnB we have the recently created Museum of Science and Technology of Brasilia, also located at the UnB campus. The Museum is responsible for contac with schools and Brasilia community and for the organization of the activities of the Science on the School Project. Science on the School is an educational, scientific and cultural proposal approved and financed by the brazillian national research council (CNPq) and by the Science and Technology Reseach Foundation of Brasilia. Besides science dissemination for the brazillian society the project is also developing theoretical and experimental research in the area of Space Science and Astronomy. The project also aim to transform the Museum in a strong Science Education Center for the Brazil central region population, It is going to be a cultural environment and leisure for the Federal District and surrounding areas of Brasilia. In this work we will describe the coordinate actions of The Luiz Cruls Astronomical Observatory the Physics Institute of

A Project-Based Engineering and Leadership Workshop for High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Ryder, Linda Sue; Pegg, Jerine; Wood, Nathan

2012-01-01

Summer outreach programs provide pre-college participants an introduction to college life and exposure to engineering in an effort to raise the level of interest and bring more students into engineering fields. The Junior Engineering, Mathematics, and Science (JEMS) program is a project-based summer workshop in which teams of high school students…

William H. Taft High School Project HOLA 1984-1985. O.E.A. Evaluation Report.

Science.gov (United States)

New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn. Office of Educational Assessment.

In 1984-85, Project HOLA was in its second year of funding at William H. Taft High School in the Bronx, New York. HOLA serves Spanish-speaking students of limited English proficiency (LEP). Project goals include speedy acquisition of English skills, orientation to life in America, maintenance and improvement of Spanish skills and cultural…

Modern Distance Education Project for the Rural Schools of China: Recent Development and Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, S. Q.; Wang, Minjuan J.

2006-01-01

The Modern Distance Education Project for the Rural Schools (MDEPRS) of China has a wider scope and serves a larger population than any other informational project in the world. It likely will result in a far-reaching informational revolution for basic education in China. Here, we introduce three main innovative models of material delivery, the…

Experimental analysis of thermo-acoustic instabilities in a generic gas turbine combustor by phase-correlated PIV, chemiluminescence, and laser Raman scattering measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Arndt, Christoph M.; Severin, Michael; Dem, Claudiu; Stöhr, Michael; Steinberg, Adam M.; Meier, Wolfgang

2015-04-01

A gas turbine model combustor for partially premixed swirl flames was equipped with an optical combustion chamber and operated with CH4 and air at atmospheric pressure. The burner consisted of two concentric nozzles for separately controlled air flows and a ring of holes 12 mm upstream of the nozzle exits for fuel injection. The flame described here had a thermal power of 25 kW, a global equivalence ratio of 0.7, and exhibited thermo-acoustic instabilities at a frequency of approximately 400 Hz. The phase-dependent variations in the flame shape and relative heat release rate were determined by OH* chemiluminescence imaging; the flow velocities by stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (PIV); and the major species concentrations, mixture fraction, and temperature by laser Raman scattering. The PIV measurements showed that the flow field performed a "pumping" mode with varying inflow velocities and extent of the inner recirculation zone, triggered by the pressure variations in the combustion chamber. The flow field oscillations were accompanied by variations in the mixture fraction in the inflow region and at the flame root, which in turn were mainly caused by the variations in the CH4 concentration. The mean phase-dependent changes in the fluxes of CH4 and N2 through cross-sectional planes of the combustion chamber at different heights above the nozzle were estimated by combining the PIV and Raman data. The results revealed a periodic variation in the CH4 flux by more than 150 % in relation to the mean value, due to the combined influence of the oscillating flow velocity, density variations, and CH4 concentration. Based on the experimental results, the feedback mechanism of the thermo-acoustic pulsations could be identified as a periodic fluctuation of the equivalence ratio and fuel mass flow together with a convective delay for the transport of fuel from the fuel injector to the flame zone. The combustor and the measured data are well suited for the validation of

The Battle River Project: school division implementation of the health-promoting schools approach: assessment for learning: using student health and school capacity measures to inform action and direct policy in a local school district.

Science.gov (United States)

Gleddie, Douglas L; Hobin, Erin P

2011-03-01

The Battle River Project (BRP) is a school division-level intervention in rural Alberta, Canada, built upon the health-promoting schools approach to health promotion. Using self-reported school and student-level data from administrators and students, the central aim of the BRP is to examine: 'How can the school environment and health behaviours (healthy eating, physical activity and mental wellness) of children and youth be improved when a health-promoting schools model, the Ever Active Schools program, is implemented with school division support?' Evidence used to inform school level changes included students' demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial variables linked to school environment data, comprised of school demographics and administrator-assessed quality of policies, facilities, and programs related to physical activity. Each participating school and the division were provided with a tailored report of their schools' results to reflect, plan and implement for positive health behavior change. The main lesson learned was that sharing school-specific evidence can operate as a catalyst for embedding health promoting policy and practices within the school and division culture.

Looking at Life. Study Guide. Unit A2. ZIM-SCI, Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Hosking, Bunty

The Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project (ZIM-SCI) developed student study guides, corresponding teaching guides, and science kits for a low-cost science course which could be taught during the first 2 years of secondary school without the aid of qualified teachers and conventional laboratories. This ZIM-SCI study guide presents activities…

Looking at Life. Teacher's Guide. Unit A2. ZIM-SCI, Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Hosking, Bunty

The Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project (ZIM-SCI) developed student study guides, corresponding teaching guides, and science kits for a low-cost science course which could be taught during the first 2 years of secondary school without the aid of qualified teachers and conventional laboratories. This teaching guide, designed to be read in…

Determining Teachers' Educational Needs Regarding School Education Projects within the Scope of Erasmus+ Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Karakus, Fatma; Uyar, Melis Yesilpinar; Balbag, Nur Leman

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine teachers' educational needs regarding school education projects within the scope of Erasmus+ programme. In the study, the case study method, one of qualitative research designs, was used. The participants were determined using the snowball sampling method, and eight secondary school teachers took part in…

Promoting the Role of Occupational Therapy in School-Based Collaboration: Outcome Project

Science.gov (United States)

Christner, Andrea

2015-01-01

This evidence-based project provided a professional development opportunity for educators to enhance the awareness of school-based occupational therapy and promote a collaborative approach when supporting student participation in daily learning tasks. Through asynchronous web-based delivery, participants viewed five narrated PowerPoint…

Clean air school buildings and governmental subsidy. Project ventiLation; Frisse scholen dankzij regeringssubsidie. Project VentiLeren

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luigjes, B.; De Wit, J.W. [Rucon Ventilatoren, Harderwijk (Netherlands)

2010-03-15

The Dutch government has provided local authorities with 100 million euros to address the polluted air in class rooms of primary schools. However, this amount is not sufficient to solve the problem entirely. This problem has been solved by linking the implementation to a project dedicated to combating youth unemployment, named 'VentiLeren'. [Dutch] De Nederlandse overheid heeft 100 miljoen euro beschikbaar gesteld aan gemeenten om de vervuilde lucht in de lokalen van basisscholen aan te pakken. Dit bedrag is echter ontoereikend om het hele probleem op te lossen. Door de uitvoering ervan te koppelen aan een project ter bestrijding van jeugdwerkloosheid, ventiLeren genaamd, wordt dit opgelost.

Experience in Use of Project Method during Technology Lessons in Secondary Schools of the USA

Science.gov (United States)

Sheludko, Inna

2015-01-01

The article examines the opportunities and prospects for the use of experience of project method during "technology lessons" in US secondary schools, since the value of project technology implementation experience into the educational process in the USA for ensuring holistic development of children, preparing them for adult life, in…

A Discussion Project on High School Adolescents' Perceptions of the Relationship between Students and Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Ronald J.

1976-01-01

Describes a small group discussion project involving students and teachers in two large white suburban high schools. The project's intention was to focus discussion on the social quality of the relationship between students and teachers, and to assess the impact of the discussions on student perceptions. (Author/RK)

The SOURCE Demonstration Project: Helping Disadvantaged High School Students Enroll in College

Science.gov (United States)

Bos, Johannes; Berman, Jacqueline

2009-01-01

The primary research question for this project was whether a streamlined, relatively inexpensive, counseling-based program that assists low-income high school students with the college and financial application processes can significantly increase college enrollment rates. The intervention was designed to test the hypothesis that lack of…

A Grant Project to Initiate School Counselors' Development of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports Based on Social-Emotional Data

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Karen; Griffith, Catherine; Gray, Katharine; Greenspan, Scott

2016-01-01

This article provides an overview of a grant project designed to create a district-wide elementary school counseling program with a strong data-based decision-making process. Project goals included building data literacy skills among school counselors and developing the infrastructure to efficiently collect important social-emotional indicators…

Pilot project "The zoo goes to school", enriching the classroom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michel Mendes

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Environmental education does not only occur in formal institutions, and yes has been widely disseminated among non formal spaces of education, which complements its ecological and social nature. Zoos are the institutions that play an important role in environmental education, raising awareness and preparing citizens to act in the critically and ethical society, committed to the environment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the environmental perception of students in 7th grade of elementary school in Municipal Elementary School Jardelino Ramos, in partnership with the Zoo, University of Caxias do Sul. Twenty-four questionnaires were applied in order to diagnose the environmental perception of students through four questions regarding activities at the zoo. After it was contextualized and discussed on the topics: zoos and their history, function, animals and their enclosures, technical education and environmental enrichment. To complement the enrichment technique discussed in class, the students sewed materials that were later added to the precincts of animals chosen for themselves. A week after the project is completed was held again the questionnaire to verify the results obtained from the project. These were analyzed, discussed and compared through graphs, which show that the objectives were achieved and the didactics used was efficient, as described in the article.

Google Classroom and Open Clusters: An Authentic Science Research Project for High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Chelen H.; Linahan, Marcella; Cuba, Allison Frances; Dickmann, Samantha Rose; Hogan, Eleanor B.; Karos, Demetra N.; Kozikowski, Kendall G.; Kozikowski, Lauren Paige; Nelson, Samantha Brooks; O'Hara, Kevin Thomas; Ropinski, Brandi Lucia; Scarpa, Gabriella; Garmany, Catharine D.

2016-01-01

STEM education is about offering unique opportunities to our students. For the past three years, students from two high schools (Breck School in Minneapolis, MN, and Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, IL) have collaborated on authentic astronomy research projects. This past year they surveyed archival data of open clusters to determine if a clear turnoff point could be unequivocally determined. Age and distance to each open cluster were calculated. Additionally, students requested time on several telescopes to obtain original data to compare to the archival data. Students from each school worked in collaborative teams, sharing and verifying results through regular online hangouts and chats. Work papers were stored in a shared drive and on a student-designed Google site to facilitate dissemination of documents between the two schools.

A school-based physical activity promotion intervention in children: rationale and study protocol for the PREVIENE Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Tercedor, Pablo; Villa-González, Emilio; Ávila-García, Manuel; Díaz-Piedra, Carolina; Martínez-Baena, Alejandro; Soriano-Maldonado, Alberto; Pérez-López, Isaac José; García-Rodríguez, Inmaculada; Mandic, Sandra; Palomares-Cuadros, Juan; Segura-Jiménez, Víctor; Huertas-Delgado, Francisco Javier

2017-09-26

The lack of physical activity and increasing time spent in sedentary behaviours during childhood place importance on developing low cost, easy-toimplement school-based interventions to increase physical activity among children. The PREVIENE Project will evaluate the effectiveness of five innovative, simple, and feasible interventions (active commuting to/from school, active Physical Education lessons, active school recess, sleep health promotion, and an integrated program incorporating all 4 interventions) to improve physical activity, fitness, anthropometry, sleep health, academic achievement, and health-related quality of life in primary school children. A total of 300 children (grade 3; 8-9 years of age) from six schools in Granada (Spain) will be enrolled in one of the 8-week interventions (one intervention per school; 50 children per school) or a control group (no intervention school; 50 children). Outcomes will include physical activity (measured by accelerometry), physical fitness (assessed using the ALPHA fitness battery), and anthropometry (height, weight and waist circumference). Furthermore, they will include sleep health (measured by accelerometers, a sleep diary, and sleep health questionnaires), academic achievement (grades from the official school's records), and health-related quality of life (child and parental questionnaires). To assess the effectiveness of the different interventions on objectively measured PA and the other outcomes, the generalized linear model will be used. The PREVIENE Project will provide the information about the effectiveness and implementation of different school-based interventions for physical activity promotion in primary school children.

Lifetime cost effectiveness of a through-school nutrition and physical programme: Project Energize.

Science.gov (United States)

Rush, Elaine; Obolonkin, Victor; McLennan, Stephanie; Graham, David; Harris, James D; Mernagh, Paul; Weston, Adéle R

2014-01-01

Project Energize, a multicomponent through-school physical activity and nutrition programme, is delivered to all primary school children in the Waikato region. The programme aim is to improve the overall health and reduce the rate of weight gain of all Waikato primary school children. An existing economic model was used to extrapolate the programme effects, initial costs, lifetime health treatment cost structures, quality-adjusted-life-years gained and increased life expectancy to the general and Māori child population of New Zealand. In March 2011, a sample of 2474 younger (7.58 ± 0.57 years, mean ± SD) and 2330 older (10.30 ± 0.51 years) children (36% Māori) attending Energize schools had body mass index measured and compared using mixed effect modelling with unEnergized comparison children from 2004 and 2006 from the same region. In 2011 the median body mass index reduction compared with the comparison younger children was -0.504 (90% CI -0.435 to -0.663) kg/m(2) and in the older children -0.551 (-0.456 to -0.789) kg/m(2). In 2010 there were 42,067 children attending Energize schools and in the same year NZ$1,891,175 was spent to deliver the programme; a cost of $44.96/child/year. Compared to the comparison children the increment in cost/quality-adjusted-life-year gained was $30,438 for the younger and $24,690 for the older children, and lower for Māori (younger $28,241, older $22,151) and for the middle socioeconomic status schools ($23,211, $17,891). Project Energize would improve quality and length of life and when compared with other obesity prevention programmes previously assessed with this model, it would be relatively cost-effective from the health treatment payer's perspective.

Let's Plan the School Garden: A Participatory Project on Sustainability in a Nursery School in Padua

Science.gov (United States)

Rocca, Lorena; Donadelli, Giovanni; Ziliotto, Sonia

2012-01-01

The increasing complexity of urban regions and the lack of green areas in the neighborhoods have turned the cities less and less child-friendly. In order to locally face these situations, the project "Small steps of Agenda 21," which promoted a participatory planning experience for children focused on the green area of their school, was…

"Saturday Night Live" Goes to High School: Conducting and Advising a Political Science Fair Project

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Meg; Brewer, Paul R.

2010-01-01

This article uses a case study to illustrate how science fair projects--which traditionally focus on "hard science" topics--can contribute to political science education. One of the authors, a high school student, conducted an experimental study of politics for her science fair project. The other author, a faculty member, was asked to advise the…

E-Competent Teacher and Principal as the Foundation of E-Competent School E-Education, the Largest School Informatization Project in Slovenia 2008-2013

Science.gov (United States)

Šverc, Magdalena; Flogie, Andrej; Krabonja, Maja Vicic; Percic, Kristjan

2013-01-01

During the years 2008-2013 Ministry of Education in the Republic of Slovenia prepared largest project of informatization of educational institutions. One of the main goals of the project E-Education is the development of the standard E-Competent Teacher, School Principal and IT Expert. The standard E-Competent Teacher, Principal and IT Expert…

Observing Some Life Cycles. Teacher's Guide. Unit E3. ZIM-SCI, Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Chitepo, Thoko; And Others

The Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project (ZIM-SCI) developed student study guides, corresponding teaching guides, and science kits for a low-cost science course which could be taught during the first 2 years of secondary school without the aid of qualified teachers and conventional laboratories. This teaching guide contains instructional…

A school-based physical activity promotion intervention in children: rationale and study protocol for the PREVIENE Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo Tercedor

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The lack of physical activity and increasing time spent in sedentary behaviours during childhood place importance on developing low cost, easy-toimplement school-based interventions to increase physical activity among children. The PREVIENE Project will evaluate the effectiveness of five innovative, simple, and feasible interventions (active commuting to/from school, active Physical Education lessons, active school recess, sleep health promotion, and an integrated program incorporating all 4 interventions to improve physical activity, fitness, anthropometry, sleep health, academic achievement, and health-related quality of life in primary school children. Methods A total of 300 children (grade 3; 8-9 years of age from six schools in Granada (Spain will be enrolled in one of the 8-week interventions (one intervention per school; 50 children per school or a control group (no intervention school; 50 children. Outcomes will include physical activity (measured by accelerometry, physical fitness (assessed using the ALPHA fitness battery, and anthropometry (height, weight and waist circumference. Furthermore, they will include sleep health (measured by accelerometers, a sleep diary, and sleep health questionnaires, academic achievement (grades from the official school’s records, and health-related quality of life (child and parental questionnaires. To assess the effectiveness of the different interventions on objectively measured PA and the other outcomes, the generalized linear model will be used. Discussion The PREVIENE Project will provide the information about the effectiveness and implementation of different school-based interventions for physical activity promotion in primary school children.

Investigation of the Effect of Training on the Development of High School Teachers' Attitudes towards Scientific Research and Project Competitions

Science.gov (United States)

Akçöltekin, Alptürk

2016-01-01

The main purpose of this study is to develop positive attitudes in high school teachers towards scientific research and project competitions by training them in scientific research and project preparation subjects. The study group consists of 90 high school teachers. As a result of the study, a significant difference was found in favor of…

Which Type of Inquiry Project Do High School Biology Students Prefer: Open or Guided?

Science.gov (United States)

Sadeh, Irit; Zion, Michal

2012-10-01

In teaching inquiry to high school students, educators differ on which method of teaching inquiry is more effective: Guided or open inquiry? This paper examines the influence of these two different inquiry learning approaches on the attitudes of Israeli high school biology students toward their inquiry project. The results showed significant differences between the two groups: Open inquiry students were more satisfied and felt they gained benefits from implementing the project to a greater extent than guided inquiry students. On the other hand, regarding documentation throughout the project, guided inquiry students believed that they conducted more documentation, as compared to their open inquiry peers. No significant differences were found regarding `the investment of time', but significant differences were found in the time invested and difficulties which arose concerning the different stages of the inquiry process: Open inquiry students believed they spent more time in the first stages of the project, while guided inquiry students believed they spent more time in writing the final paper. In addition, other differences were found: Open inquiry students felt more involved in their project, and felt a greater sense of cooperation with others, in comparison to guided inquiry students. These findings may help teachers who hesitate to teach open inquiry to implement this method of inquiry; or at least provide their students with the opportunity to be more involved in inquiry projects, and ultimately provide their students with more autonomy, high-order thinking, and a deeper understanding in performing science.

Teacher Learning within a Multinational Project in an Upper Secondary School

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liisa Ilomäki

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this case study, we investigated teachers’ professional learning within a multinational project in an upper secondary school. The aim of the study was to investigate how the participating teachers adopted and applied the trialogical approach (TLA in their pedagogical practices and their challenges in doing that. The mixed method approach was used for data collection and analysis. About one-fourth of the teachers participated in the activities, ten females and three males. Three groups were identified, based on their activity in the project: pilot teachers, active adopters, and adopters. Altogether 79 students (38 males and 41 females answered a questionnaire concerning the pedagogical practices. The pedagogical revisions were well in line with TLA; the revised courses as well as new iterations and new ideas were indicators of the teachers’ creative implementation processes. However, some of the TLA ideas were more difficult to apply in an upper secondary school context; for example, the implementation of ideas involving cross-fertilization with other organizations and cultures was rare. In order to learn new pedagogical practices, teachers need organized time for collaborative planning, for reflecting, and for sharing.

William H. Taft High School Project HOLA, 1985-1986. OEA Evaluation Report.

Science.gov (United States)

New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn. Office of Educational Assessment.

Project HOLA at William H. Taft High School (Bronx, New York) assists foreign-born and Puerto Rican-born students to quickly assists foreign- and Puerto Rican-born students to quickly acquire English language skills and an American cultural orientation; to maintain or improve their Spanish language skills and cultural knowledge; and to be…

William H. Taft High School Project HOLA, 1986-1987. OEA Evaluation Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, Ana L.; And Others

In its fourth year of Title VII funding, Project HOLA at William H. Taft High School served 383 Spanish-speaking students of limited English proficiency from low-income families. The program's goals were to develop English language skills for mainstreaming, to develop an understanding and awareness of American culture and society, to develop…

Implementing an authentic research project on eastern coyotes at an urban high school

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David L. Eatough

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The need for inquiry oriented authentic activities is imperative to engage high school students in the active involvement and associated learning of science. Herein, we describe our experience of involving high school students in the process of studying wild coyotes in and around the communities where they live. We found that many became aware and familiar with the program but few participated to the point of being contributing members of the scientific community. To make this project sustainable in the long-run three important things must happen: one, there must be reliable point person (such as a graduate student who can focus on the ecology side of the coyote project while others can focus on the educational components of the collaboration; two, mechanisms must be put in place to provide incentives for participants; and three, funding must be reliable and substantial over time.

Forces. 'O' Level Teacher's Guide. Unit 1. ZIM-SCI, Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project. Year 3.

Science.gov (United States)

Udwin, Martin

The Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project (ZIM-SCI) developed student study guides, corresponding teaching guides, and science kits for a low-cost science course which could be taught during the third year of secondary school without the aid of qualified teachers and conventional laboratories. This teaching guide, designed to be read in…

[How to understand and facilitate return to school of high school students treated for cancer: analysis of a sociology research-action project].

Science.gov (United States)

Rollin, Zoé

2015-01-01

Based on a sociology research-action project, this article analyses the specific issue of return to school of high school students with cancer. Three detailed cases, illustrating the global results of the study, are presented to highlight the academic trajectories of these students. This situation has a particular impact on juvenile sociability. Moreover, the education of these students does not comply with French educational standards and is very complex for professionals. Finally, social inequalities in education are reinforced by the experience of serious illness, as pedagogical negotiations are even more complex due to the fact that families are not familiar with school practices.

Mental health promotion in a school community by using the results from the Well-being Profile: an action research project.

Science.gov (United States)

Puolakka, Kristiina; Haapasalo-Pesu, Kirsi-Maria; Konu, Anne; Astedt-Kurki, Päivi; Paavilainen, Eija

2014-01-01

This article presents an action research project as a method to combine science and practical expertise in order to develop the practices of the health care system. The project aimed at developing mental health promotion in the school community in general and at finding tools for timely help when mental health is at risk. The underlying idea is that mental health is an integral part of health and by promoting general well-being it is also possible to promote and ensure mental health at school. The study was conducted in a Finnish lower secondary school of 446 pupils where the pupils are aged between 12 and 15 years. The initial survey was conducted using the School Well-being Profile, a tool developed by Anne Konu. A well-being questionnaire was used to identify the areas in need of improvement, providing the basis for planning and implementing development measures together with the local actors. The instrument proved to be a usable way of collecting feedback of the well-being of the school environment. As a result of the action research project, the school's physical conditions and social relationships improved and appropriate practices for future problem situations were set.

Tle Triangulation Campaign by Japanese High School Students as a Space Educational Project of the Ssh Consortium Kochi

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Masa-Yuki; Okamoto, Sumito; Miyoshi, Terunori; Takamura, Yuzaburo; Aoshima, Akira; Hinokuchi, Jin

As one of the space educational projects in Japan, a triangulation observation project of TLE (Transient Luminous Events: sprites, elves, blue-jets, etc.) has been carried out since 2006 in collaboration between 29 Super Science High-schools (SSH) and Kochi University of Technol-ogy (KUT). Following with previous success of sprite observations by "Astro High-school" since 2004, the SSH consortium Kochi was established as a national space educational project sup-ported by Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). High-sensitivity CCD camera (Watec, Neptune-100) with 6 mm F/1.4 C-mount lens (Fujinon) and motion-detective software (UFO-Capture, SonotaCo) were given to each participating team in order to monitor Northern night sky of Japan with almost full-coverage. During each school year (from April to March in Japan) since 2006, thousands of TLE images were taken by many student teams, with considerably large numbers of successful triangulations, i.e., (School year, Numbers of TLE observations, Numbers of triangulations) are (2006, 43, 3), (2007, 441, 95), (2008, 734, 115), and (2009, 337, 78). Note that, school year in Japan begins on April 1 and ends on March 31. The observation campaign began in December 2006, numbers are as of Feb. 28, 2010. Recently, some high schools started wide field observations using multiple cameras, and others started VLF observations using handmade loop antennae and amplifiers. Infomation exchange among the SSH consortium Kochi is frequently communicated with scientific discussion via KUT's mailing lists. Also, interactions with amateur observers in Japan are made through an internet forum of "SonotaCo Network Japan" (http://sonotaco.jp). Not only as an educational project but also as a scientific one, the project is also in success. In February 2008, simultaneous observations of Elves were obtained, in November 2009 a Giant "Graft-shaped" Sprites driven by Jets was clearly imaged with VLF signals. Most recently, ob-servations of Elves

Science in Action: How Middle School Students Are Changing Their World through STEM Service-Learning Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, Jane L.; Dantzler, John; Coleman, April N.

2015-01-01

The purpose of Science in Action (SIA) was to examine the relationship between implementing quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) service-learning (SL) projects and the effect on students' academic engagement in middle school science, civic responsibility, and resilience to at-risk behaviors. The innovative project funded by…

Forces. 'O' Level Study Guide. Unit 1. ZIM-SCI, Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project. Year 3.

Science.gov (United States)

Udwin, Martin

The Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project (ZIM-SCI) developed student study guides, corresponding teaching guides, and science kits for a low-cost science course which could be taught during the third year of secondary school without the aid of qualified teachers and conventional laboratories. This ZIM-SCI study guide is a five-part unit…

Role and future subjects of support project 'research activity on radiation etc. by high school students'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iimoto, Takeshi; Fujimoto, Noboru; Nakamura, Takashi

2014-01-01

This is a report of the project of MEXT(The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) to support high school students researching radiation etc. This subject research consists of an exchange meeting, independence research, and a presentation meeting of the results. Media introduced the project and this was a very reputable project. However, regrettably this support project was broken off in the business year of 2012. In this document, the outline of the support project for seven years is introduced and the possibility of future deployment is discussed. (author)

High School Students' Reasons for Their Science Dispositions: Community-Based Innovative Technology-Embedded Environmental Research Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Ebenezer, Jazlin; Kaya, Osman Nafiz; Kasab, Dimma

2018-05-01

The purpose of this investigation was to qualitatively describe high school students' reasons for their science dispositions (attitude, perception, and self-confidence) based on their long-term experience with innovative technology-embedded environmental research projects. Students in small groups conducted research projects in and out of school with the help of their teachers and community experts (scientists and engineers). During the 3-year period of this nationally funded project, a total of 135 students from five schools in a mid-west State participated in research activities. Of the 135 students, 53 students were individually interviewed to explore reasons for their science dispositions. Students' reasons for each disposition were grouped into categories, and corresponding frequency was converted to a percentage. The categories of reasons were not only attributed to the use of innovative technologies in environmental research but also the contexts and events that surrounded it. The reasons that influenced students' science dispositions positively were because engaging in environmental research projects with technology contributed to easing fear and difficulty, building a research team, disseminating findings, communicating with the community, researching with scientists, training by teachers, and acknowledging teachers' knowledge. These results advanced how and why students develop science dispositions in the positive direction, which are as follows: building science teacher capacity, developing a community of inquirers, and committing to improve pedagogical practices.

Eco-Schools campaign. The European projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanchini, P.; Marino, G.

1999-01-01

The Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe (FEEE) was established in 1981; since then it was been actively promoting and delivering education through a series of successful internationals programmes launched in 21 different European nations. The Eco-School Campaign aims to raise students' awareness of environment issues through classroom study, and provide an integrated system for environmental management of schools based on EMAS (with waste, water and energy management as priority areas). As a process of facilitating sustainable developpement at a local level, pupils are encouraged to take an active role in mental impact of the schools. The Eco-Schools Green Flag, awarded to schools with high achievement in their Programme, is a recognised and respected eco-label for environmental education and performance. In Italy the National Eco-Schools operator was asked to set up a ten-schools pilot programme in the region Friuli Venezia Giulia: these are very first national schools that are likely to become 'Eco-Schools'

Cognitive and Socio-Affective Outcomes of Project-Based Learning: Perceptions of Greek Second Chance School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Koutrouba, Konstantina; Karageorgou, Elissavet

2013-01-01

The present questionnaire-based study was conducted in 2010 in order to examine 677 Greek Second Chance School (SCS) students' perceptions about the cognitive and socio-affective outcomes of project-based learning. Data elaboration, statistical and factor analysis showed that the participants found that project-based learning offered a second…

A Project-Based Learning Approach to Teaching Physics for Pre-Service Elementary School Teacher Education Students

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, Olzan

2016-01-01

This paper describes the impact of the project-based learning (PBL) approach on learning and teaching physics from the perspective of pre-service elementary school teacher education students and an instructor. This approach promoted meaningful learning (mainly in the scope of projects), higher motivation, and active involvement of students in…

Impact of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in the Junior Secondary School Years: Individual Growth Curve Analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel T. L. Shek

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs is a positive youth development program implemented in school settings utilizing a curricular-based approach. In the third year of the Full Implementation Phase, 19 experimental schools (n = 3,006 students and 24 control schools (n = 3,727 students participated in a randomized group trial. Analyses based on linear mixed models via SPSS showed that participants in the experimental schools displayed better positive youth development than did participants in the control schools based on different indicators derived from the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale, including positive self-identity, prosocial behavior, and general positive youth development attributes. Differences between experimental and control participants were also found when students who joined the Tier 1 Program and perceived the program to be beneficial were employed as participants of the experimental schools. The present findings strongly suggest that the Project P.A.T.H.S. is making an important positive impact for junior secondary school students in Hong Kong.

Impact of the project P.A.T.H.S. In the junior secondary school years: individual growth curve analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Shek, Daniel T L; Ma, Cecilia M S

2011-02-03

The Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs) is a positive youth development program implemented in school settings utilizing a curricular-based approach. In the third year of the Full Implementation Phase, 19 experimental schools (n = 3,006 students) and 24 control schools (n = 3,727 students) participated in a randomized group trial. Analyses based on linear mixed models via SPSS showed that participants in the experimental schools displayed better positive youth development than did participants in the control schools based on different indicators derived from the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale, including positive self-identity, prosocial behavior, and general positive youth development attributes. Differences between experimental and control participants were also found when students who joined the Tier 1 Program and perceived the program to be beneficial were employed as participants of the experimental schools. The present findings strongly suggest that the Project P.A.T.H.S. is making an important positive impact for junior secondary school students in Hong Kong.

Teaching Basic Programming Concepts to Young Primary School Students Using Tablets: Results of a Pilot Project

Science.gov (United States)

Fokides, Emmanuel

2018-01-01

The study presents the results of a project in which tablets and a ready-made application were used for teaching basic programming concepts to young primary school students (ages 7-9). A total of 135 students participated in the study, attending primary schools in Athens, Greece, divided into three groups. The first was taught conventionally. The…

The Nyae Nyae Village Schools 1994-2010: An Indigenous Mother-Tongue Education Project after 15 Years

Science.gov (United States)

Cwi, Cwisa; Hays, Jennifer

2011-01-01

This article provides an overview of a mother-tongue education project for the Ju|'hoansi of Nyae Nyae in Namibia--the village schools. These schools are the only places in southern Africa where an Indigenous San community has access to mother-tongue education for 3 years; and are, thus, an important example in the region. However, there are some…

Evaluating Retirement Income Security for Illinois Public School Teachers. Public Pension Project Report

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Richard W.; Southgate, Benjamin G.

2014-01-01

The financial problems afflicting the Illinois teacher pension plan have grabbed headlines. An equally important problem, though underappreciated, is that relatively few teachers benefit much from the plan. This report evaluates the pension benefits provided to Illinois public school teachers. The researchers project annual and lifetime pension…

Thermoacoustic contrast of prostate cancer due to heating by very high frequency irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patch, S K; Hull, D; Thomas, M; Jacobsohn, K; See, WA; Griep, SK

2015-01-01

Applying the thermoacoustic (TA) effect to diagnostic imaging was first proposed in the 1980s. The object under test is irradiated by high-power pulses of electromagnetic energy, which heat tissue and cause thermal expansion. Outgoing TA pressure pulses are detected by ultrasound transducers and reconstructed to provide images of the object. The TA contrast mechanism is strongly dependent upon the frequency of the irradiating electromagnetic pulse. When very high frequency (VHF) electromagnetic irradiation is utilized, TA signal production is driven by ionic content. Prostatic fluids contain high levels of ionic metabolites, including citrate, zinc, calcium, and magnesium. Healthy prostate glands produce more ionic metabolites than diseased glands. VHF pulses are therefore expected to generate stronger TA signal in healthy prostate glands than in diseased glands. A benchtop system for performing ex vivo TA computed tomography with VHF energy is described and images are presented. The system utilizes irradiation pulses of 700 ns duration exceeding 20 kW power. Reconstructions frequently visualize anatomic landmarks such as the urethra and verumontanum. TA reconstructions from three freshly excised human prostate glands with little, moderate, and severe cancerous involvement are compared with histology. TA signal strength is negatively correlated with percent cancerous involvement in this small sample size. For the 45 regions of interest analyzed, a reconstruction value of 0.4 mV provides 100% sensitivity but only 29% specificity. This sample size is far too small to draw sweeping conclusions, but the results warrant a larger volume study including comparison of TA images to the gold standard, histology. (paper)

The Design, Construction, and Experimental Evaluation of a Compact Thermoacoustic-Stirling Engine Generator for Use in a micro-CHP Appliance

Science.gov (United States)

Wilcox, Douglas A., Jr.

Micro combined heat and power or micro-CHP is the simultaneous generation of useful heat and electricity on a residential scale. The heat and electricity are produced at the point of use, avoiding the distribution losses associated with a centralized power plant. These appliances combine a conventional gas-fired condensing boiler with an electric power module capable of generating electricity from the heat of combustion. Currently, the leading power modules for micro-CHP appliances are free-piston Stirling engines (FPSEs) which can generate 1050 watts of electricity at a thermal-to-electric efficiency of 26%.[1] These external combustion engines have been under development for the last 25 years, with FPSE micro-CHP appliances only recently being introduced to the commercial market. Publications by developers assert unlimited service life and high efficiency, with low noise and emissions; but despite these claims, the actual reliability and cost of manufacturing has prevented their successful mass-market adoption. A Thermoacoustic-Stirling Engine Generator or TaSEG is one possible alternative to FPSE's. A TaSEG uses a thermoacoustic engine, or acoustic heat engine, which can efficiently convert high temperature heat into acoustic power while maintaining a simple design with fewer moving parts than traditional FPSE's. This simpler engine is coupled to an electrodynamic alternator capable of converting acoustic power into electricity. This thesis outlines the design, construction, and experimental evaluation of a TaSEG which is appropriate for integration with a gas burner inside of a residential micro- CHP appliance. The design methodology is discussed, focusing on how changes in the geometry affected the predicted performance. Details of its construction are given and the performance of the TaSEG is then outlined. The TaSEG can deliver 132 watts of electrical output power to an electric load with an overall measured thermal-to-electric (first law) efficiency of eta

Evaluation of a collaborative project to develop sustainable healthcare education in eight UK medical schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Walpole, S C; Mortimer, F

2017-09-01

Environmental change poses pressing challenges to public health and calls for profound and far-reaching changes to policy and practice across communities and health systems. Medical schools can act as a seedbed where knowledge, skills and innovation to address environmental challenges can be developed through innovative and collaborative approaches. The objectives of this study were to (1) explore drivers and challenges of collaboration for educational development between and within medical schools; (2) evaluate the effectiveness of a range of pedagogies for sustainable healthcare education; and (3) identify effective strategies to facilitate the renewal of medical curricula to address evolving health challenges. Participatory action research. Medical school teams participated in a nine-month collaborative project, including a one-day seminar to learn about sustainable healthcare education and develop a project plan. After the seminar, teams were supported to develop, deliver and evaluate new teaching at their medical school. New teaching was introduced at seven medical schools. A variety of pedagogies were represented. Collaboration between schools motivated and informed participants. The main challenges faced related to time pressures. Educators and students commented that new teaching was enjoyable and effective at improving knowledge and skills. Collaborative working supported educators to develop and implement new teaching sessions rapidly and effectively. Collaboration can help to build educators' confidence and capacity in a new area of education development. Different forms of collaboration may be appropriate for different circumstances and at different stages of education development. Copyright © 2017 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Evaluation of the effect of the health education intervention project "Healthy School"].

Science.gov (United States)

Zivković, M; Bjegović, V; Vuković, D; Marinković, J

1998-01-01

Contemporary health-education intervention programs are increasingly used as a tool for improving health of school children [1-4]. Since 1992 a Network of 13 elementary Health Promoting Schools established in Yugoslavia (though not yet admitted to the European Network) has been operational. The Project was approved by the Ministries of Health, Education and Ecology from the very beginning, and financially supported by the Government of Serbia since 1995. The team of up to 40 health professionals, school principals and school project managers worked together for four years to change the working conditions in schools knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of school children and staff in order to improve their health [5]. The goal of this paper is to present results of health education intervention in changing of hygienic conditions in schools, as well as some of the attitudes, behaviour and knowledge of pupils and their parents. The study took place before and after the intervention--at two points in time--during 1993 and 1996. The tri-angular approach including (1) pupils, (2) schools (teachers, school environment), and (3) parents, was used. A random pretest and post-test study design with control group (12 experimental and two control schools) has been implemented. The multiphase cluster sample was employed in order to represent all of the country typical regions. Six types of especially designed questionnaires were used to provide comparable variables in the sample of pupils, their parents and teachers. Exception were 1st-graders and 4th-graders for whom information were gathered by means of a "draw-and-write" investigation technique [6]. The response rate was 88.70% before and 98.28% after intervention. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS/PC software. Schools are somewhat less overcrowded, much cleaner and better maintained after the four-year intervention. Toilets are in a better condition, but there is still much more to be done

Project FIT: Rationale, design and baseline characteristics of a school- and community-based intervention to address physical activity and healthy eating among low-income elementary school children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oh Hyun J

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This paper describes Project FIT, a collaboration between the public school system, local health systems, physicians, neighborhood associations, businesses, faith-based leaders, community agencies and university researchers to develop a multi-faceted approach to promote physical activity and healthy eating toward the general goal of preventing and reducing childhood obesity among children in Grand Rapids, MI, USA. Methods/design There are four overall components to Project FIT: school, community, social marketing, and school staff wellness - all that focus on: 1 increasing access to safe and affordable physical activity and nutrition education opportunities in the schools and surrounding neighborhoods; 2 improving the affordability and availability of nutritious food in the neighborhoods surrounding the schools; 3 improving the knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes and behaviors regarding nutrition and physical activity among school staff, parents and students; 4 impacting the 'culture' of the schools and neighborhoods to incorporate healthful values; and 5 encouraging dialogue among all community partners to leverage existing programs and introduce new ones. Discussion At baseline, there was generally low physical activity (70% do not meet recommendation of 60 minutes per day, excessive screen time (75% do not meet recommendation of rd-5th grade children (n = 403. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01385046

Teaching weather and climate science in primary schools - a pilot project from the UK Met Office

Science.gov (United States)

Orrell, Richard; Liggins, Felicity; Challenger, Lesley; Lethem, Dom; Campbell, Katy

2017-04-01

Wow Schools is a pilot project from the Met Office with an aim to inspire and educate the next generation of scientists and, uniquely, use the data collected by schools to improve weather forecasts and warnings across the UK. Wow Schools was launched in late 2015 with a competition open to primary schools across the UK. 74 schools entered the draw, all hoping to be picked as one of the ten lucky schools taking part in the pilot scheme. Each winning school received a fully automatic weather station (AWS), enabling them to transmit real-time local weather observations to the Met Office's Weather Observation Website (WOW - wow.metoffice.gov.uk), an award winning web portal for uploading and sharing a range of environmental observations. They were also given a package of materials designed to get students out of the classroom to observe the weather, get hands-on with the science underpinning weather forecasting, and analyse the data they are collecting. The curriculum-relevant materials were designed with the age group 7 to 11 in mind, but could be extended to support other age groups. Each school was offered a visit by a Wow Schools Ambassador (a Met Office employee) to bring the students' learning to life, and access to a dedicated forecast for its location generated by our new supercomputer. These forecasts are improved by the school's onsite AWS reinforcing the link between observations and forecast production. The Wow Schools pilot ran throughout 2016. Here, we present the initial findings of the project, examining the potential benefits and challenges of working with schools across the UK to: enrich students' understanding of the science of weather forecasting; to source an ongoing supply of weather observations and discover how these might be used in the forecasting process; and explore what materials and business model(s) would be most useful and affordable if a wider roll-out of the initiative was undertaken.

Gardening as a Learning Environment: A Study of Children's Perceptions and Understanding of School Gardens as Part of an International Project

Science.gov (United States)

Bowker, Rob; Tearle, Penni

2007-01-01

This article considers the impact of the early stages of an international project, Gardens for Life (GfL), on children's perceptions of school gardening and on their learning. The project involved 67 schools in England, Kenya and India and focused on the growing of crops, recognising the importance of both the process and product of this activity…

Catalyst Schools' Implementation of the Learning School Approach. Catalyst Schools Research Study Report

Science.gov (United States)

Hammer, Patricia Cahape

2016-01-01

"Catalyst schools" were 28 elementary and secondary schools selected to participate in a pilot project begun in July 2014, which explored how best to support teacher professional learning through decentralization of decision making and implementation of the Learning School approach. The pilot project was the first phase in a statewide…

Space Science in Project SMART: A UNH High School Outreach Program

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, C. W.; Broad, L.; Goelzer, S.; Lessard, M.; Levergood, R.; Lugaz, N.; Moebius, E.; Schwadron, N.; Torbert, R. B.; Zhang, J.; Bloser, P. F.

2016-12-01

Every summer for the past 25 years the University of New Hampshire (UNH) has run a month-long, residential outreach program for high school students considering careers in mathematics, science, or engineering. Space science is one of the modules. Students work directly with UNH faculty performing original work with real spacecraft data and hardware and present the results of that effort at the end of the program. Recent research topics have included interplanetary waves and turbulence as recorded by the ACE and Voyager spacecraft, electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves seen by the RBSP spacecraft, interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICME) acceleration and interstellar pickup ions as seen by the STEREO spacecraft, and prototyping CubeSat hardware. Student research efforts can provide useful results for future research efforts by the faculty while the students gain unique exposure to space physics and a science career. In addition, the students complete a team project. Since 2006, that project has been the construction and flight of a high-altitude balloon payload and instruments. The students typically build the instruments they fly. In the process, students learn circuit design and construction, microcontroller programming, and core atmospheric and space science. Our payload design has evolved significantly since the first flight of a simple rectangular box and now involves a stable descent vehicle that does not require a parachute, an on-board flight control computer, in-flight autonomous control and data acquisition of multiple student-built instruments, and real-time camera images sent to ground. This is a program that can be used as a model for other schools to follow and that high schools can initiate. More information can be found at .

Teaching and Learning English through the Project Work. Innovative Pilot Teaching Project in the Pre-school and Primary School Pompeu Fabra, Vallirana, Barcelona. Investigation in Action comprehension in Primary Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Verónica Asensio Arjona

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In order to impulse a methodology focused on the student, teachers have to establish the learning conditions that allow them to develop the experimentation, creativity, challenge and individual development. Below this framework, a Project Work of Teaching-Learning English as a foreign language is designed and applied at the state school Pompeu Fabra, Vallirana, Barcelona during the scholar year 2013-2014. The methodology of project work is chosen because it is the most appropriated methodology to achieve a learning focused on the student. It is executed an Action Research of the application of this Project in order to evaluate the competential progress of students. Quantitative and qualitative tools are used to execute the research. The quantitative tools are a standardized test and a Survey. The first one is applied in two moments, in October and in June, to evaluate the progress. The results are analyzed with Excel Tools to calculate the general average and each competence average. On the other hand, the qualitative tools that are used are: The Satisfaction and Self-perception Survey, validated by the University of Barcelona; the Teacher Diary of Observation; and an Evaluation Table for the Speaking. The triangulation of all the information show the English competence of student’s increase; as well as the interest of students in the English learning and the satisfaction in doing it also increases. Moreover, the Project Work is highly qualified by students as: the best activity to learn and enjoy it. This research obtains satisfactory results. It is a sample of innovation in teaching and learning English as a foreign language. As a result, the school decides to continue using the Project Work in the next scholar year.

Adequate Education: Issues in Its Definition and Implementation. School Finance Project, Working Papers.

Science.gov (United States)

Tron, Esther, Ed.

Section 1203 of the Education Amendments of 1978 mandated the undertaking of studies concerning the adequate financing of elementary and secondary education in the 1980s. Created to carry out this mandate, the School Finance Project established as one of its goals reporting to Congress on issues implicit in funding educational adequacy. Several…

Designing and Implementing an Online GIS Tool for Schools: The Finnish Case of the PaikkaOppi Project

Science.gov (United States)

Riihelä, Juha; Mäki, Sanna

2015-01-01

This article describes initiatives implemented in Finland to create an online learning environment for studying geographic information systems (GIS). A development project produced an online GIS tool called PaikkaOppi, aimed at promoting GIS studies and spatial thinking skills in upper secondary schools. The project is reviewed through analysis of…

The Development of Mature Capabilities for Understanding and Valuing Technology through School Project Work.

Science.gov (United States)

Schallies, Michael; Wellensiek, Anneliese; Lembens, Anja

This paper describes a German project that developed students' capabilities for understanding and valuing biotechnology and genetic engineering, focusing on practical fieldwork with schools by an interdisciplinary team. The paper identifies the characteristics of individual and structural preconditions and their development during active project…

High-school software development project helps increasing students' awareness of geo-hydrological hazards and their risks

Science.gov (United States)

Marchesini, Ivan; Rossi, Mauro; Balducci, Vinicio; Salvati, Paola; Guzzetti, Fausto; Bianchini, Andrea; Grzeleswki, Emanuell; Canonico, Andrea; Coccia, Rita; Fiorucci, Gianni Mario; Gobbi, Francesca; Ciuchetti, Monica

2015-04-01

In Italy, inundation and landslides are widespread phenomena that impact the population and cause significant economic damage to private and public properties. The perception of the risk posed by these natural geo-hydrological hazards varies geographically and in time. The variation in the perception of the risks has negative consequences on risk management, and limits the adoption of effective risk reduction strategies. We maintain that targeted education can foster the understanding of geo-hydrological hazards, improving their perception and the awareness of the associated risk. Collaboration of a research center experienced in geo-hydrological hazards and risks (CNR IRPI, Perugia) and a high school (ITIS Alessandro Volta, Perugia) has resulted in the design and execution of a project aimed at improving the perception of geo-hydrological risks in high school students and teachers through software development. In the two-year project, students, high school teachers and research scientists have jointly developed software broadly related to landslide and flood hazards. User requirements and system specifications were decided to facilitate the distribution and use of the software among students and their peers. This allowed a wider distribution of the project results. We discuss two prototype software developed by the high school students, including an application of augmented reality for improved dissemination of information of landslides and floods with human consequences in Italy, and a crowd science application to allow students (and others, including their families and friends) to collect information on landslide and flood occurrence exploiting modern mobile devices. This information can prove important e.g., for the validation of landslide forecasting models.

Research and Development Projects with ICT and students as learning designers in Primary Schools: A methodological challenge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Levinsen, Karin Ellen Tweddell; Sørensen, Birgitte Holm; Tosca, Susana

of how: • ICT supports students learning, • ICT release time for more teaching, and • teachers digital literacy impact on the role of ICT in the educational practice. Further the call required collaboration between universities and university colleges in order to disseminate knowledge and new practices......In this paper we present some methodological challenges that emerged during the process of shaping the research design for the comprehensive and complex research project Children as learning designers in a digital school. The project is the realization of our proposal to a research call from...... the Danish Ministry of Education named Development projects and pilot school experiments (Udviklingsprojekter med demonstrationsskoleforsøg vedr. it i folkeskolen – see Undervisningsministeriet 2013) in the spring 2013. The call was based on a governmental decision to allocate 500 million DKR to increase...

Bilingual Enrichment Services and Training (Project BEST): Community School District 2, Manhattan. Final Evaluation Report, 1992-93. OER Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Musante, Patricia

This report presents an evaluation of Bilingual Enrichment Services and Training (Project BEST), an Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title VII-funded project in its third year of operation at four schools in Manhattan. The project served 266 Cantonese-, Fukienese, and Mandarin-speaking gifted students of limited English proficiency.…

The Relationship between Project-Based Learning and Rigor in STEM-Focused High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Edmunds, Julie; Arshavsky, Nina; Glennie, Elizabeth; Charles, Karen; Rice, Olivia

2016-01-01

Project-based learning (PjBL) is an approach often favored in STEM classrooms, yet some studies have shown that teachers struggle to implement it with academic rigor. This paper explores the relationship between PjBL and rigor in the classrooms of ten STEM-oriented high schools. Utilizing three different data sources reflecting three different…

Applied Linguistics Project: Student-Led Computer Assisted Research in High School EAL/EAP

Science.gov (United States)

Bohát, Róbert; Rödlingová, Beata; Horáková, Nina

2015-01-01

The Applied Linguistics Project (ALP) started at the International School of Prague (ISP) in 2013. Every year, Grade 9 English as an Additional Language (EAL) students identify an area of learning in need of improvement and design a research method followed by data collection and analysis using basic computer software tools or online corpora.…

S.A.P. Students Adopt Plants: A Curriculum Guide for Independent Research Projects in High School Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Gayle A.

This curriculum guide begins with classroom and text study of plants and develops into an individual research project that continues throughout the school year outside the regular biology or botany teaching plan and text. The project uses about one class period every 2 weeks for group discussions, evaluations, and suggestions for the individual…

Increasing EFL Learners’ Oral Production at a Public School Through Project-Based Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ady Marcela Vaca Torres

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This research study examined how a group of ninth graders enhanced the speaking skill in an English as a foreign language classroom through project-based learning. Data about the experience were collected through field notes, transcripts of learners’ oral performance, and one interview. Grounded theory was implemented for data analysis, out of which three main findings emerged: (1 project-based learning encouraged students to increase oral production through lexical competence development, (2 helped them to overcome fears of speaking in L2, and (3, increased their interest in learning about their school life and community.

University of Chicago School Mathematics Project 6-12 Curriculum. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

Science.gov (United States)

What Works Clearinghouse, 2011

2011-01-01

The "University of Chicago School Mathematics Project ("UCSMP") 6-12 Curriculum" is a series of yearlong courses--(1) Transition Mathematics; (2) Algebra; (3) Geometry; (4) Advanced Algebra; (5) Functions, Statistics, and Trigonometry; and (6) Precalculus and Discrete Mathematics--emphasizing problem solving, real-world applications, and the use…

Parent Attitudes Toward the Virginia Beach Year-Round School Pilot Project. Final Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlechty, Phillip C.

Part of the Virginia Beach year-round school program evaluation, this final report contains a detailed analysis of parental attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions. The data leads to the following conclusions: a majority (53.3 percent) of parents are dubious or negative toward the 45-15 pilot project; a slight majority of parents in the pilot schools…

Effectiveness of the Solar Panels in the Castro Valley Unified School District Based on Projected Amount of Energy to be Produced

Science.gov (United States)

Sparks, J. R.; Palmer, T. C.; Siegel, A. P.

2014-12-01

In recent years Americans have warmed to the idea of installing solar panels to their homes and businesses. These panels help reduce the cost of receiving energy from power plants that lose a lot of energy in transportation. These power plants provide energy by burning gas or coal producing emissions that add to the growing problem of pollution and global warming. In 2010 the Castro Valley Unified School District decided to add solar panels to Canyon Middle School, Castro Valley High School, and Castro Valley Adult School. We researched whether the solar panels reached their projected amount of energy (74%) for the sites where the panels were placed. The solar panels at all three sites were found to exceed these projected amounts. The solar panels at each site produce a little over 74% for the each school.

The Llama Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganzel, Candy; Stuglik, Jan

2003-01-01

At a suburban Indiana elementary school, the Project Approach serves as the basis of the curriculum in all Kindergarten classrooms. The four classes of 5- and 6-year-old children at this school chose to study llamas. This article discusses how the project evolved, describes the three phases of the project, and provides teachers' reflections on the…

Researching Employment Relations: A Self-Reflexive Analysis of a Multi-Method, School-Based Project

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Paula; Graham, Tina

2011-01-01

Drawing on primary data and adjunct material, this article adopts a critical self-reflexive approach to a three-year, Australian Research Council-funded project that explored themes around "employment citizenship" for high school students in Queensland. The article addresses three overlapping areas that reflect some of the central…

Atoms and Molecules. 'O' Level. Teacher's Guide. Unit 2. ZIM-SCI, Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project. Year 3.

Science.gov (United States)

Mandizha, George

The Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project (ZIM-SCI) developed student study guides, corresponding teaching guides, and science kits for a low-cost science course which could be taught during the third year of secondary school without the aid of qualified teachers and conventional laboratories. This teaching guide, designed to be used in…

Increasing awareness about antibiotic use and resistance: a hands-on project for high school students.

Science.gov (United States)

Fonseca, Maria João; Santos, Catarina L; Costa, Patrício; Lencastre, Leonor; Tavares, Fernando

2012-01-01

Health-promoting education is essential to foster an informed society able to make decisions about socio-scientific issues based on scientifically sustained criteria. Antibiotic resistance is currently a major public health issue. Considering that irrational antibiotic use has been associated with the development and widespread of antibiotic resistant bacteria, educational interventions to promote prudent antibiotic consumption are required. This study focuses on the outcomes of an interventional program implemented at the University of Porto, Portugal, to promote awareness about antibiotic resistance at high school levels (15-17 year old). The project Microbiology recipes: antibiotics à la carte articulates a set of wet and dry lab activities designed to promote the participants' understanding of concepts and processes underlying antibiotics' production and activity, such as the notion of mechanisms of action of antibiotics. Following a mix-method approach based on a pre-/post design, the effectiveness of this project was assessed by gathering data from surveys, direct observation and analysis of artifacts of 42 high school students (aged 15 and 16 years). The results indicate that the participants developed a more comprehensive picture of antibiotic resistance. The project was shown to promote more sophisticated conceptualizations of bacteria and antibiotics, increased awareness about the perils of antibiotic resistance, and enhanced consciousness towards measures that can be undertaken to mitigate the problem. The participants regarded their experiences as enjoyable and useful, and believed that the project contributed to improve their understanding and raise their interest about the issues discussed. Furthermore, there were also improvements in their procedural skills concerning the laboratory techniques performed. This study evidences the possibility of increasing high school students' awareness about the consequences of antibiotic resistance and the

Evaluation of the School Breakfast Program Pilot Project: Final Report. Special Nutrition Programs. Report Number CN-04-SBP. Nutrition Assistance Program Report Series

Science.gov (United States)

Bernstein, Lawrence S.; McLaughlin, Joan E.; Crepinsek, Mary Kay; Daft, Lynn M.

2004-01-01

In 1998, Congress authorized the School Breakfast Program Pilot Project (SBPP) to study the implementation and effects of providing universal free school breakfast in six school districts across the United States. For three years, from School Year (SY) 2000-2001 through SY 2002-2003, these six school districts received federal funds to offer…

Task Design for Intercultural Telecollaboration in Secondary Schools: Insights from the EU project TILA

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffstaedter, Petra; Kohn, Kurt

2014-01-01

Our contribution focuses on synchronous oral telecollaboration in secondary schools. With reference to the EU project TILA, aspects of task design and implementation are discussed against the backdrop of issues of technological quality in connection with class organisation in computer labs. Case study evidence is provided in favour of the…

Project SUCCESS' Effects on Substance Use-Related Attitudes and Behaviors: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Alternative High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Heddy Kovach; Ringwalt, Chris L.; Shamblen, Stephen R.; Hanley, Sean M.

2011-01-01

Using a randomized controlled effectiveness trial, we examined the effects of Project SUCCESS on a range of secondary outcomes, including the program's mediating variables. Project SUCCESS, which is based both on the Theory of Reasoned Action and on Cognitive Behavior Theory, is a school-based substance use prevention program that targets…

Students' and teachers' perceptions: initial achievements of a Project-Based Engineering School

Science.gov (United States)

Terrón-López, María-José; Velasco-Quintana, Paloma-Julia; García-García, María-José; Ocampo, Jared R.

2017-11-01

A unified academic model based on the project-based learning (PBL) methodology was implemented, in the 2012-2013 period, in the School of Engineering at Universidad Europea de Madrid. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether teachers and students participating in the capstone projects feel that the objectives for which this methodology was designed for are being achieved. The data were collected through interviews to participants at the end of the PBL experience. The results are encouraging, as students seem to be more motivated, and they say that they are experiencing deeper learning, and have developed key competitive skills required for their professional lives. Findings also suggest that teachers face positively the PBL as a learning approach since they perceive that students obtain a deeper learning, develop transversal skills with the projects and are more engaged with their studies. Implications and recommendations for the future of the model are also discussed.

Application of particle image velocimetry measurement techniques to study turbulence characteristics of oscillatory flows around parallel-plate structures in thermoacoustic devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mao, Xiaoan; Jaworski, Artur J

2010-01-01

This paper describes the development of the experimental setup and measurement methodologies to study the physics of oscillatory flows in the vicinity of parallel-plate stacks by using the particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques. Parallel-plate configurations often appear as internal structures in thermoacoustic devices and are responsible for the hydrodynamic energy transfer processes. The flow around selected stack configurations is induced by a standing acoustic wave, whose amplitude can be varied. Depending on the direction of the flow within the acoustic cycle, relative to the stack, it can be treated as an entrance flow or a wake flow. The insight into the flow behaviour, its kinematics, dynamics and scales of turbulence, is obtained using the classical Reynolds decomposition to separate the instantaneous velocity fields into ensemble-averaged mean velocity fields and fluctuations in a set of predetermined phases within an oscillation cycle. The mean velocity field and the fluctuation intensity distributions are investigated over the acoustic oscillation cycle. The velocity fluctuation is further divided into large- and small-scale fluctuations by using fast Fourier transform (FFT) spatial filtering techniques

Educational Field Trips for Disadvantaged Pupils in Nonpublic Schools. Evaluation of ESEA Title I Projects in New York City, 1967-68.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenthal, Harvey M.

This Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I project was developed in order to provide educationally enriching experiences to New York City elementary school students in disadvantaged non-public schools by means of field trips to places of civic and cultural interest. The 182 schools chosen were in designated poverty areas. Evaluation of…

El Proyecto School on the Cloud: Lecciones Aprendidas = School on the Cloud Project: Lessons Learned

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Luisa de Lázaro y Torres

2017-06-01

Full Text Available School on the Cloud es un Proyecto europeo Acción Clave 3 del programa de Aprendizaje Permanente de la UE. En sus tres años de andadura ha evidenciado la potencialidad del empleo de la nube para el aprendizaje en todos los niveles educativos con la finalidad de llamar la atención a los agentes responsables de la educación en Europa sobre ello. Diversas actividades y resultados de investigación han permitido llegar a esa conclusión, para cuya consecución se proponen algunas medidas concretas, como por ejemplo, una estrategia europea para la educación en la nube.School on the Cloud is a European Erasmus+ project Key Action 3 of the EU Lifelong Learning program. The experience of three years has proven the potential use of the cloud for learning at all educational levels. We aim to draw stakeholders’ attention to the subject of education in Europe. A number of activities and research results have made it possible to reach this conclusion. Concrete measures to improve this type of learning have been proposed, such as a European strategy for education on the cloud.

Experimental investigation of the influence of natural convection and end-effects on Rayleigh streaming in a thermoacoustic engine.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramadan, Islam A; Bailliet, Hélène; Valière, Jean-Christophe

2018-01-01

The influence of both the natural convection and end-effects on Rayleigh streaming pattern in a simple standing-wave thermoacoustic engine is investigated experimentally at different acoustic levels. The axial mean velocity inside the engine is measured using both Laser Doppler Velocimetry and Particle Image Velocimetry. The mean flow patterns are categorized in three different regions referred to as "cold streaming" region, "hot streaming" region, and "end-effects" region. In the cold streaming region, the dominant phenomenon is Rayleigh streaming and the mean velocity measurements correspond well with the theoretical expectations of Rayleigh streaming at low acoustic levels. At higher acoustic levels, the measurements deviate from the theoretical expectations which complies with the literature. In the hot streaming region, temperature measurements reveal that the non-uniformity of the resonator wall temperature is the origin of natural convection flow. Velocity measurements show that natural convection flow superimposes on the Rayleigh streaming flow so that the measured mean velocity deviates from the theoretical expectations of Rayleigh streaming. In the last region, the measured mean velocity is very different from Rayleigh streaming due to the combined effects of both the flow disturbances generated near the extremity of the stack and the natural convection flow.

Thermo-Acoustic Properties of a Burner with Axial Temperature Gradient: Theory and Experiment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Béla Kosztin

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a model for thermo-acoustic effects in a gas turbine combustor. A quarter-wavelength burner with rectangular cross-section has been built and studied from an experimental and theoretical perspective. It has a premixed methane-air flame, which is held by a bluff body, and spans the width of the burner. The flame is compact, i.e. its length is much smaller than that of the burner. The fundamental mode of the burner is unstable; its frequency and pressure distribution have been measured. The complex pressure reflection coefficients at the upstream and downstream end of the burner were also measured. For the theoretical considerations, we divide the burner into three regions (the cold pre-combustion chamber, the flame region and the hot outlet region, and assume one-dimensional acoustic wave propagation in each region. The acoustic pressure and velocity are assumed continuous across the interface between the precombustion chamber and flame region, and across the interface between the flame region and outlet region. The burner ends are modelled by the measured pressure reflection coefficients. The mean temperature is assumed to have the following profile: uniformly cold and uniformly hot in the pre-combustion chamber and outlet region, respectively, and rising continuously from cold to hot in the flame region. For comparison, a discontinuous temperature profile, jumping directly from cold to hot, is also considered. The eigenfrequencies are calculated, and the pressure distribution of the fundamental mode is predicted. There is excellent agreement with the experimental results. The exact profile of the mean temperature in the flame region is found to be unimportant. This study gives us an experimentally validated Green's function, which is a very useful tool for further theoretical studies.

Project FIT: rationale, design and baseline characteristics of a school- and community-based intervention to address physical activity and healthy eating among low-income elementary school children.

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenmann, Joey C; Alaimo, Katherine; Pfeiffer, Karin; Paek, Hye-Jin; Carlson, Joseph J; Hayes, Heather; Thompson, Tracy; Kelleher, Deanne; Oh, Hyun J; Orth, Julie; Randall, Sue; Mayfield, Kellie; Holmes, Denise

2011-07-29

This paper describes Project FIT, a collaboration between the public school system, local health systems, physicians, neighborhood associations, businesses, faith-based leaders, community agencies and university researchers to develop a multi-faceted approach to promote physical activity and healthy eating toward the general goal of preventing and reducing childhood obesity among children in Grand Rapids, MI, USA. There are four overall components to Project FIT: school, community, social marketing, and school staff wellness - all that focus on: 1) increasing access to safe and affordable physical activity and nutrition education opportunities in the schools and surrounding neighborhoods; 2) improving the affordability and availability of nutritious food in the neighborhoods surrounding the schools; 3) improving the knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes and behaviors regarding nutrition and physical activity among school staff, parents and students; 4) impacting the 'culture' of the schools and neighborhoods to incorporate healthful values; and 5) encouraging dialogue among all community partners to leverage existing programs and introduce new ones. At baseline, there was generally low physical activity (70% do not meet recommendation of 60 minutes per day), excessive screen time (75% do not meet recommendation of < 2 hours per day), and low intake of vegetables and whole grains and high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, French fries and chips and desserts as well as a high prevalence of overweight and obesity (48.5% including 6% with severe obesity) among low income, primarily Hispanic and African American 3rd-5th grade children (n = 403). ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01385046.

Can Instructional Reform in Urban Middle Schools Help Students Narrow the Mathematics Performance Gap? Some Evidence from the QUASAR Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Silver, Edward A.; Lane, Suzanne

1995-01-01

Compared mathematical performance of middle school students in low-income communities involved in the QUASAR project to those of a demographically similar school and of a nationally representative sample. QUASAR mathematics instruction emphasizes reasoning, problem-solving, and understanding. Quasar students outperformed NAEP's disadvantaged urban…

Status Report: Mathematics Curriculum-Development Projects Today

Science.gov (United States)

Arithmetic Teacher, 1972

1972-01-01

Brief reports on the Cambridge Conference on School Mathematics, Comprehensive School Mathematics Program, Computer-Assisted Instruction Projects at Stanford, Individually Prescribed Instruction Project, The Madison Project, Mathematics/Science Learning System, MINNEMAST, and School Mathematics Study Group. (MM)

First Meeting with Teachers and Principals of Unesco Associated Schools Project Held on Monday, 6 September 1982 at the Training Division, Prime Minister's Office, Castries, Saint Lucia.

Science.gov (United States)

International Understanding at School, 1982

1982-01-01

In September 1982, K-12 teachers and principals participating in Unesco's Associated Schools Project met to make preparations for the implementation of the project that was to commence when schools opened later that month. The project is intended to promote international understanding and peace. What happened at the meeting is described. (RM)

School Reform Unplugged: The Bensenville New American School Project, 1991-93.

Science.gov (United States)

Mirel, Jeffrey

1994-01-01

This examination of the New American Schools Development Corporation initiative in Bensenville (Illinois) details the controversy over the reform effort and argues that factors such as school governance, local control, and school finance played major roles in determining program outcomes. The importance of political influences in reform efforts is…

Performance of two Vermont elementary school integrated energy conservation/solar energy retrofit projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hayes, J.W. (Marlboro College, VT); Converse, A.O.

1980-01-01

Two Vermont elementary school energy conservation/passive solar energy retrofit projects are described. Both masonry buildings were insulated with polystyrene on the east, north and west exterior walls. The south walls of each building were converted to Trombe walls, and, in addition, a portion of the south wall of one building was fitted with a solar greenhouse. The construction details, the predicted performance, and some actual results are reported here.

Evidence-based development of school-based and family-involved prevention of overweight across Europe: The ENERGY-project's design and conceptual framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klepp Knut

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There is an urgent need for more carefully developed public health measures in order to curb the obesity epidemic among youth. The overall aim of the "EuropeaN Energy balance Research to prevent excessive weight Gain among Youth" (ENERGY-project is the development and formative evaluation of a theory-informed and evidence-based multi-component school-based and family-involved intervention program ready to be implemented and evaluated for effectiveness across Europe. This program aims at promoting the adoption or continuation of health behaviors that contribute to a healthy energy balance among school-aged children. Earlier studies have indicated that school and family environments are key determinants of energy-balance behaviors in schoolchildren. Schools are an important setting for health promotion in this age group, but school-based interventions mostly fail to target and involve the family environment. Methods Led by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from eleven European countries and supported by a team of Australian experts, the ENERGY-project is informed by the Environmental Research Framework for Weight gain Prevention, and comprises a comprehensive epidemiological analysis including 1 systematic reviews of the literature, 2 secondary analyses of existing data, 3 focus group research, and 4 a cross European school-based survey. Results and discussion The theoretical framework and the epidemiological analysis will subsequently inform stepwise intervention development targeting the most relevant energy balance-related behaviors and their personal, family-environmental and school-environmental determinants applying the Intervention Mapping protocol. The intervention scheme will undergo formative and pilot evaluation in five countries. The results of ENERGY will be disseminated among key stakeholders including researchers, policy makers and the general population. Conclusions The ENERGY-project is an international

Geography, Economic Education and Global Education: European and Austrian Aspects of the "Fifobi--Developing Business Competencies in School" Project

Science.gov (United States)

Schwarz, Ingrid

2012-01-01

Purpose: The EU-funded research project "Fifobi--Fit for Business--developing business competencies in school" (2009-2012) focused on the implementation of economic education in seven European countries. The purpose of the project and this paper is to investigate the current programmes that exist within the final two years of compulsory…

Financial Crisis Now Striking Home for School Districts: Project Delays, Worries About Cash Flow Result of Tight Credit Markets

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Michelle R.

2008-01-01

This article reports that the crisis besetting U.S. and world financial markets is hitting school districts hard, as they struggle to float the bonds needed for capital projects, borrow money to ensure cash flow, and get access to investment funds locked up in troubled institutions. Some schools districts depend heavily on borrowed money to pay…

A Review of High School Level Astronomy Student Research Projects Over the Last Two Decades

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzgerald, M. T.; Hollow, R.; Rebull, L. M.; Danaia, L.; McKinnon, D. H.

2014-09-01

Since the early 1990s with the arrival of a variety of new technologies, the capacity for authentic astronomical research at the high school level has skyrocketed. This potential, however, has not realised the bright-eyed hopes and dreams of the early pioneers who expected to revolutionise science education through the use of telescopes and other astronomical instrumentation in the classroom. In this paper, a general history and analysis of these attempts is presented. We define what we classify as an Astronomy Research in the Classroom (ARiC) project and note the major dimensions on which these projects differ before describing the 22 major student research projects active since the early 1990s. This is followed by a discussion of the major issues identified that affected the success of these projects and provide suggestions for similar attempts in the future.

Give Water a Hand. School Site Action Guide. Organizing Water Conservation and Pollution Prevention Service Projects in Your Community.

Science.gov (United States)

Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Coll. of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Students grades 4-8 can use this guide to explore the topics of water, and water conservation at a school site, while conducting an environmental community service project. Youth groups, led by a group leader, work with local experts from business, government, or environmental organizations to complete the project. Nine activity sections involve…

The School Children Mental Health in Europe (SCMHE) Project: Design and First Results.

Science.gov (United States)

Kovess, Viviane; Carta, Mauro Giovanni; Pez, Ondine; Bitfoi, Adina; Koç, Ceren; Goelitz, Dietmar; Kuijpers, Rowella; Lesinskiene, Sigita; Mihova, Zlatka; Otten, Roy

2015-01-01

Background : The School Children Mental Health in Europe (SCMHE) project aims to build up a set of indicators to collect and monitor children's mental health in an efficient and comparable methodology across the EU countries. It concerns primary schools children aged 6 to 11 years a range where few data are available whereas school interventions are promising. Methods : Three informants were used: parents, teachers and children. In selecting instruments language, instruments were selected according to the easiness to translate them: SDQ (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) for parents and teachers and DI (Dominic Interactive). A two-step procedure was used: schools randomization then six children by class in each grade. Results : 9084 children from seven countries (Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Turkey) completed the Dominic Interactive in their own language. 6563 teachers and 6031 parents completed their questionnaire, and a total of 5574 interviews have been completed by the 3 informants. The participation rate of the children with parents in the participating schools was about 66.4%. As expected teachers report more externalised problems and less internalised problems than parents. Children report more internalised problems than parents and teachers. Boys have consistently more externalised problems than girls and this is the reverse for internalised problems. Combining the diverse informants and impairment levels children with problems requiring some sort of mental health care were about 9.9%: 76% did not see any mental health professional: 78.7% In Eastern countries 63.1% in Western Europe.

Project "Hypertension Alert."

Science.gov (United States)

Sailors, Emma Lou

1983-01-01

"Hypertension Alert," a 1979-80 blood pressure screening-awareness project of the Yonkers, New York Public Schools, is described. Data is analyzed in tables for ethnic composition, and range of blood pressure readings for the high school, junior high school, and elementary school students tested. (Author/JMK)

Strategy For Implementing The UN "Zero-Gravity Instrument Project" To Promote Space Science Among School Children In Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Alabi, O.; Agbaje, G.; Akinyede, J.

2015-12-01

The United Nations "Zero Gravity Instrument Project" (ZGIP) is one of the activities coordinated under the Space Education Outreach Program (SEOP) of the African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in English (ARCSSTE-E) to popularize space science among pre-collegiate youths in Nigeria. The vision of ZGIP is to promote space education and research in microgravity. This paper will deliberate on the strategy used to implement the ZGIP to introduce school children to authentic scientific data and inquiry. The paper highlights how the students learned to collect scientific data in a laboratory environment, analyzed the data with specialized software, obtained results, interpreted and presented the results of their study in a standard format to the scientific community. About 100 school children, aged between 7 and 21 years, from ten public and private schools located in Osun State, Nigeria participated in the pilot phase of the ZGIP which commenced with a 1-day workshop in March 2014. During the inauguration workshop, the participants were introduced to the environment of outer space, with special emphasis on the concept of microgravity. They were also taught the basic principle of operation of the Clinostat, a Zero-Gravity Instrument donated to ARCSSTE-E by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UN-OOSA), Vienna, under the Human Space Technology Initiative (UN-HSTI). At the end of the workshop, each school designed a project, and had a period of 1 week, on a planned time-table, to work in the laboratory of ARCSSTE-E where they utilized the clinostat to examine the germination of indigenous plant seeds in simulated microgravity conditions. The paper also documents the post-laboratory investigation activities, which included presentation of the results in a poster competition and an evaluation of the project. The enthusiasm displayed by the students, coupled with the favorable responses recorded during an oral interview conducted to

Project on Social Architecture in Education. Final Report. Part III: Case Studies. Chapter 9: Arts Co-op: An Experimental High School Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Ellen Wahl

This document contains chapter 9 of the final report of the Project on Social Architecture in Education. Chapter 9 is about a regional experimental high school program for the arts. Several features distinguished Arts Co-op from the other schools in the study. For one, it was a special purpose school, focused on the arts, and not offering a…

Science teachers' meaning-making when involved in a school-based professional development project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

2012-01-01

A group of teachers’ meaning-making when they are collaboratively analyzing artifacts from practice in local science classrooms in a school-based professional development (PD) project is examined through repeated interviews and represented as meaning-making maps. The interpretation of the teachers......’ meaningmaking includes both their reference to outcomes from the project and their expressed ideas about teaching and learning of science. All four teachers refer to experiences from experimenting in their classrooms and interpret the collected artifacts in relation to students’ learning. Furthermore, they all...... felt encouraged to continue collaboration around science. During the interviews, the teachers emphasize various elements apparently connected to concrete challenges they each experience in their professional work. Implications in relation to the design of PD are discussed....

Science teachers' meaning-making when involved in a school-based professional development project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

2012-01-01

A group of teachers' meaning-making when they are collaboratively analyzing artifacts from practice in local science classrooms in a school-based professional development (PD) project is examined through repeated interviews and represented as meaning-makig maps. The interpretation of the teachers......' meaning-making includes both their reference to outcomes from the project and their expressed ideas about teaching and learning of science. All four teachers refer to experiences from experimenting in their classrooms and interpret the collected artifacts in relation to students' learning. Furthermore......, they all felt encouraged to continue collaboration around science. During the interviews, the teachers emphasize various elements apparently connected to concrete challenges they each experience in their professional work. Implications in relation to the design of PD are discussed....

Evaluating the High School Lunar Research Projects Program

Science.gov (United States)

Shaner, A. J.; Shupla, C.; Shipp, S.; Allen, J.; Kring, D. A.

2013-01-01

The Center for Lunar Science and Exploration (CLSE), a collaboration between the Lunar and Planetary Institute and NASA s Johnson Space Center, is one of seven member teams of the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI). In addition to research and exploration activities, the CLSE team is deeply invested in education and outreach. In support of NASA s and NLSI s objective to train the next generation of scientists, CLSE s High School Lunar Research Projects program is a conduit through which high school students can actively participate in lunar science and learn about pathways into scientific careers. The objectives of the program are to enhance 1) student views of the nature of science; 2) student attitudes toward science and science careers; and 3) student knowledge of lunar science. In its first three years, approximately 168 students and 28 teachers from across the United States have participated in the program. Before beginning their research, students undertake Moon 101, a guided-inquiry activity designed to familiarize them with lunar science and exploration. Following Moon 101, and guided by a lunar scientist mentor, teams choose a research topic, ask their own research question, and design their own research approach to direct their investigation. At the conclusion of their research, teams present their results to a panel of lunar scientists. This panel selects four posters to be presented at the annual Lunar Science Forum held at NASA Ames. The top scoring team travels to the forum to present their research in person.

Comenius Project: Are e-Learning Collaborations of High School Students across Europe in Maths Possible?

Science.gov (United States)

Simonovits, Reinhard; McElroy, Jim; O'Loughlin, James; Townsend, Colin

2013-01-01

The overall aim of the project is to allow for the collaboration of high school students of different European countries on small, selected maths topics. This involves the use of technology, student mobility and English language competency. Benefits are also expected to accrue to teachers of mathematics by providing the opportunity to work with…

The self-created outdoor class-room "Michelbachpark": Practical experiences of 5 years project work in every-day school life

Science.gov (United States)

Brake, Jens; Istler, Katharina; Kisser, Thomas

2015-04-01

"Economy and ethos" is the guiding principle of the Evangelic Paul-Distelbarth-Gymnasia in Obersulm, located in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Starting with class 5, the pupils have every year another project to accomplish. Since 5 years, the project in class 10 is the creation of a 1.35 hectare outdoor-class-room near the Michelbach, the "Michelbachpark". The "Michelbachpark" is a consortium project of the school, the community Obersulm, the company Cartondruck and the forestry commission office of the county Heilbronn. The focus of the project "Michelbachpark" is on several aspects of sustainable development. In the years from 2009 to 2013, there was a highlight on the ecological aspect. Since 2012, the social facet is the centre. The aim is to construct an area, which is a place for recreation and also a learning-place for people interested in nature science. Therefore the pupils designed and manufactured different experimental set-ups for younger pupils from about age 6 to 14, and some experiential education stations. Starting from 2014, the outdoor class-room is going to be combined with the use of mobile devices. Several problems aroused in the design-work: - Pupils from age 6 to 14 do not have a mobile device for certain. - The pupils maybe do not know how to handle a mobile device. - The mobile internet in the rural area may not be fast enough for about 30 pupils. - Someone has to pay for the mobile devices and the mobile internet, if it would be used. So, there is need for easily manageable mobile device and also easy manageable application, and the data should be provided without ongoing costs and with acceptable speed. Since the media plays a great part in the prize-winning curricula of the school, a set of tablets is available. The founded solution could be a blue print for other, similar outdoor education settings: The learning modules are working with QR-Codes and the data will be provided through a temporarily available local Webserver. Hence the

Evaluating the High School Lunar Research Projects Program

Science.gov (United States)

Shaner, A. J.; Shipp, S. S.; Allen, J.; Kring, D. A.

2012-12-01

The Center for Lunar Science and Exploration (CLSE), a collaboration between the Lunar and Planetary Institute and NASA's Johnson Space Center, is one of seven member teams of the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI). In addition to research and exploration activities, the CLSE team is deeply invested in education and outreach. In support of NASA's and NLSI's objective to train the next generation of scientists, CLSE's High School Lunar Research Projects program is a conduit through which high school students can actively participate in lunar science and learn about pathways into scientific careers. The objectives of the program are to enhance 1) student views of the nature of science; 2) student attitudes toward science and science careers; and 3) student knowledge of lunar science. In its first three years, approximately 140 students and 28 teachers from across the United States have participated in the program. Before beginning their research, students undertake Moon 101, a guided-inquiry activity designed to familiarize them with lunar science and exploration. Following Moon 101, and guided by a lunar scientist mentor, teams choose a research topic, ask their own research question, and design their own research approach to direct their investigation. At the conclusion of their research, teams present their results to a panel of lunar scientists. This panel selects four posters to be presented at the annual Lunar Science Forum held at NASA Ames. The top scoring team travels to the forum to present their research. Three instruments have been developed or modified to evaluate the extent to which the High School Lunar Research Projects meets its objectives. These three instruments measure changes in student views of the nature of science, attitudes towards science and science careers, and knowledge of lunar science. Exit surveys for teachers, students, and mentors were also developed to elicit general feedback about the program and its impact. The nature of science

Research and partnerships with schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Svirydzenka, Nadzeya; Aitken, Jill; Dogra, Nisha

2016-08-01

Despite the quantity of research on child and adolescent mental health being done in schools, little output has focused on the practical aspects of recruiting schools and students into a study. Furthermore, there is limited knowledge on how to develop and sustain productive and mutually beneficial partnerships with schools after the project finishes. A large study examining prevalence of mental health problems in young people involving nine schools is used as an example for the procedure of recruitment and carrying out a research project, while developing and sustaining partnerships with schools. While recruiting the schools, a three-stage model was developed that corresponded closely to the school's needs and existing demands. The suggested procedure for the study, thus, closely reflected the varying existing cultures of participating schools. Partnerships, developed as a result of the project, were used in developing further projects and interventions for promoting good mental health in schools. Rather than a blanket research recruitment and procedural approach with an end to school involvement at the end of the project, the paper advocates for a deeper understanding of the schools' internal culture for improved recruitment and study outcomes. Developed partnerships, when sustained past the completion of research, prove to be a useful tool in applying the findings in promoting good mental health in schools and continuing research further.

2-d LIF measurements of the thermo-acoustic phenomena in lean premixed flames of a gas turbine combustor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bombach, R.; Hubschmid, W.; Inauen, A.; Kreutner, W.; Schenker, S.; Flohr, P.; Haffner, K.; Motz, C.; Paschereit, C.O.; Schuermans, B.; Zajadatz, M.

2003-03-01

Thermo-acoustic phenomena give rise to pressure oscillations in lean premixed flames of gas turbines at distinct frequencies characteristic of the burner design and its operation. They can lead to early materials ageing or even severe damages. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the underlying principles is fundamental for gas turbine design and improvement. In order to study the coupling between the heat release and the acoustics in the combustor as well as their feedback to the fuel/air premixing, upstream of the combustion chamber, phase-locked 2-D laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) measurements of the hydroxyl radical (OH) and acetone, respectively, have been performed. These experiments were carried out on a test rig equipped with a commercial 700 kW burner and a combustion chamber of UV transparent quartz, using a pulsed Nd:YAG/dye laser system and an intensified CCD camera for detection. Intensity variations in the integral OH LIF signal of up to {+-}10 % for one oscillation period are observed for peak sound pressure of 6 mbar and more. In addition, the phase-averaged position of the flame zone varies in axial direction, i.e. the main flow direction. The analysis shows that the observed flame motion is not only due to the acoustic motion of the gas itself, but is caused by a change of the flame velocity relative to the gas. (author)

Teachers’ use of a school library in a South African township school: closing the literacy gap

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicoline Wessels

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This post-project study investigates the use of the school library at a primary school by teachers at the end of a literacyproject, without the guidance of the project facilitators at the school. The article gives background information about theAcademic Literacy Research Project Unit (ALRU from the University of South Africa which established a school library atschool P as part of the literacy research project. The aim of the Literacy Project was to improve literacy levels and createa strong reading culture that would later have a positive impact on the academic progress of learners at school P. TheLiteracy Project involved training teachers in literacy and reading matters. In addition to the teacher training, a schoollibrarian was trained to manage the school library. At the onset of the post-project study, self-administered questionnaireswere drawn up to collect data on the teachers’ school library practices after withdrawal of the project team. Thequestionnaires included qualitative and quantitative questions. The findings suggest that the school library is being utilisedand appreciated as an integral part of the learning process; however, the teachers seem to need further exposure andtraining on information literacy. The authors hope that the information and interpretations provided in this article will behelpful in achieving the goal of quality education in South Africa and especially in improving the reading and literacy levelsof all learners.

Cosmic Rays and Research in Schools: One School's Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Chaffer, Andy; Tedd, Bernie

2016-01-01

The High School Project on Astrophysics Research with Cosmics (HiSPARC) is an international project in which secondary schools and academic institutions join forces to form a network of detectors to measure cosmic rays with extremely high energy. We present results of research done by students at the King Edward VI High School For Girls,…

Birds in the playground: Evaluating the effectiveness of an urban environmental education project in enhancing school children's awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards local wildlife.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Rachel L; Eberstein, Katie; Scott, Dawn M

2018-01-01

Children nowadays, particularly in urban areas, are more disconnected from nature than ever before, leading to a large-scale "extinction of experience" with the natural world. Yet there are many potential benefits from children interacting with nature first-hand, including via outdoor learning opportunities. Urban environmental education programmes typically aim to increase awareness and knowledge of local biodiversity and to promote positive attitudes and behaviour towards the environment. However, limited research has been conducted evaluating to what extent these interventions achieve their goals. Here, we explore and assess the influence of a six-week bird-feeding and monitoring project conducted within school grounds ("Bird Buddies") on individual awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards birds by primary school children. This initiative was conducted across eight (sub-)urban primary schools within Brighton and Hove (UK), with 220 participating children (aged 7 to 10). Via pre- and post-project questionnaires, we found evidence for enhanced awareness of local biodiversity, alongside significant gains in both bird identification knowledge and attitudes, which were greatest for children with little prior exposure to nature. Many children expressed a keenness to continue improving the environmental value of their school grounds and to apply elements of the project at home. Student project evaluation scores were consistently positive. Mirroring this, participating teachers endorsed the project as a positive learning experience for their students. One year after the project, several schools were continuing to feed and watch birds. Collectively, the findings from this study highlight the multiple benefits that can be derived from engagement with a relatively short outdoor environmental activity. We therefore believe that such interventions, if repeated locally/longer term, could enhance children's experience with nature in urban settings with combined positive

Reinforcement at last years of elementary school assessment the inclusion in the political- pedagogical project.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LEANDRO JACQUES MARTINS

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The reports produced by the Education Ministry, after the Prova Brasil results, applied to 8º and 9º grade students in the Portuguese and Mathematics subject shows the Brazilians students learning difficulties in these areas. The Prova Brasil results applied in 2013 shows that in Portuguese only 28,7% of the students graduates at elementary school with the appropriate learning and in mathematics this rate falls to 16,4%. The Brazilian educational legislation determines the minimum pattern at the education quality and the compulsory requirement of reinforcement classes to students who has learning difficulties. Many authors and the legislation establish the pedagogical time and space expansion necessity. The reinforcement, assessment the inclusion in the political- pedagogical project, is an important alternative to the mathematic and Portuguese learning difficulties confront. With the purpose of know the difficulties faced by the Mathematics and Portuguese teachers at the last years of elementary school and the schools reinforcement adoption, interviews were carried out with docents of both areas who works at two public schools at Barra do Quaraí.

The international school nurse asthma project: barriers related to asthma management in schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Svavarsdottir, Erla Kolbrun; Garwick, Ann W; Anderson, Lori S; Looman, Wendy S; Seppelt, Ann; Orlygsdottir, Brynja

2013-05-01

This article is a report of an international study of barriers to asthma care from the perspectives of school nurses in Reykjavik, Iceland and St. Paul, Minnesota, in the context of their schools, communities and countries. Globally, asthma affects the health and school performance of many adolescents. School nurses play a key role by providing care to adolescents with asthma in school settings. Understanding universal barriers to asthma management in schools is important for developing interventions that are effective in multiple societal contexts. Exploratory, descriptive study. Parallel studies were conducted from September 2008-January 2009, through six focus groups among school nurses (n = 32, in Reykjavik n = 17 and St. Paul n = 15) who were managing asthma in adolescents. Focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim in English or Icelandic. The Icelandic transcripts were translated into English. Descriptive content analytic techniques were used to systematically identify and categorize types of barriers to asthma care. School nurses in both countries identified common barriers, such as time constraints, communication challenges and school staff barriers. The primary difference was that St. Paul school nurses identified more socio-economic and health access barriers than school nurses in Reykjavik. Greater cultural and linguistic diversity and socio-economic differences in the student population in St. Paul and lack of universal healthcare coverage in the US contributed to school nurses' need to focus more on asthma management than school nurses in Reykjavik, who were able to focus more on asthma prevention and education. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Challenge Study: A Project-Based Learning on a Wireless Communication System at Technical High School

Science.gov (United States)

Terasawa, Ikuo

2016-01-01

The challenge study is a project based learning curriculum at Technical High School aimed at the construction of a wireless communication system. The first period was engineering issues in the construction of an artificial satellite and the second period was a positional locating system based on the general purpose wire-less device--ZigBee device.…

The Cosmic Ray Observatory Project: Results of a Summer High-School Student, Teacher, University Scientist Partnership Using a Capstone Research Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Shell, Duane F.; Snow, Gregory R.; Claes, Daniel R.

2011-01-01

This paper reports results from evaluation of the Cosmic Ray Observatory Project (CROP), a student, teacher, scientist partnership to engage high-school students and teachers in school based cosmic ray research. Specifically, this study examined whether an intensive summer workshop experience could effectively prepare teacher-student teams to…

Human Development across the Lifespan. A Pilot Intergenerational Project in Three Pennsylvania School Districts. Final Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Christopher R.; Balavage, Valerie

An evaluation determined the impact on participants of pilot intergenerational programs in the Central Greene, Quaker Valley, and Titusville school districts in western Pennsylvania. It examined how participation in project activities changed students' attitudes about older adults and aging. A four-part questionnaire consisted of the following:…

Succesful Experience of the Project "ASTROTOP" in Israel: Space-astonomy Science education in form of independent reserch projects of pupils

Science.gov (United States)

Pustil'Nik, Lev

We present more then 10 year experience of educational project in Space/Astrophysics/Environment field, realized on the base of National Science- Educational Center "Blossoms of Science" of the Jordan Valley College. Our approach is based on the natural curiosity of children as driver of their self-development from the first minutes of their life and even in adult state. This approach shift center of the weight in educational process from direct lectures, sermons, explanation from teacher to children on own attempts of children to investigate problem, what is interesting for them, by themselves (individually or in group). Our approach includes four levels of the projects: "nano-projects" for children garden and basic school (up to 10-12 years), "micro-projects" for intermediate school (12-16 years), "mini-projects" for high school (16-18 years), and "macro-projects" for the best graduates high schools and students of colleges (17-22 years). These levels and projects are interconnected one with another and sometimes participants, started on the micro-projects level in intermediate school, continue their activity up to macro-projects of the graduate's diploma level. For each level we organize courses for preparation of the teachers and instructors, interested in the using of our receipts, and published books and brochures for them. The content of our activity for different levels: a) Level of kinder gardens/basic schools- special software with interactive movie -nano-projects; b) Level of intermediate school: "Days of Science" in tens schools of Israel- first contact with astronomy; c) Summer astronomy camps (4-5 of one week camps on 200-300 pupils from all country) with introduce to astronomy and with preparation of micro-projects on themes - first successful experience of research in real science fields (hundreds projects); d) ASTROTOP - one year program of preparation of short projects, with solution on the quality level of chosen astrophysical problem - mini-projects

The meaning-making of science teachers participating in a school-based PD project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

The meaning-making of four science teachers involved in collaboratively analyzing video and other artifacts from practice in local science classrooms in a school-based professional development project is examined through repeated interviews and represented as meaning-making maps. The research aim...... is to examine how these collaborative inquiries make sense to the teachers: what they identify as outcomes, how they make use of inputs and support in their classrooms and in collegial interactions and how their ideas about teaching and learning of science might play a role. An adapted version...... learning of science in concrete situations. They refer to outcomes from sharing experiments with new tools and materials and refer to being encouraged to continue collaboration around science at the school. Beside this the teachers emphasize various outcomes apparently for each of them in areas where...

The meaning-making of science teachers participating in as school based PD project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

The meaning-making of four science teachers involved in collaboratively analyzing video and other artifacts from practice in local science classrooms in a school-based professional development project is examined through repeated interviews and represented as meaning-making maps. The research aim...... is to examine how these collaborative inquiries make sense to the teachers: what they identify as outcomes, how they make use of inputs and support in their classrooms and in collegial interactions and how their ideas about teaching and learning of science might play a role. An adapted version...... learning of science in concrete situations. They refer to outcomes from sharing experiments with new tools and materials and refer to being encouraged to continue collaboration around science at the school. Beside this the teachers emphasize various outcomes apparently for each of them in areas where...

[Mental health promotion in school with school coaches: evaluation of a pilot project].

Science.gov (United States)

Corrieri, Sandro; Conrad, Ines; Riedel-Heller, Steffi G

2015-03-01

How did the work of four school coaches in five Saxonian schools influence children's and adolescents' psychosocial development? At three points in time, students at intervention (N = 292) and control schools (N = 300) were evaluated concerning their social distance towards mentally ill people and their help-seeking behavior in case of crisis. The survey also included teachers (N = 323) and parents (N = 370). Data analysis was done descriptively and with random effects models. The social distance of the intervention schools declined significantly compared to the control schools. Having heard or read about mental illnesses, or personally knowing somebody affected by mental illness, led to less social distance and more empathy. Information increased the confidence to receive help from a professional consultant. Friends and family were the main reference groups. The school coaches were accepted as confidential persons and helped with school and private issues. The school coaches' work showed positive influence on all members of the school system. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Linking school effectiveness and school improvement : The background and outline of the project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Creemers, B.P.M.; Reezigt, G.J.

2005-01-01

School effectiveness and school improvement have different origins: School effectiveness is more directed to finding out "what works" in education and "why"; school improvement is practice and policy oriented and intended to change education in the desired direction. However, in their orientation to

A Correlational Study Assessing the Relationships among Information Technology Project Complexity, Project Complication, and Project Success

Science.gov (United States)

Williamson, David J.

2011-01-01

The specific problem addressed in this study was the low success rate of information technology (IT) projects in the U.S. Due to the abstract nature and inherent complexity of software development, IT projects are among the most complex projects encountered. Most existing schools of project management theory are based on the rational systems…

UNH Project SMART 2017: Space Science for High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, C. W.; Broad, L.; Goelzer, S.; Levergood, R.; Lugaz, N.; Moebius, E.

2017-12-01

Every summer for the past 26 years the University of New Hampshire (UNH) has run a month-long, residential outreach program for high school students considering careers in mathematics, science, or engineering. Space science is one of the modules. Students work directly with UNH faculty performing original work with real spacecraft data and hardware and present the results of that effort at the end of the program. This year the student research projects used data from the Messenger, STEREO, and Triana missions. In addition, the students build and fly a high-altitude balloon payload with instruments of their own construction. Students learn circuit design and construction, microcontroller programming, and core atmospheric and space science along with fundamental concepts in space physics and engineering. Our payload design has evolved significantly since the first flight of a simple rectangular box and now involves a stable descent vehicle that does not require a parachute. Our flight hardware includes an on-board flight control computer, in-flight autonomous control and data acquisition of multiple student-built instruments, and real-time camera images sent to ground. This year we developed, built and flew a successful line cutter based on GPS location information that prevents our payload from falling into the ocean while also separating the payload from the balloon remains for a cleaner descent. We will describe that new line cutter design and implementation along with the shielded Geiger counters that we flew as part of our cosmic ray air shower experiment. This is a program that can be used as a model for other schools to follow and that high schools can initiate. More information can be found at .

The GeoBus project: a mobile Earth science outreach project for secondary schools in the UK

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, R. A.; Roper, K. A.; Macfarlane, D.; Pike, C.

2013-12-01

GeoBus is an educational outreach project that was developed in 2012 by the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of St Andrews. It is sponsored jointly by industry and the UK Research Councils (NERC and EPSRC). The aims of GeoBus are to support the teaching of Earth Science in secondary (high) schools by providing teaching resources that are not readily available to educators, to inspire young learners by incorporating new science research outcomes in teaching activities, and to provide a bridge between industry, higher education institutions, research councils and schools. These linkages are important for introducing career opportunities in Earth sciences. Since its launch, GeoBus has visited over 140 different schools across the length and breadth of Scotland. Over 20,000 pupils will have been involved in practical hands-on Earth science learning activities by December 2013, including many in remote and disadvantaged regions. The resources that GeoBus brings to schools include all the materials and equipment needed to run workshops, field excursions and Enterprise Challenges. GeoBus provides 16 workshops which can be adapted for different learning levels. Workshops are 50 to 80 minute sessions for up to 30 pupils and topics include minerals, rocks, fossils, geological time, natural resources, climate change, volcanoes, earthquakes, and geological mapping. As with all GeoBus activities, the inclusion of equipment and technology otherwise unavailable to schools substantially increases the engagement of pupils in workshops. Field excursions are popular, as many teachers have little or no field trainng and feel unable to lead this type of activity. The excursions comprise half or full day sessions for up to 30 pupils and are tailored to cover the local geology or geomorphology. The Enterprise Challenges are half or full day sessions for up to 100 pupils. Current topics are Drilling for Oil, Renewable Energy, a Journey to Mars and Scotland

Memory Space / Time Lived in Representation to Mental Maps: The Case of School Project "our neighborhood, our place"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucinei Pereira da Silva

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The representations and memory of living space are essential to developing mental maps and cartographic documents. In this regard this investigation as a primary objective to understand how mind maps can contribute pedagogically classes in Geography and History as well, breaking the dichotomy space / time. From the point of view of theoretical and methodological the research relied on the analysis of the school project “Our Neighborhood, Our Place” developed at the Municipal School “Vereador Hamilton Teodoro” in Governador Valadares (MG, along with a group of 7th grades from elementary school and the articulation of authors who discuss the concepts of representation, memory, space and place.

Systemic impediments to the implementation of Project Based Learning in middle and high school settings

Science.gov (United States)

Bouilly, Delphine

This study examines the potential structural impediments to the reform movement of Project Based Learning (PBL) that are presented to teachers by the inherent nature of the school system, as well as the ways in which teachers address these systemic barriers when attempting to implement PBL in their classrooms. Much of the current research that is aimed at investigating the transition from traditional teacher-centered learning to student-centered PBL---whether PBL as problem based or project based learning---has focused on the transition issues at the level of individual teacher/student. Systemic barriers, on the other hand, are those features that are inherent to the structure of the system, and that pose---by their very nature---physical and/or political circumstances that are inconsistent with the student-centered and collaborative goals of PBL. It is not enough for teachers, parents, students, and administrators to be philosophically aligned with PBL, if the encompassing school system is structurally incompatible with the method. This study attempts to make the structural impediments to PBL explicit, to determine whether or not the existing school system is amenable to the successful implementation of PBL. Because the universal features of PBL coupled with the ubiquity of factory-model schools is likely to create recurring themes, it is plausible that this study may in fact be analytically generalizable to situations beyond those described by the populations and contexts in this set of purposive, multiple cases. One of the themes that emerged from this study was the role of rural poverty as an underlying cause of student apathy. More research may be needed to see whether science, as taught through PBL and in collaboration with practical arts courses, might be able to address some of the social, gendered, and educational needs of impoverished rural students and their families.

Scientist-teacher collaboration: Integration of real data from a coastal wetland into a high school life science ecology-based research project

Science.gov (United States)

Hagan, Wendy L.

Project G.R.O.W. is an ecology-based research project developed for high school biology students. The curriculum was designed based on how students learn and awareness of the nature of science and scientific practices so that students would design and carry out scientific investigations using real data from a local coastal wetland. This was a scientist-teacher collaboration between a CSULB biologist and high school biology teacher. Prior to implementing the three-week research project, students had multiple opportunities to practice building requisite skills via 55 lessons focusing on the nature of science, scientific practices, technology, Common Core State Standards of reading, writing, listening and speaking, and Next Generation Science Standards. Project G.R.O.W. culminated with student generated research papers and oral presentations. Outcomes reveal students struggle with constructing explanations and the use of Excel to create meaningful graphs. They showed gains in data organization, analysis, teamwork and aspects of the nature of science.

The Effect of Project Based Learning in Teaching EFL Vocabulary to Young Learners of English: The Case of Pre-School Children

Science.gov (United States)

Kimsesiz, Fatma; Dolgunso¨z, Emrah; Konca, M. Yavuz

2017-01-01

English language teaching has newly been introduced to pre-school curriculum in Turkey. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of teaching EFL vocabulary to pre-school children through Project Based Learning (PBL). For this purpose, an experimental design, consisted of observation checklists, exam scores and a short survey,…

Children as Agents of Social and Community Change: Enhancing Youth Empowerment through Participation in a School-Based Social Activism Project

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Harding, Susan; Baber, Ashley; Hilvers, Julie; Hobbs, Nakisha; Maly, Michael

2018-01-01

School-based social activism projects have much potential to foster civic engagement, self-efficacy, and positive youth development. Social activism projects may also be a means by which children, a group that is disempowered due to their age and dependence on adults, might seek to positively impact social and community problems. The current study…

Thomas Edison Accelerated Elementary School.

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, Henry M.; Chasin, Gene

This paper describes early outcomes of a Sacramento, California, elementary school that participated in the Accelerated Schools Project. The school, which serves many minority and poor students, began training for the project in 1992. Accelerated Schools were designed to advance the learning rate of students through a gifted and talented approach,…

Gaps between Beliefs, Perceptions, and Practices: The Every Teacher Project on LGBTQ-Inclusive Education in Canadian Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Catherine G.; Meyer, Elizabeth J.; Peter, Tracey; Ristock, Janice; Short, Donn; Campbell, Christopher

2016-01-01

The Every Teacher Project involved large-scale survey research conducted to identify the beliefs, perspectives, and practices of Kindergarten to Grade 12 educators in Canadian public schools regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ)-inclusive education. Comparisons are made between LGBTQ and cisgender heterosexual…

Birds in the playground: Evaluating the effectiveness of an urban environmental education project in enhancing school children’s awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards local wildlife

Science.gov (United States)

Eberstein, Katie; Scott, Dawn M.

2018-01-01

Children nowadays, particularly in urban areas, are more disconnected from nature than ever before, leading to a large-scale “extinction of experience” with the natural world. Yet there are many potential benefits from children interacting with nature first-hand, including via outdoor learning opportunities. Urban environmental education programmes typically aim to increase awareness and knowledge of local biodiversity and to promote positive attitudes and behaviour towards the environment. However, limited research has been conducted evaluating to what extent these interventions achieve their goals. Here, we explore and assess the influence of a six-week bird-feeding and monitoring project conducted within school grounds (“Bird Buddies”) on individual awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards birds by primary school children. This initiative was conducted across eight (sub-)urban primary schools within Brighton and Hove (UK), with 220 participating children (aged 7 to 10). Via pre- and post-project questionnaires, we found evidence for enhanced awareness of local biodiversity, alongside significant gains in both bird identification knowledge and attitudes, which were greatest for children with little prior exposure to nature. Many children expressed a keenness to continue improving the environmental value of their school grounds and to apply elements of the project at home. Student project evaluation scores were consistently positive. Mirroring this, participating teachers endorsed the project as a positive learning experience for their students. One year after the project, several schools were continuing to feed and watch birds. Collectively, the findings from this study highlight the multiple benefits that can be derived from engagement with a relatively short outdoor environmental activity. We therefore believe that such interventions, if repeated locally/longer term, could enhance children’s experience with nature in urban settings with combined

Student nurses as school nurse extenders.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossman, Carol L; Dood, Florence V; Squires, Darcy A

2012-12-01

The severe underuse of school nurses leaves students with unaddressed health needs that impact their safety and learning ability. An undergraduate pediatric clinical focusing on nursing students and the role of a school nurse in an elementary school setting can be a unique approach to combining the needs of school children and educating student nurses. One school of nursing created such a project to help address these needs and collect data on the activities student nurses performed in school nurse role and their impact on student health. This project serves as both a practice improvement project and an innovation in pediatric clinical education. The purposes of this project were to quantify baccalaureate nursing student activities related to the school nurse role and to evaluate the results that have the potential to impact on student health in an urban elementary school. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Acadia Learning Project: Lessons Learned from Engaging High School Teachers and Students in Citizen Science Supporting National Parks

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, S. J.; Zoellick, B.; Davis, Y.; Lindsey, E.

2009-12-01

In 2007 the authors initiated a citizen science research project, supported with funding from the Maine Department of Education, designed to extend research at Acadia National Park to a broader geographic area while also providing high school students and teachers with an opportunity to engage in authentic research in cooperation with working scientists. The scientific focus of the work has been on providing information about the mercury burden of organisms at different trophic levels across different geographic and environmental settings. The pedagogical focus has been on providing students with immersion in a substantial, field-based project, including background research, hypothesis formulation, data collection and analysis, and presentation of research findings. Starting work with 6 teachers in two schools the first year, the project expanded to involve more than 20 teachers and 350 students in a dozen schools in its second year. In coming years, with support from NOAA and cooperation from other National Parks in the region, the project will expand to include work in other states along the coast of the Gulf of Maine. In this paper the authors describe evolution in the use of the Internet over the first two years of the project, a sharpened focus on professional development for teachers, survey results regarding student views of the nature of science, the importance of focusing on rigorous, useful data collection from an educational perspective, success in establishing that samples collected by students are useful in research, the disjuncture between scientific and pedagogical outcomes, an assessment of the value of student poster presentations, and lessons learned about preparation and use of curriculum support materials. The authors also describe future directions, which include an increased focus on professional development and student work with graphs, a narrower focus in sample collection, and increased use of the Internet to provide participating teachers

DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF A SCORE™ DEMO2.1 THERMO-ACOUSTIC ENGINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BAIMAN CHEN

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The early low-cost, wood burning Thermo-Acoustic Engine (TAE known as Demo2.0-build-1 was developed by SCORE™ at the UK Centre and was capable of achieving 22.7 Watts of electricity. This prototype was limited to an operating temperature of about 300oC and due to excessive leaks could not operate continuously above ambient pressure. To absorb a thermal heat input of 4.4 kW from the burning wood so as to fulfil the required acoustic power, the Hot Heat Exchanger (HHX requires heating to the highest possible temperature. Therefore, a corrugated stainless steel plate HHX design that maximises heating surface area was adopted to the current Demo2 TAE design. In addition, the system is often pressurised to achieve higher acoustic intensity. Rigorous sealing of the system at high temperature is also required. A Demo2.1 TAE design based on the Demo2 TAE design and its prototype which is developed recently by the SCORE™ Centre in Malaysia was successfully constructed and well integrated with the stove. During the early construction and assembly process, fabrication difficulties and serious leak problems around the HHX’s edges were found when the apparatus operated at high temperatures. This is because the uneven geometrical HHX (convolution profile makes it difficult and relatively costly to be sealed. The Demo2.1 TAE is focused on the sealing efficiency and effective manufacturing cost by meantime to allow further modification variation. The design was made to adopt the local manufacturing technologies and materials available or easy to access in Malaysia. It also aims to minimise the parasitic heat losses to lower the system onset temperature. By removing the Linear Alternator and Tuning Volume from the system, preliminary measurements shown that the apparatus was oscillating at the frequency of 70 Hz. A much lower onset temperature was observed at around 144oC for the new configuration when the apparatus was oscillating at approximately 200 Pa

Financing Information Communication Technology Projects in Secondary Schools E-Learning: A Case of Mombasa County, Kenya

Science.gov (United States)

Wangila, Violet Muyoka

2015-01-01

Information communication and technology (ICTs) has become common place entities in all aspects of life. Within the education sector, ICT has begun to have a special attention although not extensively as in other fields both globally and locally. Limited funds still presents a challenge in rolling out the e-school projects in Kenyan secondary…

Democracy Project: Building Citizenship through Schools | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Citizenship education in schools is a powerful tool to build people's ability to demand recognition of their ... and foster debate on strengthening democracy and citizenship through school education. ... Inclusive growth: Buzzword or innovation?

The Headache Action Plan Project for Youth (HAPPY): School Nurses as Facilitators of System Change in Pediatric Migraine Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Connelly, Mark; Bickel, Jennifer; Wingert, Tammie; Galemore, Cynthia

2018-01-01

Migraine is a common health problem in youth that is ranked highest for disability among neurological conditions and is one of the leading reasons for school absences. Children with migraines frequently are seen by the school nurse for care, sometimes before ever being seen by another healthcare provider for evaluation and treatment. As such, school nurses have the unique opportunity to provide education and resources to children with migraines and their family. This article provides information on the Headache Action Plan Program for Youth (HAPPY), a project involving the provision of live and online migraine education and management resources to school nurses, children, families, and primary care providers in an effort to improve migraine recognition and care in the community.

K-12 Project Management Education: NASA Hunch Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Joe; Zhan, Wei; Leonard, Matt

2013-01-01

To increase the interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) among high school students, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) created the "High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware" (HUNCH) program. To enhance the experience of the students, NASA sponsored two additional projects that require…

Are School Absences Correlated with Influenza Surveillance Data in England? Results from Decipher My Data—A Research Project Conducted through Scientific Engagement with Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Aldridge, Robert W.; Hayward, Andrew C.; Field, Nigel; Warren-Gash, Charlotte; Smith, Colette; Pebody, Richard; Fleming, Declan; McCracken, Shane

2016-01-01

Background School aged children are a key link in the transmission of influenza. Most cases have little or no interaction with health services and are therefore missed by the majority of existing surveillance systems. As part of a public engagement with science project, this study aimed to establish a web-based system for the collection of routine school absence data and determine if school absence prevalence was correlated with established surveillance measures for circulating influenza. Methods We collected data for two influenza seasons (2011/12 and 2012/13). The primary outcome was daily school absence prevalence (weighted to make it nationally representative) for children aged 11 to 16. School absence prevalence was triangulated graphically and through univariable linear regression to Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) influenza like illness (ILI) episode incidence rate, national microbiological surveillance data on the proportion of samples positive for influenza (A+B) and with Rhinovirus, RSV and laboratory confirmed cases of Norovirus. Results 27 schools submitted data over two respiratory seasons. During the first season, levels of influenza measured by school absence prevalence and established surveillance were low. In the 2012/13 season, a peak of school absence prevalence occurred in week 51, and week 1 in RCGP ILI surveillance data. Linear regression showed a strong association between the school absence prevalence and RCGP ILI (All ages, and 5–14 year olds), laboratory confirmed cases of influenza A & B, and weak evidence for a linear association with Rhinovirus and Norovirus. Interpretation This study provides initial evidence for using routine school illness absence prevalence as a novel tool for influenza surveillance. The network of web-based data collection platforms we established through active engagement provides an innovative model of conducting scientific research and could be used for a wide range of infectious disease studies

Are School Absences Correlated with Influenza Surveillance Data in England? Results from Decipher My Data-A Research Project Conducted through Scientific Engagement with Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Aldridge, Robert W; Hayward, Andrew C; Field, Nigel; Warren-Gash, Charlotte; Smith, Colette; Pebody, Richard; Fleming, Declan; McCracken, Shane

2016-01-01

School aged children are a key link in the transmission of influenza. Most cases have little or no interaction with health services and are therefore missed by the majority of existing surveillance systems. As part of a public engagement with science project, this study aimed to establish a web-based system for the collection of routine school absence data and determine if school absence prevalence was correlated with established surveillance measures for circulating influenza. We collected data for two influenza seasons (2011/12 and 2012/13). The primary outcome was daily school absence prevalence (weighted to make it nationally representative) for children aged 11 to 16. School absence prevalence was triangulated graphically and through univariable linear regression to Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) influenza like illness (ILI) episode incidence rate, national microbiological surveillance data on the proportion of samples positive for influenza (A+B) and with Rhinovirus, RSV and laboratory confirmed cases of Norovirus. 27 schools submitted data over two respiratory seasons. During the first season, levels of influenza measured by school absence prevalence and established surveillance were low. In the 2012/13 season, a peak of school absence prevalence occurred in week 51, and week 1 in RCGP ILI surveillance data. Linear regression showed a strong association between the school absence prevalence and RCGP ILI (All ages, and 5-14 year olds), laboratory confirmed cases of influenza A & B, and weak evidence for a linear association with Rhinovirus and Norovirus. This study provides initial evidence for using routine school illness absence prevalence as a novel tool for influenza surveillance. The network of web-based data collection platforms we established through active engagement provides an innovative model of conducting scientific research and could be used for a wide range of infectious disease studies in the future.

Game Development as Students’ Engagement Project in High School Mathematics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryan V. Dio

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The general expectancies of the enhanced basic education curriculum in the Philippines focuses on the performance standards which can be expressed when students are able to produce products as evidence that they can transfer or use their learning in real-life situations. One way to assess students achievement is through an engaging activities that would require them apply the knowledge and skills acquired in the subject as the outcome of their learning. This descriptive method of research employed content analysis procedures and survey in describing and assessing the significant feature of the mathematical games as potential learning devices developed by the high school students through an engaging task assignment. It utilized purposive sampling techniques in the selection of the respondents and the submitted write-ups of mathematical games for analysis as typical sample in this study. The study revealed that the high school students developed mathematical board games with different objectives and mechanics as inspired by their learning, experiences, hobbies, and interest. Mathematical concepts and processes along numbers and number sense, measurements, algebra, geometry, and probability and statistics were integrated in the game through question card and mechanics of the game itself. The groups of students and teachers have high level of agreement as to the workmanship and usability, mechanics and organization, relevance to instruction/learning, and fun and enjoyment of the game as revealed by their assessment from very satisfactory to excellent level. Results implied that teachers in any subject area may use students’ engagement project as teaching strategy to produce products and performance that would provide evidence of students’ learning. The school curriculum makers may consider the students’ output as subjects of research for further improvements, exhibits, and classroom utilization.

School-Within-A-School (Hawaii Nui High) Hilo High School Report 1969-70.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawaii Univ., Honolulu. Social Welfare Development and Research Center.

The second year of operation of Hilo High School's "School-Within-A-School" [SWS] program is evaluated in this paper. Planning, training, and program implementation are described in the document. The following are the results of the program: There was an improvement in attendance among project students when compared to their record in…

A Groundwater project for K-12 schools: Bringing research into the classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Rodak, C. M.; Walsh, M.; Gensic, J.

2011-12-01

Simple water quality test kits were used in a series of K-12 classrooms to demonstrate scientific processes and to motivate learning in K-12 students. While focused on student learning, this project also allowed collection of regional data on groundwater quality (primarily nitrate) in the study area. The project consisted of development and administration of a weeklong groundwater quality unit introduced to K-12 schools in northern Indiana and taught by a graduate student in an engineering discipline. The structure of the week started with an introduction to basic groundwater concepts modified for the specific grade level; for this project the students ranged from grades 4-12. In addition to groundwater basics, the purpose of the collection of the water quality data, as well as relevance to the research of the graduate student, were outlined. The students were then: (i) introduced to two simple water quality testing methods for nitrates, (ii) required to hypothesize as to which method will likely be "better" in application, and (iii) asked to practice using these two methods under laboratory conditions. Following practice, the students were asked to discuss their hypotheses relative to what was observed during the practice focusing on which testing method was more accurate and/or precise. The students were then encouraged to bring water samples from their home water system (many of which are on private wells) to analyze within groups. At the end of the week, the students shared their experience in this educational effort, as well as the resulting nitrate data from numerous groundwater wells (as collected by the students). Following these discussions the data were added to an online database housed on a wiki sponsored by the Notre Dame Extended Research Community (http://wellhead.michianastem.org/home). These data were plotted using the free service MapAList to visually demonstrate to the students the spatial distribution of the data and how their results have

The Transgenic RNAi Project at Harvard Medical School: Resources and Validation.

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins, Lizabeth A; Holderbaum, Laura; Tao, Rong; Hu, Yanhui; Sopko, Richelle; McCall, Kim; Yang-Zhou, Donghui; Flockhart, Ian; Binari, Richard; Shim, Hye-Seok; Miller, Audrey; Housden, Amy; Foos, Marianna; Randkelv, Sakara; Kelley, Colleen; Namgyal, Pema; Villalta, Christians; Liu, Lu-Ping; Jiang, Xia; Huan-Huan, Qiao; Wang, Xia; Fujiyama, Asao; Toyoda, Atsushi; Ayers, Kathleen; Blum, Allison; Czech, Benjamin; Neumuller, Ralph; Yan, Dong; Cavallaro, Amanda; Hibbard, Karen; Hall, Don; Cooley, Lynn; Hannon, Gregory J; Lehmann, Ruth; Parks, Annette; Mohr, Stephanie E; Ueda, Ryu; Kondo, Shu; Ni, Jian-Quan; Perrimon, Norbert

2015-11-01

To facilitate large-scale functional studies in Drosophila, the Drosophila Transgenic RNAi Project (TRiP) at Harvard Medical School (HMS) was established along with several goals: developing efficient vectors for RNAi that work in all tissues, generating a genome-scale collection of RNAi stocks with input from the community, distributing the lines as they are generated through existing stock centers, validating as many lines as possible using RT-qPCR and phenotypic analyses, and developing tools and web resources for identifying RNAi lines and retrieving existing information on their quality. With these goals in mind, here we describe in detail the various tools we developed and the status of the collection, which is currently composed of 11,491 lines and covering 71% of Drosophila genes. Data on the characterization of the lines either by RT-qPCR or phenotype is available on a dedicated website, the RNAi Stock Validation and Phenotypes Project (RSVP, http://www.flyrnai.org/RSVP.html), and stocks are available from three stock centers, the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (United States), National Institute of Genetics (Japan), and TsingHua Fly Center (China). Copyright © 2015 by the Genetics Society of America.

The Transgenic RNAi Project at Harvard Medical School: Resources and Validation

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins, Lizabeth A.; Holderbaum, Laura; Tao, Rong; Hu, Yanhui; Sopko, Richelle; McCall, Kim; Yang-Zhou, Donghui; Flockhart, Ian; Binari, Richard; Shim, Hye-Seok; Miller, Audrey; Housden, Amy; Foos, Marianna; Randkelv, Sakara; Kelley, Colleen; Namgyal, Pema; Villalta, Christians; Liu, Lu-Ping; Jiang, Xia; Huan-Huan, Qiao; Wang, Xia; Fujiyama, Asao; Toyoda, Atsushi; Ayers, Kathleen; Blum, Allison; Czech, Benjamin; Neumuller, Ralph; Yan, Dong; Cavallaro, Amanda; Hibbard, Karen; Hall, Don; Cooley, Lynn; Hannon, Gregory J.; Lehmann, Ruth; Parks, Annette; Mohr, Stephanie E.; Ueda, Ryu; Kondo, Shu; Ni, Jian-Quan; Perrimon, Norbert

2015-01-01

To facilitate large-scale functional studies in Drosophila, the Drosophila Transgenic RNAi Project (TRiP) at Harvard Medical School (HMS) was established along with several goals: developing efficient vectors for RNAi that work in all tissues, generating a genome-scale collection of RNAi stocks with input from the community, distributing the lines as they are generated through existing stock centers, validating as many lines as possible using RT–qPCR and phenotypic analyses, and developing tools and web resources for identifying RNAi lines and retrieving existing information on their quality. With these goals in mind, here we describe in detail the various tools we developed and the status of the collection, which is currently composed of 11,491 lines and covering 71% of Drosophila genes. Data on the characterization of the lines either by RT–qPCR or phenotype is available on a dedicated website, the RNAi Stock Validation and Phenotypes Project (RSVP, http://www.flyrnai.org/RSVP.html), and stocks are available from three stock centers, the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (United States), National Institute of Genetics (Japan), and TsingHua Fly Center (China). PMID:26320097

Impact of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in the Junior Secondary School Years: Objective Outcome Evaluation Based on Eight Waves of Longitudinal Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel T. L. Shek

2012-01-01

Full Text Available To assess the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S., a randomized group trial with eight waves of data collected was carried out. At the fifth year of data collection, 19 experimental schools (n=2, 662 students and 24 control schools (n=3, 272 students participated in the study. Analyses based on individual growth curve modeling showed that participants in the experimental schools displayed better positive youth development than did participants in the control schools in terms of different indicators derived from the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale, including moral competence and behavioral competence and cognitive behavioral competencies. Significant results were also found when examining the trajectories of psychological development among control and experimental participants who perceived the program to be beneficial. Findings based on longitudinal objective outcome evaluation strongly suggest that the Project P.A.T.H.S. is effective in promoting positive development in Hong Kong secondary school students.

Impact of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in the junior secondary school years: objective outcome evaluation based on eight waves of longitudinal data.

Science.gov (United States)

Shek, Daniel T L; Ma, Cecilia M S

2012-01-01

To assess the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S., a randomized group trial with eight waves of data collected was carried out. At the fifth year of data collection, 19 experimental schools (n = 2, 662 students) and 24 control schools (n = 3, 272 students) participated in the study. Analyses based on individual growth curve modeling showed that participants in the experimental schools displayed better positive youth development than did participants in the control schools in terms of different indicators derived from the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale, including moral competence and behavioral competence and cognitive behavioral competencies. Significant results were also found when examining the trajectories of psychological development among control and experimental participants who perceived the program to be beneficial. Findings based on longitudinal objective outcome evaluation strongly suggest that the Project P.A.T.H.S. is effective in promoting positive development in Hong Kong secondary school students.

From Surveillance to Intervention: Overview and Baseline Findings for the Active City of Liverpool Active Schools and SportsLinx (A-CLASS Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicola McWhannell

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper outlines the implementation of a programme of work that started with the development of a population-level children’s health, fitness and lifestyle study in 1996 (SportsLinx leading to selected interventions one of which is described in detail: the Active City of Liverpool, Active Schools and SportsLinx (A-CLASS Project. The A-CLASS Project aimed to quantify the effectiveness of structured and unstructured physical activity (PA programmes on children’s PA, fitness, body composition, bone health, cardiac and vascular structures, fundamental movement skills, physical self-perception and self-esteem. The study was a four-arm parallel-group school-based cluster randomised controlled trial (clinical trials no. NCT02963805, and compared different exposure groups: a high intensity PA (HIPA group, a fundamental movement skill (FMS group, a PA signposting (PASS group and a control group, in a two-schools-per-condition design. Baseline findings indicate that children’s fundamental movement skill competence levels are low-to-moderate, yet these skills are inversely associated with percentage body fat. Outcomes of this project will make an important contribution to the design and implementation of children’s PA promotion initiatives.

From Surveillance to Intervention: Overview and Baseline Findings for the Active City of Liverpool Active Schools and SportsLinx (A-CLASS) Project

Science.gov (United States)

McWhannell, Nicola; Henaghan, Jayne L.

2018-01-01

This paper outlines the implementation of a programme of work that started with the development of a population-level children’s health, fitness and lifestyle study in 1996 (SportsLinx) leading to selected interventions one of which is described in detail: the Active City of Liverpool, Active Schools and SportsLinx (A-CLASS) Project. The A-CLASS Project aimed to quantify the effectiveness of structured and unstructured physical activity (PA) programmes on children’s PA, fitness, body composition, bone health, cardiac and vascular structures, fundamental movement skills, physical self-perception and self-esteem. The study was a four-arm parallel-group school-based cluster randomised controlled trial (clinical trials no. NCT02963805), and compared different exposure groups: a high intensity PA (HIPA) group, a fundamental movement skill (FMS) group, a PA signposting (PASS) group and a control group, in a two-schools-per-condition design. Baseline findings indicate that children’s fundamental movement skill competence levels are low-to-moderate, yet these skills are inversely associated with percentage body fat. Outcomes of this project will make an important contribution to the design and implementation of children’s PA promotion initiatives.

Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (Project CALLA), Community School District 2 Special Alternative Instruction Program. Final Evaluation Report, 1992-93. OREA Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, Joanne

Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (Project CALLA) was a federally funded program serving 960 limited-English-proficient students in 10 Manhattan (New York) elementary schools in 1992-93 its third year of operation. The project provided instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL), mathematics, science, and social studies in…

Random Assignment of Schools to Groups in the Drug Resistance Strategies Rural Project: Some New Methodological Twists

Science.gov (United States)

Pettigrew, Jonathan; Miller-Day, Michelle; Krieger, Janice L.; Zhou, Jiangxiu; Hecht, Michael L.

2014-01-01

Random assignment to groups is the foundation for scientifically rigorous clinical trials. But assignment is challenging in group randomized trials when only a few units (schools) are assigned to each condition. In the DRSR project, we assigned 39 rural Pennsylvania and Ohio schools to three conditions (rural, classic, control). But even with 13 schools per condition, achieving pretest equivalence on important variables is not guaranteed. We collected data on six important school-level variables: rurality, number of grades in the school, enrollment per grade, percent white, percent receiving free/assisted lunch, and test scores. Key to our procedure was the inclusion of school-level drug use data, available for a subset of the schools. Also, key was that we handled the partial data with modern missing data techniques. We chose to create one composite stratifying variable based on the seven school-level variables available. Principal components analysis with the seven variables yielded two factors, which were averaged to form the composite inflate-suppress (CIS) score which was the basis of stratification. The CIS score was broken into three strata within each state; schools were assigned at random to the three program conditions from within each stratum, within each state. Results showed that program group membership was unrelated to the CIS score, the two factors making up the CIS score, and the seven items making up the factors. Program group membership was not significantly related to pretest measures of drug use (alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, chewing tobacco; smallest p>.15), thus verifying that pretest equivalence was achieved. PMID:23722619

Boys' Music? School Context and Middle-School Boys' Musical Choices

Science.gov (United States)

Bennetts, Kathleen Scott

2013-01-01

This article focusses primarily on the findings relating to the musical participation of boys in one Melbourne school. As part of a project that investigated boys' attitudes and participation at fifty-one schools, several contextual features were identified that set "Balton Boys" High School' apart from other participating schools,…

Soil and its selected properties on the example of an individual project for the grade 1 students of upper secondary school

Science.gov (United States)

Krzeczkowska, Małgorzata

2014-05-01

According to the requirements of the new core curriculum for Chemistry, students shall acquire knowledge through research and use the acquired chemical knowledge in their everyday life. However, in the recommended conditions and mode of implementation of the curriculum it is confirmed, that students' autonomous observation constitutes a basis for experiencing, inferences, analysis, and generalisations of phenomena [1]. It is obvious that teachers should create proper didactic situations, during which school students have a possibility to develop attitudes, skills and competences. More about competences we can find in the recommendations of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning [2]. The detailed content of the core curriculum for the subject of chemistry at the fourth stage of education (basic level), we read: "4. Chemistry of soil. Student: 1) explains what the sorption properties of the soil are; plans and performs .... study of the sorption properties of the soil. " In the school year 2012/2013 chemistry teachers decided to offer students of a first-class to be involved in the project "Soil in the chemist's eye." It was considered that the method of the project is known from lower secondary school level and the teacher will have an opportunity to recognize students, who in the future, will choose the class with advanced chemistry program and determine the level of their skills, in particular the research skills. What we can offer to students does not necessarily take place in a well-equipped chemical laboratory. On the contrary, this process should be based on the well-known school subjects items, articles, objects and phenomena, which students meet in everyday life. The well-chosen methodologies and ways of showing the world will be, more understandable and skills will become a permanent part of the students, knowledge. Project characterization: a) The proposed project is problem-oriented, in

How Project Management Tools Aid in Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International Maintenance of Accreditation

Science.gov (United States)

Cann, Cynthia W.; Brumagim, Alan L.

2008-01-01

The authors present the case of one business college's use of project management techniques as tools for accomplishing Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International maintenance of accreditation. Using these techniques provides an efficient and effective method of organizing maintenance efforts. In addition, using…

A study of school mathematics curriculum enacted by competent teachers in Singapore secondary schools

Science.gov (United States)

Kaur, Berinderjeet; Tay, Eng Guan; Toh, Tin Lam; Leong, Yew Hoong; Lee, Ngan Hoe

2018-03-01

A study of school mathematics curriculum enacted by competent teachers in Singapore secondary schools is a programmatic research project at the National Institute of Education (NIE) funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Singapore through the Office of Education Research (OER) at NIE. The main goal of the project is to collect a set of data that would be used by two studies to research the enacted secondary school mathematics curriculum. The project aims to examine how competent experienced secondary school teachers implement the designated curriculum prescribed by the MOE in the 2013 revision of curriculum. It does this firstly by examining the video recordings of the classroom instruction and interactions between secondary school mathematics teachers and their students, as it is these interactions that fundamentally determine the nature of the actual mathematics learning and teaching that take place in the classroom. It also examines content through the instructional materials used—their preparation, use in classroom and as homework. The project comprises a video segment and a survey segment. Approximately 630 secondary mathematics teachers and 600 students are participating in the project. The data collection for the video segment of the project is guided by the renowned complementary accounts methodology while the survey segment adopts a self-report questionnaire approach. The findings of the project will serve several purposes. They will provide timely feedback to mathematics specialists in the MOE, inform pre-service and professional development programmes for mathematics teachers at the NIE and contribute towards articulation of "Mathematics pedagogy in Singapore secondary schools" that is evidence based.

Quality of School Education in Bhutan

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Utha, Karma; Giri, Krishna; Gurung, Bhupen

This book is a product of a collaborative Bhutanese-Danish research project concerning the quality of school education in Bhutanese secondary schools. The empirical investigations that were at the center of the project took part in 2012-2014 and consisted in case study of seven selected schools...... findings and interpretations to global debate and development of school educational quality....